4 ms·

How about we start with high school students being prepared for math that concerns their adult life. Like how debt works, compound interest, savings, budgeting,

How about we start with high school students being prepared for math that concerns their adult life. Like how debt works, compound interest, savings, budgeting, etc?

smeej 3y ago
Reminds me of that joke that crops up in April, about how grateful we are for all those hours in our high school math classes this parallelogram season.
- nemo44x 3y ago
  Geometry and abstract math is important. But getting the practical stuff into even remedial heads is necessary to. Should do both.
jmye 3y ago
We had home ec in junior high and high school - students just chose not to take it. I’d add that those are 3rd grade “math” concepts - not replacements for actual math courses.
SamuelAdams 3y ago
Many schools do teach this. It’s not required but some schools do offer it as an elective. However, as practical as it may be, many teenagers just aren’t interested in learning about personal finance. At a more philosophical level, should schools even teach personal finance? The math itself is very simple and many adults can learn it on their own, without guidance from any instructor. All they need is a couple of good blogs and YouTube videos. The classes schools teach and the curriculums they offer are limited. There’s only so much time in the day to teach a wide variety of topics. So, should educators spend time teaching subjects students could otherwise learn themselves? Without an instructor, assignment feedback, etc, would people still pick up something like physics or calculus on their own? My personal opinion is that K-12 and college should focus on complex topics like algebra, chemistry, and physics, while simpler courses like personal finance could be taught by parents or by a students self. Happy to hear the debate around this though, it’s always fairly interesting.
- nemo44x 3y ago
  A lot of kids parents can’t teach this or don’t know how or if they even need to. Yes give complex topics for those that can. But have a basement level of basic personal finance. Don’t care if not interested because it will be relevant. Make it mandatory. Learn yourself or parents teach it - great! Test out and go to advanced. For everyone else we require finance literacy.

How about we start with high school students being prepared for math that concerns their adult life. Like how debt works, compound interest, savings, budgeting, etc?

smeej 3y ago

Reminds me of that joke that crops up in April, about how grateful we are for all those hours in our high school math classes this parallelogram season.

nemo44x 3y ago
Geometry and abstract math is important. But getting the practical stuff into even remedial heads is necessary to. Should do both.

jmye 3y ago

We had home ec in junior high and high school - students just chose not to take it. I’d add that those are 3rd grade “math” concepts - not replacements for actual math courses.

SamuelAdams 3y ago

Many schools do teach this. It’s not required but some schools do offer it as an elective. However, as practical as it may be, many teenagers just aren’t interested in learning about personal finance. At a more philosophical level, should schools even teach personal finance? The math itself is very simple and many adults can learn it on their own, without guidance from any instructor. All they need is a couple of good blogs and YouTube videos. The classes schools teach and the curriculums they offer are limited. There’s only so much time in the day to teach a wide variety of topics. So, should educators spend time teaching subjects students could otherwise learn themselves? Without an instructor, assignment feedback, etc, would people still pick up something like physics or calculus on their own? My personal opinion is that K-12 and college should focus on complex topics like algebra, chemistry, and physics, while simpler courses like personal finance could be taught by parents or by a students self. Happy to hear the debate around this though, it’s always fairly interesting.

nemo44x 3y ago
A lot of kids parents can’t teach this or don’t know how or if they even need to. Yes give complex topics for those that can. But have a basement level of basic personal finance. Don’t care if not interested because it will be relevant. Make it mandatory. Learn yourself or parents teach it - great! Test out and go to advanced. For everyone else we require finance literacy.