I've come to believe that integrated math in 8th, 9th, and 10th grade is a better idea than siloed math by year. (algebra, geometry, and statistics). That way you can do all the easy topics in 8th grade, leave all the hard ones until 10th grade, and have constant repetition so stuff sinks in. It is actually a small percentage of kids that are developmentally ready for a proper course in Algebra 1 in 8th grade. This sets kids up for failure and sets teachers up for covering only the most basic drill and kill content so that most kids can pass with an A (or maybe a B lol). Bad all the way around.

This is what I saw with my nephew that I homeschooled by zoom during covid. He thought he was good at math because he always got top grades. But then we found out that this is only because they were teaching algebra at the most basic level, doing a 2 week unit and taking the test right after it (with no cumulative tests), and all word problems were extra credit. He was NOT at grade level as far as I was concerned. But he thought he was far ahead because he was earning 100% on all tests (but then he would forget everything he had learned). This kid wants to be an engineer, so I was working really hard to convince him that YES you should do word problems even though they are extra credit and you already have 100%. What a disaster.

I remediate this work for Every Single Student except the kid who did Math-U-See epsilon (which is an entire year of fractions). This ALWAYS includes 10th graders where I have to go back to drawing pizzas so we are still working on conceptualization, and typically I have to keep them practicing in 11th and 12th grade in for kids in the calculus stream because it was just never understood or mastered in primary school.

Ah, well, I guess I forget what is in an algebra 2 course, given I work within a different system. lol. Yes, to exponential growth. No to differential equations. I did multivariate time series analysis and lots of nonparametric stats which is based in combinatorics. There is just lots of types of maths. The US has picked one kind to put full focus on which helps some students (economists, scientists, actuaries) and hurt other students (humanities kids, social scientists, artists). I think the key point here for me is not that the algebra 2/precal/calculus stream shouldn't be offered in high school, it just shouldn't be compulsory to get into university, given that university is a gate keeper to higher socio-economic position in life.

My PhD is in mathematical modelling of ecological systems. I did the equivalent of covid modelling for mice. I never used Algebra 2, precal, or calculus in my 4 years of research. Just saying.

Agreed.

We also need to get rid of computer based programs in primary school. They are becoming common here, and the encourage teachers to let the program teach, and discourage students from learning to show proper workings, as all that is required is the answer to go in the computer. Both of these are bad bad bad.

I might support a high school graduation requirement for statistics, as long as it is qualitative statistics.

In NZ it is not. To earn a high school qualification here, you must pass a basic exam covering numeracy, measurement, and statistics. To get into university, you must pass a 10th grade class that covers the equivalent of 1 year each of algebra, geometry, and statistics. However, even that requirement can be sidestepped if you enter university at 20, where there are NO requirements for entrance at all. There are other ways of helping kids make a contribution to society, which in the end is what highschool and university are all about. I think that a lot of people use diplomas in the USA as signalling and as a gate keeper. This is not what education should be about.

NZ has been falling down the rankings in math for a decade. The NZ government has just announced the requirement of 1 hour of math every day in primary school. Not sure if it will work, but I know that right now primary schools do more like 20 minutes 4 days a week, so I don't think it will hurt unless teaching is so incompetent that kids come to hate math. Hoping that is not the case! https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/backing-our-kids-learn-basics (also banning cell phones in primary and secondary during school hours)

You do not need 2 years of algebra to do well on the above 2 exams that I posted. They are tough (go look at them, and only 12% of students earn an A on either exam), and require a lot of mathematical/statistical understanding, but the algebra is limited to rearranging very basic equations. And, in fact, I have gotten a kid with dyscalculia through these exams who could not do ANY algebra AT ALL. She could not even subtract 8 minus 6 (and the one time I asked her to do it, it took her 2 minutes with a tally chart to get 3). I rearranged the equation for her in the 3 ways she would need and she memorized when to use each rearrangement. There is NO WAY a girl like her could get through the US high school math system, but by keeping her in math all the way through 12th grade, she conceived of herself as 'mathy' and developed a LOT of mathematical/statistical skills.

The core problem I see is that universities are gatekeepers to a lot of careers, even careers that have no math in them. It seems to me that the goal of an education is to allow people to work to their highest potential. Requiring jumping through an algebra 2 hoop, to be able to go to university for the humanities is just that, a hoop to jump. I agree with the article that there are other types of 'math' that can be taught. You can keep kids in math without it being the calculus stream. Here in NZ, we have a very strong mostly qualitative statistics stream for 11th and 12th grade that requires a deep understanding of statistical principles (not calculations) to analyse data and interpret results. But also teaches kids how to ask proper questions, find hidden assumptions, and assess experimental design. It has 2 external exams that focus on probability and distributions in context of real life problems (they require 8th grade algebra to get an A). When I hear interviews on the national radio show here, I can tell that the interviewers have taken these 2 classes, and I've told my students that they will be more capable of understanding the issues facing society with the knowledge they are learning. Can't say the same thing about algebra 2. This year's statistics exams: https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/ncea-resource/exams/2023/91585-exm-2023.pdf https://www.nzqa.govt.nz/nqfdocs/ncea-resource/exams/2023/91586-exm-2023.pdf

For world history, my ds watched the 2 crash course series about 4 times each (his choice!!). He really got the big picture content in his head. Then we did one deep dive on the colonisation of Africa. This combination was very effective in achieving both general knowledge and an understanding of the nuanced nature of historical study. It was simple and fun.

My older boy had 2 high school classes where we only read and discussed. There were no test, papers, presentations etc for the year-long class at all. I made this clear on my course descriptions. He learned a ton, and no university cared.

My younger boy really needed social stuff. He had 9 activities per week. I came to understand that this was more important than any school work, so we streamlined. For the 4 years of high school, he did 1 hour math and 3 hours writing per day + easy reading at night. I folded in geography, history, literature, economics, science into the writing work (he has dysgraphia so getting him to write was a long arduous but critically important task, one that I did with him side by side on the sofa for 4 years 3 hours per day). So his 'school work' totalled 20 hours per week. This prepared him well for university. He is in an honours program getting all As in a university with no grade inflation where 60% of students get Cs or Fs. I have come to believe that a lot of highschool 'school work' is not overwhelmingly useful.

My boys used ABRSM. https://www.abrsm.org/en-us

I used the Bob phonics-based readers. I just sat with my kids and taught them how to sound words out. https://www.amazon.com.au/Complete-Set-Books-Sets-books/dp/B001KIZMEU/ref=sr_1_2?crid=E08C13Q078IG&keywords=bob+readers+set+1&qid=1706747751&sprefix=bob+readers+set+%2Caps%2C346&sr=8-2 You can buy just the first set rather than the series.

My older son tutors AoPS. I'll ask if he has time.

Back in my trapping days, I had to carry 120lbs of traps to the study sight (about 10minutes). And I weighed 110 at the time. I would drop half the weight and cary 60lbs of traps up and down the trap line, lifting them up and down as leaning I set them. (there were 200 to set). At the end of 3 months of this 3 times per week, I got down and did 100 pushups in a row, having never done pushups. That was at age 22. Now, at 54, I can do 3 sets of 16 pushups in a day. So almost 50 but not in a row. As for pullups, in my gymnastics days, I could do 3 sets of 10 pull downs on a machine at more than my body weight (so 30 in total). I would have someone hold my shoulders down so I could lift weight greater than my own weight. Now at 54, I can't do 1 without blowing out my elbow. 😞 Instead I do 3 sets of 10 every other day with a band that supports about 75% of my body weight. I've never known anyone, even a guy, who could do 100 pullups in a row. So Kudos to you SKL.

I read 1984 at 14. I STILL have nightmares. Enough said.

My ds also read Moonstone. I didn't read it with him back then, so decided to try again just a few months ago. It was a really horrible book. It is so very dry, and I was so so so sick of the main character always talking about the physical beauty of the woman. The whole thing came across very sexist. I know it is of its era, but I couldn't tolerate it.

My older boy did Crime and Punishment. He finished it; I didn't. He absolutely loved it. But he did tell me that he would read a paragraph, and just about have a heart attack, stop reading, calm down, and then read another paragraph. He felt very much like he could see himself in mental anguish of the main character. I on the other hand, could NOT handle the heart attack that it gave me. Very powerful. Very disturbing. So be warned.

We use Rebtel. It is a Swedish company. In NZ, we can call the USA for free; other countries cost us pennies. It routes the international phone call through a local phone number so uses my minutes which are a part of my local phone plan. It allows me to call a phone number with an area code and a country code like in the old days. It does not require the receiver to have the app.

Bumping my old thread so that it stays live.

There are very good leadership scholarships at Duke (Full ride) and Carnegie Mellon (Full tuition).