JeanM Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Having read the thread about the difference between math thinkers and problem solvers, I'm wondering if we're approaching math wrong for my older ds. He's always found math intuitively easy, and he's always disliked math. He's currently in 10th grade and doing calculus at home with dh, with the aim of taking the BC calc AP exam in May. Something in that previous thread caught my eye because he has been complaining about the drudgery of math, and what he considers the futility. DH has a PhD in an engineering field and has taken many graduate level math classes. I'm thinking that maybe he and his dad just think about math differently. Anyway, we've been talking recently about what math ds will take next year. We had thought about a year of statistics, and he literally groaned and said it sounded like torture. I suggested a year of mathematical logic, which ds thought sounded way more interesting, but dh isn't sure about it. Right now ds says he wants to be a history major in college, but even he admits that it is possible that he'll change his mind. Dual enrollment opportunities are limited here, and he's already trying to arrange dual enrollment for history. So it's fairly likely that he'll be doing math at home next year. And even though he will have finished BC calculus this year, I think he should continue with some sort of math for the remaining two years of high school. Any suggestions for courses that might interest a kid who might be a math thinker (not a problem solver)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Mathematical logic is a great idea! eIMACS maybe? Their course outline can be seen here. Throwing out some other ideas: Linear algebra is a good way to get an intro to mathematical thinking, and is completely different from calculus. Make sure you get a class that has proofs and not just matrix manipulations. Gilbert Strang's lectures on MIT OCW are wonderful. Abstract algebra (groups, rings, fields) is another fascinating option. I know that Stanford Online High School offers a course (Modern Algebra) in their university division, and sometimes AoPS offers one called Group Theory, also (not on the current schedule, but you never know about next year). Advanced geometry using Euclid's Elements. I'd use Robin Hartshorne's Geometry: Euclid and Beyond along with The Green Lion edition of Euclid's Elements. If you search mathwonk's posts, he has links to his Epsilon Camp teaching notes for Euclid. Number theory: AoPS offers two levels of number theory classes online (intro & intermediate) and/or their introductory textbook (no text for their intermediate course yet; intro may be too easy for him, but take a look.) Stanford online high school also has a number theory class that my daughter took & loved using Harold Stark's text. Combinatorics: AoPS has two courses online & two texts, Intro and Intermediate Counting and Probability Graph Theory: see these old threads 1, 2, 3 for ideas. Cryptography Game Theory - Coursera has a 2-part course that I found very enjoyable, and it starts from scratch. Hope he finds something he likes. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I think game theory could be very relevant to someone who wants to study history -- it's got a lot of applications in economics as well. BTW, I also thought math was easy but tedious, and was minoring in it because I needed a minor and the classes were easy. Then I took discrete math, which was the introduction to proof class at my school. I loved it. Halfway through that semester I changed my major to mathematics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 Wow, thanks to both of you. I'd welcome more suggestions too. I'm going to take some time to go through these possibilities with dh and ds and see what we can work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 If he changes to another humanities area statistics will be useful. Maybe he could do several blocks of different maths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 If he changes to another humanities area statistics will be useful. Maybe he could do several blocks of different maths. I totally agree that statistics are useful. I think he would die if we gave him several different blocks of math though. He's working really hard in math this year. We had told him he could do calculus over two years - AB in 10th grade and BC in 11th. He made the choice to work hard and do BC this year because he claims he can't stand another year of it. He'd rather work hard now and get it over with. So I'd really like to reward his hard work with something he at least thinks will be interesting (maybe it's hoping too much to find fun). Right now we're leaning towards either mathematical logic, advanced geometry, or possibly game theory. Thanks for the input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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