
Make Your Daughter Practice Math. She’ll Thank You Later - alanwong
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/07/opinion/stem-girls-math-practice.html
======
backpropaganda
Is the average reader of NYTimes really so well-versed with Latin that they'd
know phrases such as "sine qua non"? I've typically seen such phrases used
when the context makes the meaning clear, but this was a real stumper, and my
guess is it was for others too. Why is it considered good UX to make your
readers switch context to do a google search and then return to reading the
article? I'm not a native English speaker, and perhaps this speaks more about
my non-elite education.

~~~
perl4ever
It's not really something that comes from knowing Latin per se, (see what I
did there) but just the sort of Latin phrases that were typically used in
English writing of the 20th century.

Due to the explosion of the Internet, I think there are a lot more people who
speak and write fluent English without much experience reading books in
English. It used to be that the average reader of the NY Times did read books,
I would think, but maybe not so much any more.

~~~
LyndsySimon
Also due to the internet I don't think using a latin phrase like this is an
issue. If the reader doesn't recognize it, the definition is only a couple of
clicks away.

~~~
backpropaganda
Hence the question: Why is it considered good UX to make your readers switch
context to do a google search and then return to reading the article?

~~~
perl4ever
It's a matter of the expected audience. The NY Times is known for a supplement
called the New York Times Book Review. Although it may be anachronistic today,
it points to how readers of the newspaper and readers of books traditionally
overlapped. Books tend to use language not commonly found in speech or
informal internet communications.

------
lordnacho
On the subject of drilling math, I would like to hear if any of you other
readers have had experience with Kumon. I've been taking my kid to it, but I'm
getting increasing resistance from his side, while also not seeing quite why
I'm doing it.

Kumon is basically a daily set of very similar questions (1+3=, 2+3=, 8+3=)
with a weekly workshop where you do the same. The goal is to have all the
arithmetic drilled into memory, so the workbooks are very repetitive.

On paper it sounds great to be drilling math questions, and I used to do it
myself. But his Kumon stuff is very slow at changing, and my son is
complaining that he already knows the stuff and is doing more interesting
things in school. School happens to be doing Singapore Maths, which is yet
another philosophy of math teaching.

The problem is the kid is understanding what I understand, which is that
endless drilling isn't math. I'm a bit more ambivalent having done a load of
math beyond his level, and knowing that it's useful to memorize a few things.
But I can't but feel he's right and even I am bored doing the workbooks over
his shoulder.

There must be some alternative way I can regularly show him interesting stuff
in math.

~~~
blarg1
My mum made me do kumon for a while when I was a kid.

Not exactly sure if it's because of kumon, but I know the value of number
combinations eg 5+8 I know is 13, so something like 45+78=40+70+13

Also I still know the times table off by heart (mum forced me to learn that as
well) so I can calculate most things in my head, something I was surprised to
learn most people can't do.

~~~
agret
I can only recall certain number combinations and I never bothered to do the
drills to learn my multiplication tables. I can multiply very basic things
(fives, tens, elevens) but aside from that I gotta use a calculator.

Takes me awhile to calculate things in my head and i'm often off by around 5-9
from the actual answer when I do work it out.

I know a bunch of methods of solving things though so if I have a calculator
handy I can calculate the stuff I want but mental arithmetics was never
something I valued as a kid.

~~~
blarg1
I actually have a bit of trouble recalling the numbers sometimes, so I tend to
rely on what feels right. Like numbers up to a certain point (eg 1-44, 2^(0 to
12)) all feel different to me and some numbers feel related (eg 5,9,45).

I have a bunch of methods too though they aren't very good compared to the
ones I've seen other people use.

------
2038AD
I'm torn. On one hand, I want to invoke Ricardo's comparative advantage and
say "let them write". I am for people pursuing what they enjoy. On the other
hand, the math skills of most people could be better and math is incredibly
important.

------
dvfjsdhgfv
Well, your son might thank you, too.

~~~
eksemplar
I agree, but I think the headline for sons wouldn’t need the math bit, as boys
apparently don’t gravitate away from math because they are better at something
else.

But sons surely need to practice, in general, because right now women are
doing a lot better at higher education. At least in my country, women are
increasingly getting into academia while more and more young men don’t even
finish the Danish equivalent of high-school.

I’m not a supporter of equality of outcome, but I think we need to get better
at making sure everyone has a better opportunity for fulfilling their
potential. Regardless of what they want to do.

If that’s making girls practice math, then that’s a good idea.

~~~
Viliam1234
Suggesting that boys might be better at something would be politically
incorrect, of course. One is allowed to talk about gender differences only if
they are in favor of women.

Well, one could simply write an article about "helping your kids practice
math", without mentioning gender, but I guess that would generate less clicks.

Whatever; my kids are all girls, so I am going to do math with them... exactly
the same way I would with boys.

------
type-2
i heard that common core style is used to teach kids to make the concepts
behind the maths are understood by kids. Does anyone have any experience with
it?. But I think agree with the article on the idea that what you think about
your abilities changes you.

~~~
amboo7
I taught my daughter, when she was 4, to multiply m*n by drawing m parallel
lines intersecting n parallel lines, then counting the intersections as the
result. Etc., as I am a nerd, we discussed fun problems from time to time.
Seven years later she won a trophy at the national level.

