The Adult Struggle with Math…
I came across a video the other day that really got me thinking about the generation before me and where my generation might be heading. The video was entitled “Adults Try 5th Grade Math”. Since I enjoyed watching the show “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” I figured this would be an enjoyable video as well. As I sat there and watched all of the grown-ups who claim to have taken Calculus and other high end math courses that you need for a Master’s degree in some fields struggle adding fractions I began to laugh. This is no laughing matter though. There are adults all around us who cannot do math some elementary school kids find simple. So, why do adults struggle with 5th grade math?
These struggles make you wonder why. Why is it that when school is over with and in your rear view window you forget what you have “learned”? Is it because you focus on what you need for your career and forget the other things you saw as unimportant and not needed? Is it because you get so used to doing derivatives and solving some ridiculous equation that looks like hieroglyphics to others? I believe that it is because nobody has really been taught the lessons that elementary students are learning now.
Think about it. When you were in school it was all about making a good grade; not actually learning what was on that test. I know I have walked out of a test and not remembered how to do a single thing on it but that piece of paper had a big fat A on it. This brings up a whole issue I have with school systems and grading that I will have to bring up another time. Math is like a house. It starts with numbers and basic adding and subtracting which is the foundation and builds up from there. My wish is for the generations before me, my generation and the ones after mine to know that and not forget it. It is nice that you can find the derivative but if you cannot add fractions it is like owning just a window of the second floor of a house that is missing its ground floor. Go back and learn why something happens and you will truly understand it. If you cannot understand why you are already behind.