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Original poster

Not knowing maths is not a badge of honour, is it?

192 replies

Fidoandacupoftea · 24/10/2017 21:24

Over the years, some of my DDs classmates mums have mentioned that maths is beyond them, in a sort of 'boasting' manner, and the kids always get help from dads. I am not talking about dyspraxia or expect anyone to feel embarrassed about it. But surely it shouldn't be something to be proud of (not the right word I know), if we want to set examples for our DDs

OP posts:
Ktown · 24/10/2017 22:23

Pride in ignorance isn't great and certainly not in front of kids. But if you are bad at maths there shouldn't be shame.
I imagine it is tricky to get any job these days if you are really bad at maths. I gently am coaxing my child to ensure she is fully employable and mediocre at maths!

Doramaybe · 24/10/2017 22:23

The basics are fine.

Anyone who doesn't think so is in a maths environment.

Agreed?

MikeUniformMike · 24/10/2017 22:24

It's not just women who say they are rubbish at maths.
Bet they notice if they're shortchanged.

Aeroflotgirl · 24/10/2017 22:24

Not every job reqires Maths, and I steered away from those careers. I ended up being a community worker, working with adults with disabilities.

Naveloranges · 24/10/2017 22:26

Why should I feel embarrassed if I’m dreadful at Maths? I tried so hard over the years. It’s a complete mystery to me. On the other hand, my daughter is fantastic and loves Maths. She certainly hasn’t suffered growing up in a one parent, female, useless at Maths family. I have a good career, well above average salary and an utterly delightful daughter who is very much into more Stem oriented subjects.

DadDadDad · 24/10/2017 22:26

Dora - no, I don't agree, for the reasons I gave earlier. On top of that, for us a nation to compete with other nations in science, technology, finance etc we need to widely expose children to key mathematical techniques that are easier to learn and practise in a school environment than try to acquire later on.

tinypop4 · 24/10/2017 22:26

I know what you mean. People say this like being bad at maths is totally fine , but no one would say they couldn't read would they.

It needs addressing.

flyingpigsinclover · 24/10/2017 22:27

I am hopeless at maths, I was OK at helping when they were at primary school but not since. I'm ashamed of it though :-(

CheeseAndWine71 · 24/10/2017 22:27

Why is it socially acceptable to say you are rubbish at maths but would never say "oh I'm rubbish at reading" and laugh?They are equally as important and both used every day in multiple ways. Both should be treated as life skills and no one should be proud of not having good maths. I would also say IT is rapidly becoming critical.

tombstoneteeth · 24/10/2017 22:28

Back in the day, (50s-60s) girls were not expected to be good at maths. It just didn't matter whether they were or not, although boys were actively encouraged to study maths and science. We had rotten maths/science teachers at our girls' school, but outstanding humanities instruction. Consequently, I speak 5 languages - I don't actually think I'm that clever to be able to do so, but others seem to - I deflect praise by saying that really, I wish I was better at maths and could understand physics. There is no badge of honour to it - just a fact.

Pinkvoid · 24/10/2017 22:28

I’m not proud nor ashamed but I will freely admit I hate it and suck at it. I got A* in English and history and am currently studying for a degree in English lit. I failed maths completely. It seriously goes in one ear and out of the other. We all have strengths and weaknesses in life.

TeenTimesTwo · 24/10/2017 22:28

Dora As long as you accept that loads and loads of jobs are in a 'maths' environment.

Added to my original list: nurses and other health care, plumbers, engineers, shelf stacker organisers, interior designers, , tree surgeons (I bet they use trig).

Hoardinghobbit · 24/10/2017 22:29

Dora
You've made the same point repeatedly without responding to any PP who question that point. Logic and critical thinking are related to mathematical skills and help you with arguments about any topics - should you want to appear a creature of reason.

Marmalady75 · 24/10/2017 22:29

I was shortchanged in a shop today and when I pointed out that I had handed over a £20 note, bottle £10 she gave me change for, her reply was "I'm not good at maths. I failed my maths exam". I then had to explain that she owed my £10 more change. She giggled and repeated her earlier answer. How does not being good at maths mean you not know the difference between a £10 and a £20 note when you deal with cash as part of your job? I tried again explaining that my change was wrong then a manager came over to see what the problem was. I explained it to her, the girl on the till then repeated herself to the manager and I got my £10 with a shrug from the manager.

Doramaybe · 24/10/2017 22:30

Ah no, it is not just the basics, but that is so important.

I wonder what benefit there is to children trying to understand all the maths probabilities if they are not put in context for a future career or something relative, that is the problem.

Explain how all this theorem etc. stuff will help them instead of rote learning for an exam.

TeenTimesTwo · 24/10/2017 22:31

I don't think people should feel ashamed, but they certainly shouldn't talk about it in a positive way in front of children who will get the message that it is OK not to try at maths.

mommybunny · 24/10/2017 22:32

I have, in a way, been a victim of the cultural place women and girls have been put in regarding maths. I have a twin brother and we attended the same secondary school (high school in the US) and because we were both honours (top set) students they didn’t separate us. We had almost all our lessons together.

Though we were both honours students for almost all our subjects, the truth universally acknowledged, by us as well, was that he was “good at math and science” while I was “good at English and languages”. But that really only referred to our relative strengths, and now I look back it was a bit limiting. He is perfectly articulate and literate, and I am perfectly capable of using a Pythagorean method to correctly calculate a length of lining paper.

He is much quicker though, at mental arithmetic - I can usually figure things out but need at least a piece of paper and a pencil if not a calculator. His quickness also helped him through some really awful teaching we had in school, which I struggled through with only half a picture. In fact, now I am helping my DS a lot of things I missed are falling into place.

StatisticallyChallenged · 24/10/2017 22:32

I think there are plenty of jobs which aren't traditionally maths roles which still require more than the absolute basics - either at outset or as you progress. Not everybody can be good at everything but I do think we have a poor attitude to maths/STEM subjects in particular. It's seen as geeky in a way that being good at English isn't IMO.

There was a great thread fairly recently where loads of people explained how they use maths in their jobs and it was incredible to see the range of skills in different areas.

DaisyRaine90 · 24/10/2017 22:32

There’s a lot of anti education sentiment with parents in my area. Like “who cares about maths I failed my GCSE and now look at me” from the woman serving Macdonalds. Or “I can’t read and I’m doing well” from the man selling knock off fags at the pub.

There should be no pride in being bad at things and having low aspirations. I’m not saying there should be shame either but the boasting about being bad at things is weird.

southeastdweller · 24/10/2017 22:34

People say this like being bad at maths is totally fine , but no one would say they couldn't read would they.

But reading is a bigger part of our lives than maths can ever be.

Sallystyle · 24/10/2017 22:34

I am really shit at maths. I am studying now and there is a fair amount of maths involved. I spend a lot of time trying to learn but it never seems to stick. I find it frustrating and it hurts my head. I can't stand it.

I am not ashamed. I might laugh about it in public as well if the subject of maths comes up. I don't think it is anything to boast about but I've spent a lot of time trying to get my head around it and I'm just crap at maths and always will be. I prefer to laugh about it instead of getting upset that I'm crap at it. I often want to throw my computer across the room when it takes me ages to answer a maths question.

Thankfully my nearly 11 year old daughter is fantastic at maths and often tries to help me. And no, I'm not ashamed of that.

TeenTimesTwo · 24/10/2017 22:36

Dora As long as you expect teaching time in all other subjects to be taken up explaining the use of their subjects too...

The whole point of general education to GCSE is to provide a solid foundation in a broad range of knowledge and skills. That includes maths.

If you don't understand probabilities, how can you know whether doing the lottery is worthwhile, or taking out contents insurance, or betting on the grand national, or whether to go to London by train?

At what point are you going to say 'this child won't need harder maths, so we won't bother teaching it?' The point at the moment is after achieving GCSE grade 4. Do you want to make it age 11?

Doramaybe · 24/10/2017 22:36

Shortchanged is realised by adding and subtracting. And looking at the price on the goods and the price charged.

No advanced maths needed.

Sallystyle · 24/10/2017 22:38

My attitude has never harmed my children, two of them girls who are both good at maths and enjoy it.

MeganChips · 24/10/2017 22:43

I'm awful at maths. I look at it and somehow just see gobbledygook.

I did however manage to gain a grade C at GCSE through working really hard. I have a science degree and the rest of my qualifications are good grades, including all 3 sciences.

It's not something I'm proud of, it's just a fact. DH is shit at languages which I'm great at.

DH and both DCs are brilliant at it and it's something I actively encourage in my children. I did once have cross words with DD though when she was being a smart arse and told her not to ever mistake me for stupid even though maths isn't my strong point.