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I've thought for a long time that an abstract approach might work better than a concrete approach for introducing children to math. I remember when my kids wer
by beat 13y ago
I've thought for a long time that an abstract approach might work better than a concrete approach for introducing children to math.
I remember when my kids were in kindergarten, and their math education started with estimation. My first thought was, "Great. Now they've turned math into a touchy-feely all-answers-are-right-answers nonsense subject!"
- gshubert17 13y agoI don't want to turn math into a touchy-feely all-answers-are-right-answers nonsense subject, but estimation is a good skill in math, engineering, and computing. Two examples: Fermi problems[1] and Jon Bentley's "back of the envelope"[2] estimates. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_problem [2] http://www.csie.fju.edu.tw/~yeh/research/papers/os-reading-list/bentley-cacm84-envelope.pdf http://www.csie.fju.edu.tw/~yeh/research/papers/os-reading-l... and http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/cs261/background/p176-bentley.pdf http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/cs261/background/p176-bentley.pd...
- beat 13y agoI agree that estimation is important. But so important that we start children with it? That smells wrong to me. Estimation is about intuitive thinking. Mathematics is usually a child's first introduction to formal, rigorous thought. Don't go soft on it.
- pbhjpbhj 13y agoI think estimation is an important early concept - often I'll give my lad a question and he'll respond with a first answer that's ludicrous. "Now think about it," I'll say. "If you've only got 30 sweets, how can all 7 people get more than 10, does that sound right? Everyone has to get less than 30, surely?". It's about getting a feel for quantities and units of measure.