to not understand why some people thinks its funny/acceptable to not be able to do simple maths

[leandro]

I was talking to a group of women at playgroup this morning and one was talking about wanting to get a part time job. I said look at shop work and she said she'd like to but that she doesn't do numbers and so couldn't do it. Another one said I don't do them either and she has to get her husband to do anything mathematically related.
I don't get it, if you said I can't read then people would be so why is it acceptable to be hopeless at arithmetic.

"Aah spelling is different to basic skills. The science behind it is interesting. Either you can spell or you can't"

is it different though?

I'm not stupid, I've got a degree (in English mind, not maths, lol) I can do maths , geometry, algebra, whatever you like, but I genuinely can't add more than about three numbers together in my head (depending on the size of them)

with a pen and a bit of paper, I'm fine, but without that, I can't do it

i cant do maths either. for a variety of reasons and it is something that really bothers me as an adult.

i still managed to have a fancy ass career.

it is shit to be bad at something, it is even more shit to have others look down on you because of it or to judge you because of ONE aspect of your abilities (or lack therof).

I agree but people need to be motivated to go back to college or night classes.

And underperforming children tend to become underperforming adults.

I imagine it's a difficult cycle to break.

I am rubbish at maths, my maths teacher was a witch.

I can only do the basics but it gets me by.

I'm not embarassed by it though, because for every sum you can do I can deliver babies, perform cpr, be a valuable member of a trauma team & other hands on medical procedures. < smug >

All maths homework has to go in dh's direction.

I think I have dyscalulia as I can't understand numbers,I find them confusing.

I even struggle with the 24 hour clock.

Oh God....mental arithmetic.

Can't keep those pesky numbers in my head.

I can rattle off endless numbers to DP and he just spouts off the answers.
I can do about five... and only then if they are single digits.
Then i need a pen and paper.

dyscalculia

I did arty stuff at school and found maths mystifying, so gave up and pretended it didnt matter (it did of course)now im in a free maths classs at the local college,full of people who need a level two (gcse equavalent)so they can get onto a fe course. I can feel myself making the same excuses, but i know there is really no valid excuse.

Most people I know are either very good at maths or very good at English.

I am rubbish at maths but I am not ashamed or embarrassed by it. It was down to very poor teaching from one teacher, but having said that others in my class did better than. As an adult I have learned what I needed for working/further learning but have huge gaps in my knowledge that I am actually filling by helping DD with her maths!

If you want to help someone who wants to be helped with literacy/numeracy I'm sure there are adult classes about. It was heavily advertised not too long ago. I even looked into myself at one point but it really was very basic stuff, so good for anyone who is completely stuck

oops, I left out the main point of my post - I now tutor Level 2 (GCSE) Maths, I hate it! I know enough to tutor on the content of our course but I dread the day I am asked to take that further by a student! I'll possibly cry lol!

Give me a book and I'll read, interpret, discuss. I find language/literature very interesting. Maths is boring and I think that unless it interests you, you will have your work cut out trying to get a grip of the subject.

How do you know if a person just cant be bothered to learn or they have a a learning disability?

My oldest is in a sen school and has problems with both math and english (and plenty of other subjects as well) he looks like any other 15 year old boy. But it is nice to know that people will be judging him if they have to wait behind him an extra few minutes in a shop as he works out his money .

Gah, I'll finish an entire post without forgetting something in a minute!

If you want to help someone who wants to be helped with literacy/numeracy I'm sure there are adult classes about. It was heavily advertised not too long ago. I even looked into myself at one point but it really was very basic stuff, so good for anyone who is completely stuck

You're right, without giving too much away about myself, I am involved in adult literacy/numeracy and retraining.

The difference between reading and arithmetic is that you can use a calculator to add things up. Nobody can read for you.

I think people who do this know that its not funny and makes them look like a moron so try and deflect away from it.

But maths is logical. As long as you learn the basics you can do almost anything with numbers. Unless you have a genuine problem with numbers such as dyscalculia it is mainly fear that holds people back and for many people the beleif that it doesn't matter.

Words are not logical! If they were no-one would ever have a problem learnng a foreign language.

how are words not logical?

I think the woman described in the OP may have been embarrassed about her lack of skills so tried to laugh it off.

Maths and arithmetic are different though, as someone said earlier , most people who "cant do maths" can work out if they have enough cash to buy three items in the shop. Or have a fair stab at if the 10% extra free deal is a good buy or not.
You can be good at arithmetic and hopeels at the more complicated stuff and vice versatile - DD1 is doing Further Maths at the moment but doesn't know her tables, she has to work out the answer each time. She reverses digits all the time, and didn't know how to do short division till last year when she was helping in a y8 class. Thankfully the further on you get in maths, the fewer numbers you seem to come across. But she's still "good at maths" even though she struggles with some of the basics.

Please ignore random odd words - phone autocorrect is hopeless

i have a total mental block when it comes to maths. i could never, never get my head around it at school and i was always made to feel like a nuisance for asking for clarification. it was thanks to a few very patient classmates that i got through my maths GCSE. what i learnt from my teacher would fit on the back of a stamp. my family laughed at me when i told them i had gotten a job in a bank, working as a cashier. i did that job for 6 years and i still have trouble getting my head round very simple maths problems, fractions, percentages division is pretty much out of the question without a pen and paper. i can add and multiply in my head and that is it. try as i may i will never be a whizz at maths but I've managed this far in life so really whether you understand my lack of basic math skills or not is irrelevant to me and my life. HTH

Because the same words can mean different things. You can pronounce them differently. You can prnounce them the same and spell them differently. There are irregular verbs. Grammatical rules don't remain the same in all cases. There is no truly international language. There are a million different ways to say the same thing.

You don't need to have a head for numbers to work in a shop....the tills work it all out for you. I guess she's trying tto make an excuse for not having found a job?

I struggle with maths (I am educated to degree level and consider myself to be fairly intelligent.) My maths teacher at secondary school was a terrible bully who pretty much made my life hell....I used to feel physically sick before every lesson. That association has completely put me off. I know my times tables but can't add or subtract in my head. Algebra? Forget it! I got a B at GCSE but haven't looked at it since.

Everyone has different skills and we can't all be good at everything.

"i can add and multiply in my head and that is it."

Well that's good enough isn't it?

yep, like i said, it has gotten me this far. if i didn't need anything else to work in a bank, then i never will need anything more.

controlpantsandgladrags- Some shops do test arithmetic as part of the recruitment process.