I think the diagrams of the pyramid vs the puzzle was a good one and reflect how I learn, I personally don't get concepts until I have touched them. I was never

I think the diagrams of the pyramid vs the puzzle was a good one and reflect how I learn, I personally don't get concepts until I have touched them. I was never really good at taking a concept from a book and visualizing it. This is why I excelled at Chemistry, Computers and real world Physics but never really excelled at basic math (to this day I convert fractions to decimals because my mind does not think it fractions). Anyways what I came her to say is once I get the basic concept from hands on labs, then it is very easy for me to get the math, because I can visualize what the math is doing. I seem to only learn from real world application and by doing it. So I think there is value in learning the how, and then layering the theory on after that fact. It seems to stick for me. Then again we all learn differently. I personally learned Geometry and Trig from carpentry and 3d modeling. I learned algebra and statistics from building and modifying internal combustion engines. I learned business math from building accounting systems. All of these I learned after hand on apprenticeship and it made it very easy for me to grasp and retain the mathematical concepts. I have joked before about starting the "Boys School for the Mechanically Inclined" to teach boys that learn like I do. I was fortunate and driven enough to understand my learning disabilities, but I see bright boys flounder and can see it's due to the way they are being taught. It really is a shame.