Ren Allen

"-=-What schools call "math" is actually a foreign language.-=-"

It's a "language" that can be understood by all sorts of people that
don't speak the same language!:)

Math is actually a natural instinct imo. It's when you try to teach
someone the notation/symbolism for no other purpose than the idea that
"you'll need this one day", that it becomes problematic.

Real life useage just happens as people interact with their community.
And it doesn't seem foreign at all that way.

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

Ren Allen

"And on the tail of saying that I could feel rising
up inside of me this desire to talk about how hard that is to become a
marine biologist. "

I was talked out of pursuing Marine Biology that very way. In Jr.
High, I was fascinated with the idea of studying ocean life. I thought
I would LOVE that job. You know what my parents said "You better
start doing better at math, that job involved a LOT of math" and laughed.

Ugh. That was like a big puncture to MY balloon. I hated math. I knew
I couldn't do anything with lotsa math. I never wanted to take math again.

They could have gotten excited with me, taken me to aquariums, helped
me set up tanks, gotten me movies etc... and FED the interest. By the
time I would have needed the math, I would have been older and more
capable. Who knows where it might have led? Even if I'd decided NOT
to become a biologist, I would have felt honored and like my interests
mattered.

I'm really glad you were able to shift the focus of your conversation
to support his interest in sharks.

Ren, who watched Jaws last week
learninginfreedom.com