math phobias
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Serendipitously I stumbled across a book at the library tonight that I (so
far) think could be wonderful for adults who fear math. Arithmetic for Human
Beings (An anti-textbook for people who loathe arithmetic) by Robert Froman
From the introduction:
"Millions of people loathe arithmetic. They have good reason to. The subject
is taught in most elementary schools as if the whole idea is to make it
loathsome. Only those with great aptitude for it are likely to retain interest in
it...
But unlike the algebra and geometry inflicted on highschool students,
arithmetic will not go away and leave you alone after you are paroled from the
schoolroom. All life long it keeps popping up in supermarkets, kitchens, workshops,
offices, almost everywhere - even in the far reaches of the backwoods. When it
does, the schools have left most of us no alternative to going into a trance
and trying to remember elementary textbook procedures...
That schoolroom experience of arithmetic is much like what continues to
short-circuit many adult minds in later years. For such adults that experience has
made unquestionable the belief that in any arithmetic question the numbers
involved are all-important and the proper way to perform each of the four basic
operations invariable.
In real life the numbers are NOT the most important parts of problems. What
the numbers stand for is what matters most. How the necessary operations on
those numbers should be performed depends on what you want to know...
Arithmetic for Human Beings is intended as the opposite of a textbook, a kind
of anti-textbook. It is primarily a book to be read, not labored over. The
suggestions it offers are not going to be repeated endlessly, summarized at the
ends of chapters, and reinforced with large numbers of space-filling examples
and exercises. Such paraphernalia would be useless for the purpose here. The
only way you can learn to make use of these suggestions is by trying them in
situations that matter to you, not on artificial problems dreamed up by someone
else. The suggestions are meaningful only when you really want to know
something that arithmetic can help you find out."
What follows is advice on estimation, approximation, mental arithmetic, and
cutting problems down to size - covering multiplication, addition, subtraction,
division, fractions, negative numbers, measurements, and probability.
The book is long out of print but seems to be available used very cheaply.
(If you look on Amazon check by author, I found it catalogued there as ARITH
FOR HUM BNGS ) I'm going to get a copy for my most math phobic friend, the one
who I promised could always call me for help in explaining math to her kids
when she was talking about needing to send them to school because of math. She
panics and quite literally shuts down when faced with numbers, this looks like
it might help.
Deborah in IL
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
far) think could be wonderful for adults who fear math. Arithmetic for Human
Beings (An anti-textbook for people who loathe arithmetic) by Robert Froman
From the introduction:
"Millions of people loathe arithmetic. They have good reason to. The subject
is taught in most elementary schools as if the whole idea is to make it
loathsome. Only those with great aptitude for it are likely to retain interest in
it...
But unlike the algebra and geometry inflicted on highschool students,
arithmetic will not go away and leave you alone after you are paroled from the
schoolroom. All life long it keeps popping up in supermarkets, kitchens, workshops,
offices, almost everywhere - even in the far reaches of the backwoods. When it
does, the schools have left most of us no alternative to going into a trance
and trying to remember elementary textbook procedures...
That schoolroom experience of arithmetic is much like what continues to
short-circuit many adult minds in later years. For such adults that experience has
made unquestionable the belief that in any arithmetic question the numbers
involved are all-important and the proper way to perform each of the four basic
operations invariable.
In real life the numbers are NOT the most important parts of problems. What
the numbers stand for is what matters most. How the necessary operations on
those numbers should be performed depends on what you want to know...
Arithmetic for Human Beings is intended as the opposite of a textbook, a kind
of anti-textbook. It is primarily a book to be read, not labored over. The
suggestions it offers are not going to be repeated endlessly, summarized at the
ends of chapters, and reinforced with large numbers of space-filling examples
and exercises. Such paraphernalia would be useless for the purpose here. The
only way you can learn to make use of these suggestions is by trying them in
situations that matter to you, not on artificial problems dreamed up by someone
else. The suggestions are meaningful only when you really want to know
something that arithmetic can help you find out."
What follows is advice on estimation, approximation, mental arithmetic, and
cutting problems down to size - covering multiplication, addition, subtraction,
division, fractions, negative numbers, measurements, and probability.
The book is long out of print but seems to be available used very cheaply.
(If you look on Amazon check by author, I found it catalogued there as ARITH
FOR HUM BNGS ) I'm going to get a copy for my most math phobic friend, the one
who I promised could always call me for help in explaining math to her kids
when she was talking about needing to send them to school because of math. She
panics and quite literally shuts down when faced with numbers, this looks like
it might help.
Deborah in IL
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]