What do you wish kids would learn?

[Driver]

Oliver has been asking me how "to live life" lately. He says he's worried he doesn't know about bills, credit cards, and bank accounts.

[Poe Dameron]

Oliver has been asking me how "to live life" lately. He says he's worried he doesn't know about bills, credit cards, and bank accounts.

Go to work -> Direct deposit -> Autopay

 

Done.

[Cerina]

 

Knowing the why and how of using a calculator isn't the same as just using a calculator. If someone know how to figure the top on a bill, but uses a calculator, what's wrong with that? Nothing. A calculator is a tool, and we should use it to make our lives easier. Mental calculations are not pertinent in most people's lives. I bought the BS line that " won't always have access to a calculator" when I was in school (last millennia) as a reason to practice flawless calculations until I memorized them, but that's not the world we live in any longer. I almost ALWAYS have a calculator in my purse, pocket, or diaper bag. If I don't for some unfortunate reason, someone I'm with does! Not only that, but now they're even scientific calculators. In my pocket. At all times.

 

Let's not get caught up in the idea that we're educating children for a world that no longer exists. And we should not look down on future generations for having tools and access to tools that we did not. And especially not for using those tools.

Sigh. Always so uppity when it comes to kids. You missed my point. Let's walk it back.

 

There's nothing wrong with using a calculator to figure out the bill, but everybody should be competent enough to do it without one. This is basic non-algebra math. You shouldn't NEED to use one. Requiring one means you CANNOT do it without one, and you are lacking in basic math skills. This is the hallmark of a stupid person. I know you obviously understand the difference, but all too often I see people bang away at a calculator and screw up, because all they really know about math is press the buttons. Garbage-in, garbage-out. This is OVER-DEPENDANCE.

 

Furthermore, I never said people SHOULDN'T use calculators because...IDK... you think I didn't grow up with the oh-so modern technology of calculators in the classroom or whatever. What I DID say was that, based on my own observation, TYPICALLY those that DO use them in this situation do so because they MUST. They don't know HOW as evidenced by how they struggle too much to get the (sometimes even wrong) answer. This is because they don't have strong enough basic math skills in the first place. You build these basic math skills by DOING basic math. If you don't know that 10% of $39.56 is $4, 20% is $8, so you owe $52, but are pressing buttons feverishly on a calculator, making mistakes, and asking for help, then the calculator is failing you. Your math teachers have failed you as a kid. Unfortunately, I see this too often. However, if you use one regularly for basic calculations such as this, and don't screw it up, great! You passed! There's nothing inherently wrong calculator use (it's obviously a valuable tool) and like most people I constantly use one at work. My point was, again, a BALANCE should be met with their use when it comes to teaching kids, to build some basic math skills FIRST, so when they grow up they can either figure out the tip on their heads OR use a calculator and not bumble around like an idiot.

 

You say mental math isn't crucial to people's everyday lives. That's true. Maybe it's because I play a lot of poker, but I am constantly doing mental math, even when kicking back doing something I enjoy in my free time.

Well I don't know what to tell you about all that. People lacking basic math is not new. It's been passed on from generation to generation in schools. The Common Core standards are set up to try to fix that and people are fighting it like hell. I see people on FB at least once a week complain that they don't understand their kid's math homework, and instead of blaming their own schooling they blame the new standards. That's not a problem with newer generations but with older ones like ours.

 

Regardless though, I'm not going to run a one semester class that's suddenly going to make kids get it.

[Cerina]

Verbal and written language comprehension.

 

Just think of the b.s we could avoid if there was still even the most basic language comprehension skills among the general populace. Combine abysmal comprehension with social media, and it's no wonder SJWs and Donald Trump are happening.

 

Professional educators: please please PLEASE stop graduating pupils until they are able to correctly understand what their fellow citizens are trying to communicate when they use the English language.

Yeah...can't teach that one in one semester either. Is this irony?

[Carrie Mathison]

I think you and DK are sorta talking past each other, Cerina.

 

When poe suggests that kids oughta be able to do arithmetic without a calculator, and you say "no," do you mean literally no (as in, kids should not be taught how to do long division and what not), or do you just mean that once they "get it," there's no reason to continue drilling it in and forcing people to not use a calculator.

 

Because if it's the latter, that's completely reasonable. If it's the former, you're being silly. Learning the ability to do math mentally increases abstract reasoning ability, complex thought (and overall logical proficiency), and leads to a better understanding of the underlying mathematical concepts.

 

By all means, once a student has mastered long division or whatever, there's no reason to not use the calculator, on the contrary- it would be inefficient and a waste of time. But the initial learning of long division had value.