Algebra Text?

In another context I and likely *you* would talk about this as getting a "feel" for the math. I know that some of the best stuff I ever learned was from "playing" with things, be they blocks or oscilloscopes. No matter how much math I have learned, I don't consider I know a topic until I get an intuitive feel for it.

There may be more to this than you are getting second hand from a 12 year old.

Why is this a political issue? Teachers are highly educated in... teaching. It is not a subject that is trivial for the lay person. Try sometime reading some of the material teachers have to master.

Or maybe its because we just don't value engineers, etc. as highly as other occupations, so students aren't interested as much in those subjects?

--

Rick

Check out the Life of Fred books. They're written for homeschoolers (home scholars?). IIRC you're mostly agnostic, so be aware that there's a little bit of Christianity thrown in gratis -- it's not preachy, it's just kind of in there. It's not enough to offend unless you're a Koran/ Torah/"The God Delusion"/"Book of Mormon"/whatever-thumping fundamentalist.

They're written as biographies of Fred, who's a pre-pubescent professor of math at KITTENS University (Kansas Institute for Teaching Technology Engineering and Natural Science). Mixed in amongst his adventures with coping in the real world are quite a few math lessons. This sounds really dorky as I write it -- but the author is quite brilliant about mixing in just enough "story" to keep the math engaging (the story line is where the Christianity comes in), and keeping the math rigorous.

"Life of Fred, Beginning Algebra", Stanley F. Schmidt, 2009, Polka Dot Publishing, ISBN: 978-9-9709995-1-1

"Life of Fred, Beginning Algebra", Stanley F. Schmidt, 2002, Polka Dot Publishing, ISBN: 0-9709995-2-6

Do a search, you'll find plenty of reviews.

--
Tim Wescott 
Control system and signal processing consulting 
www.wescottdesign.com

Thanks, Tim!

I'm not the offendable type. My family consists of Christians, Jews and Catholics, and Atheists/Agnostics like me; and well as Hispanics, and we get on famously. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

To be fair to the teacher - giving them two pins, a length of string and the challenge to construct an ellipse is actually a *very* good test of innate mathematical intuition.

I think the reasoning for the biggest cardboard box one is similar.

You can pick out the geniuses more easily with tests that are beyond the reach of linear progression from what has been actually taught.

Another really good test is:

given a^2 + b^2 = c^2 where a,b,c are integers

can you construct A^2 + B^2 = 2c^2 and state A, B

You can either see the answer to this instantly or not at all. (this latter is more applicable to university entrance for maths)

Clearly madness if it is as you reported it.

I got into trouble at school once by framing quadratic equations as untaught non-linear two variable problems. I got the right answer but ignored the teachers hint how to do it. He was not amused.

No idea what 6th grade US is so cannot comment. In my day basic calculus was taught about age 14 ish. We did a lot of spherical trig first for navigating around the empire on great circles.

It would be a sad day indeed if a teacher of mathematics did not fully understand both integral and differential calculus. I'd expect most of them to understand the finesse of calculus of variations as well.

My first year undergraduate maths for physicists course was something of a notorious baptism of fire starting as it did with differential vector calculus and assuming everything that went before it. The pure mathematicians meanwhile spent most of that term proving that 0 != 1.

I truanted my last year of maths classes at high school as complete waste of my time.

The compendium of Lewis Carroll's works and Martin Gardener books are much more fun to learn from and far more educational. Maybe just a bit beyond the reach of your ward. Another really tricky one is construct a triangle given only two sides and the radius of the inscribed circle using ruler and compasses only. Algebra needed to work out what to do unless you really are true genius level at physical geometry intuition.

Make it fun and you don't have to teach it.

Why is this cross posted to alt.binaries.*.* ?

--
Regards, 
Martin Brown

That sort of problem, without the proper skill background, has no "playing around" factor... it's just guessing... which I frown on seriously.

When my granddaughter inquired, I suggested, that, with her skill level, the only solution was to plot volume versus the size of the cut-out and observe the maximum. She did so, and was rewarded with a gift card as her prize... such is the level of education today.

No second hand about it. This is the modern era. Though she's in Palm Springs, Californica, she PDF'd her homework sheet. I have it right here in front of me.

We have an educational system dominated by nutcases on the left... with twisted views that the only way to do things is their way. And "their way", no matter how wrong, is still to be considered the correct way.

Bwahahahahaha! Almost lost my lunch over that >:-}

I'm hardly a lay person...

(1) I got 800 in Math on the SAT's. What did you get? (2) I attended M.I.T. on a FULL Alumni Fund National Scholarship back when scholarships were awarded on the basis of competency, not on need... my parents were wealthy by the standards of the '50's. (3) I graduated in Course 6-B, the HONORS Electrical Engineering Program. (4) And, though not worth all that much, an MSEE from ASU (*)

Teachers may be competent, but they're bound to parrot the line established by the school boards and the administrators. Thus we have children expelled for wearing NRA T-shirts, pointing with their fingers, etc.

Our society has created a life-style based on texting, tweeting, and sucking off the tit of the government.

The sooner the revolution the better.

(*) My first week at ASU, I was thrown out of a Physics class for asking the Prof, "When do you plan to start teaching this course on a college level".

After some "conversation" with the Dean, I got full credit for that course and several others offered at ASU. Finally found some non-linear control system courses that were useful ;-) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

I like the book called 'Modern Engineering Mathematics'. It starts with 3+4=7 and ends with probability theory so it covers a lot of ground. I also have the follow up called 'Advanced modern engineering mathematics'.

--
Failure does not prove something is impossible, failure simply 
indicates you are not using the right tools... 
nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) 
--------------------------------------------------------------

(might be a bit leftest for you - she thinks maths can be fun!)

[snip] [snip]

Forgot an important issue...

In Germany it is ILLEGAL to home-school your children.

A German couple with two children requested asylum in the USA based on that German restriction of freedom.

The Obama regime just refused their request for asylum.

Wonder how long it will be before it is illegal to home-school in the USA? ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Math _is_ fun! That's why I'm so good at it... I only do things that are fun. Designing chips is LOTS of fun! I don't think I've really _worked_ a day in my life >:-} ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Check out:

d 780, i think. You beat me there. But i did get all As in college math and physics.

BTW, my son's high school physics is too simple, not enough math. What would be a good online site to find some challenging college level physics problems for him.

see

--

Reply in group, but if emailing remove the last word.

Best starting point for algebra is a see-saw in the school yard and a balence in the school room. Good luck finding a text.

Hul

A=B=0

But I get the impression that's not what you had in mind?

Since it isn't archived, OT matters less there IMO.

--

Reply in group, but if emailing remove the last word.

In my county Judge Sosalla is famous for thinking homeschooling is illegal now.

If you can get your hands on this book....

My freshman Physics book at M.I.T.

Absolutely superb! At M.I.T. it neatly tracked right along with freshman Calculus... the Calculus you needed was right there to match the need in the Physics course ;-) ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
I love to cook with wine.     Sometimes I even put it in the food.

h d

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I found some good college level e-books from previous poster's link. Some are published a century ago (1910), but laws of physics has not changed. It's not so important with the content, but the manner of presentations. Too many college fresh(wo)men (including my daughter) found out the hard way that college text books are not written the same way as high school books. Perhaps my son can be better prepared with these readings.