Math Q again: Why did we first learn And/Less, Plus/Minus, Addition/Subtraction?

[ndee]

Why not just "Addition" and "Subtraction" from the beginning?

 

[Forsythe]

To make things simple! Just like telling you about how things move, how you represent things, what things wheigh, and then later telling you it's all completely wrong.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I don't think they should even teach subtraction. They should just teach how to take the 9's complement of the decimal numbers and add them back to the original term. It would be easier.

 

[austin316]

Why even waste time starting with addidtion / subtraction. They should just go right into calculus.

 

[ndee]

I think if you show the kids that Addition means taking an apple and just "add" one to get two apples, I'm sure they'll understand it. IMO, it's just unnecessary to teach them 3 different words for the same thing.

 

[DrPizza]

It's about making sure that the students understand the concepts. Unfortunately, not all do.

 

[notfred]

What is your question exactly? plus/minus and addition/subtraction are the exact same thing. Are you asking why we didn't start with the words "addition" and "subtraction"?

Edit: I see you are talking about different words. Why do we teach kids both the words "big" and large"?

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
It's about making sure that the students understand the concepts. Unfortunately, not all do.

Exactly.

 

[DrPizza]

If we didn't care if kids learned the concepts, in 1st grade we could teach them how to do all the operations on a calculator.

Then, in 2nd grade, we'd teach them how to put a calculus problem on a scanner,
scan it in,
run it through some OCR software,
and finally use some sort of software interface that would enter the equations into mathematica...
out spits the answer...

So, by grade 2, we're done teaching math to kids. They still may not be able to count to 100... but that won't matter.

 

[yoda291]

ha, I can half the entire curriculum. there is no subtraction...only the addition of a negative!

 

[ndee]

Originally posted by: notfred
What is your question exactly? plus/minus and addition/subtraction are the exact same thing. Are you asking why we didn't start with the words "addition" and "subtraction"?

Edit: I see you are talking about different words. Why do we teach kids both the words "big" and large"?

Yeah, you didn't get it. Plus == Addition, Big != Large.

DrPizza: That's not what I meant. I was just wondering why we don't teach the kids the "difficult" words from the beginning.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: ndee

Originally posted by: notfred
What is your question exactly? plus/minus and addition/subtraction are the exact same thing. Are you asking why we didn't start with the words "addition" and "subtraction"?

Edit: I see you are talking about different words. Why do we teach kids both the words "big" and large"?

Yeah, you didn't get it. Plus == Addition, Big != Large.

DrPizza: That's not what I meant. I was just wondering why we don't teach the kids the "difficult" words from the beginning.

Because that would be "difficult" ? Its easier to start by giving them real world examples that they are use to. I doubt most parents interact with their 5 years olds by using words like "addition" and "substraction"

 

[ndee]

Originally posted by: Mo0o

Originally posted by: ndee

Originally posted by: notfred
What is your question exactly? plus/minus and addition/subtraction are the exact same thing. Are you asking why we didn't start with the words "addition" and "subtraction"?

Edit: I see you are talking about different words. Why do we teach kids both the words "big" and large"?

Yeah, you didn't get it. Plus == Addition, Big != Large.

DrPizza: That's not what I meant. I was just wondering why we don't teach the kids the "difficult" words from the beginning.

Because that would be "difficult" ? Its easier to start by giving them real world examples that they are use to. I doubt most parents interact with their 5 years olds by using words like "addition" and "substraction"

I think Kids are much smarter and learn things alot faster than we think.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

When do they start teaching the multiplication/division tables in elementary?
I remember knowing the multiplication/division table by grade 3, all the way up to the 13th table.

What they should teach in grade school is the concept of saving money towards their retirement, the value of a dollar, and personal finance And of course, budgeting as well.

That's one thing I find lacking in high school, is how to manage your personal finance.

 

[ohtwell]

It's probably because of the fact that math problems don't always have that simple wording. We teach children different words for the same concept, so that when faced with a problem that doesn't simply say add or subtract, they will know how to solve it.


: ) Amanda

 

[yhelothar]

They teach it so much, yet people still can't spell "less then" correctly.
:roll:

 

[Kelemvor]

Addition and Subtraction are the processes. Plus and Minus is what you said. You don't say What's 5 addition 6. You say What's 5 plus 6. I was never taught using less if you mean it like What's 7 less 2? =5....