Should Math Be Taught In Schools Essay

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In second grade, I once hid in the bathroom because I didn’t want to go to math class. The way math was being taught in my school made me feel incompetent. We were asked to memorize facts, which made no sense. I wished that the person who invented math was never born. It was only later, when I went to Star Academy, that I realized how poorly math is being taught in school. Teachers should try new methods of teaching math in order to help not only the kids who are struggling, but also help those who are not.
The current way of teaching math is not working for a number of reasons. One reason is that each child learns differently. While some are more artistic in the way they learn, requiring a visual/hands-on method of learning, others learn through logic by listening to their teachers’ explanations, reading and practicing math operations. As Dan Meyer says in his Ted Talk, “Math class needs a makeover.” Some people are afraid to ask for help, or even ask for an explanation of a math problem, but the conversation that follows doesn’t serve the math. We need math that helps students solve problems, and the more real and concrete the problems, the more students will feel they can create a solution. So, the …show more content…

“Some things need to start sooner because that's the only way to meet "the deadline" — the time by which the relevant knowledge or capacity needs to be more or less in place.” Tania Lombrozo states in her NPR article, that we need to “capitalize on sensitive periods for learning,” because early gains can “snowball into a greater final outcome.” Children need to learn basic foundational skills in order to understand and apply the more complex concepts they will be faced with later in their education. Expecting older children to understand complex math without mastering and understanding the basic skills at an early age, is inconsequential. Good teaching is

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