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

[Fidoandacupoftea]

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

Depends on the maths. I’m better at algebra, statistics, patterns, graphs, and am very good at learning new things. Dh is better at differentiation, geometry / trigonometry.

my two medic daughters do mental drug calculations

Really Crumbs? I hope they're not neonatologists or paediatricians where precise calculations are hugely important.

For most people proficiency in maths occurs after a whole heap of repetition and practise. Some people give up before they really start, I suppose especially if it's considered ok to be "crap" at maths.

That's not including those who go on to do pure maths, but even they benefit from repetition and practise.

If a child is facing a complicated problem and doesn't know their times tables well they'll be well behind the kids who can do these in a blink of an eye.

The world has dumbed down and it is seen as cool to be an idiot who didn’t listen at school etc. Too much vacuous celebrity culture and not enough people who take education seriously. It’s just depressing

I hear this all the time OP, YADNBU. It’s usually said by women, and even sometimes teachers (I’m a primary teacher). I find it so depressing- like pp have said women never say oh I can’t read very well so why is it socially acceptable to say this about maths??
I didn’t enjoy maths at school, and avoided it as much as possible since giving it up after O level (passed both maths and advanced maths at O level) even though I studied a science degree.
When I did my PGCE we talked quite a lot about this negative attitude to maths and how we can counteract it. I discovered during this that I really enjoy maths, particularly algebra.
I hear it often at parents’ evenings, and always from the mums, never the dads.
I hope the new Shanghai maths we are teaching will produce a generation of children who enjoy maths more and see themselves as mathematicians.

But Maths isn’t just about knowing how to calculate the numbers involved, it’s about applying the process of logic, finding patterns and working with what you do know to find out what you don’t.

You don’t have to be good at the nitty gritty of Maths to make use of its concepts.

Besides the history of Maths is amazing and should be studied also.

I don't understand it either but I've seen/ heard the same.
I'm not great with maths but I've found that to be a hindrance and an embarrassment. My parents did think it was important and paid for extra tutoring, so I was always aware that it was something I needed to tackle. However I passed my GCSE, breathed a sigh of relief and pretty much forgot about it until I needed it for my working life.
I'm a solicitor and when I'm negotiating I need to be able to calculate interest rates and success fees pretty much on the spot. I have got better at it, with effort (and it helps that i married an accountant who has kindly coached me at home too!) and grown in confidence - I've realised I can actually do it, I'm just a bit slower than I would like to be.
All this "titter, titter, I'm rubbish at maths, no point trying" is just one more reason why men get all the best jobs!

Unfortunately this is the ' it is feminine to be thick' attitude that should have gone in the 1950s

The maths is hard meme was certainly about when I was at school in the 1970's.
When I studied calculus after O'level I then discovered the beauty of maths.
I've always encouraged my DD to love maths and see it as a challenge or adventure. She loves maths and is really good at it.

I throughly recommend inspirational maths teacher Colin Hegarty to give children a positive and can do attitude to maths.

I loved maths at school, and did very well at it, scoring one of the top grades in the country. However I was certainly in the minority at school- I was one of only 7 girls (out of 135) doing higher level leaving certificate maths (maths is a compulsory subject for all in Ireland until school leaving). Funny thing is the 3/7 got a1(90%+) and others did very well too. There was a definite perception that only the very brightest should study higher level maths and that it was very difficult. The local boys secondary had 50 students sitting higher level maths. Boys are not inherently better at maths, it’s about perception, confidence and societal expectations.

Maths is important. It’s a skill we use daily. It assists us in thinking logically. I may not use trigonometry and integration daily anymore but I do analyse scientific papers and use statistics. I also don’t think much about igneous rock formation, Bronze Age history or conjugating French verbs but I don’t consider that time wasted either!

My DD is only 3, but she already loves numbers and is doing simple addition and subtraction (with objects as opposed to sums on a page). I hope she will grow up to enjoy it too.

Maths is difficult, but the UK has a huge problem with the number of students who stop doing maths at 16 and who may be to all intents and purposes mathematically illiterate.

Are there any other countries in Europe which allow the vast majority of students to drop maths completely at 16? The UK is a real outlier in this respect.

Do you know what makes me laugh? The teachers that used to tell us we needed to know how to work things out mentally as we wouldn't be carrying a calculator with us all the time. Little did they know we all now do with our phones

I have heard this a lot but equally I have heard lots of people say what rubbish spellers they are.

Growing up my mum always told us she couldn't do maths but genuinely she missed a lot through sickness as a teenager so certain topics she had never done before.

I never say I'm not good at maths to my dc, will tell them it's not the most natural subject in the world for me but I learnt at GCSE as long as I practised I eventually got it. It is the one that gives me a sense of accomplishment once I get that 'a-ha' moment and I do love algebra.

It annoys me too. But then I tend not to socialize with people who brag about this like oh I'm so ditzy me! I hate dumb people.

I mentioned this thread to DH (the mathematician in our house). His view is that unless someone can prove they have made a decision entirely on gut instinct, and how often do we really do that, they have used maths. It's inherent to our everyday lives, doesn't need to be at a high level and I hate it when people say they can't do it in that boasty way.

I’m sadly poor at Maths. Dd is excellent. I always tell her that it’s not my strong point but I am always keen to learn.
It’s ridiculous to undermine yourself in front of your dc.

I know what you mean OP.
It seems somehow cool and acceptable to not be able to do basic calculations.

But then it's in quite a bit of gendered advertising and products too.

I also hate 'when are we ever going yo need pi, trig etc' after school arguments. I've not needed it. But I've needed other elements of maths and friends who've gone into STEM disciplines or architecture have used it more than me. Why should the maths curriculum be dumbed down to the lowesf point?

I left secondary school in ‘84 AnUtterIdiot. My all girls state school was excellent at maths and sciences (still going and now has special STEM status).

My dad (engineer) told all of his children, girls and boys that they could do whatever they wanted to subject wise. I remember him making an appointment to see the head because I had chosen five sciences at GCSE and they would have preferred me to do a second foreign language. I got my choices (back in the day when nine was the maximum at my school).

Such a difference in opportunities has a huge impact.

I got an A at maths GCSE. But I hated it. I’m not a particularly patient person so having the “imagine it’s a puzzle to solve” isn’t my idea of fun. The worst thing in Maths lesson was when a concept was introduced, I understood it, and then it got more difficult/advanced and I was suddenly confused.
And who honestly has the time to set up a whole simultaneous equation in a restaurant FFS let alone solve it? That sounds really bloody complicated.
And yes my mother was terrible at maths. U at O-Level/CSE (forget which) and did a functional skills qualification instead where she learnt about stuff like finance.

I do think it’s a defence mechanism a lot of the time.

nolongersurprised I worked in paediatrics for a while and yes I did a lot of calculations in my head. There wouldn't have been time to write them all down; but yes I did partly write out the more complex ones to check. I also knew my level of competence so was "safe" doing that.

I have a son and a daughter, both are excellent at maths and sciences which given our background is no surprise. However, their attitudes / instincts are quite different. My son (and admittedly he is much more like I was) "just gets it" but is also unfazed when he sees something he doesn't get immediately, and wants to figure it out. My daughter also frequently "just gets it" - but when faced by something that doesn't immediately make sense she is all too likely to shut down about it. That can be very frustrating to me! Some years ago, when she was still in primary, I remember running with something she'd shown interest in, and taking it a little too far, followed by a cry of "Mummy, I don't want to be a geek like you". By contrast her younger brother is currently revelling in being in the "nerds class" as he is in a scholarship preparation group this year.

My daughter is fabulous at humanities subjects as well and I am not going to force her into STEM areas - she needs to work out what she really wants to do with her life. (she's just starting GCSEs) I don't object to the specialisation available at A levels as long as children are taken as far as possible before them. Which is where enough GCSE options should continue to be available to push able students but also consolidate fundamental knowledge securely for the less able. The approach needed at highschool level to develop day-to-day relevant mathematics skills with those who are less instinctive about mathematics is quite different from developing those instincts into deeper areas.

I have to laugh - my daughter was on a school trip the other day, and obviously responding to / asking questions that revealed her ability. The woman supervising her group checked that she was good at maths and then basically ordered her to do physics at A level :) When she told me I did say well maybe History Maths and Physics would be a good combo ... [my first degree was in physics] I've been resigning myself to thinking that we'll be lucky if she at least takes maths through A level, but maybe there's hope yet :)

My husband is driven mental at times by students who complain when he wants them to use some maths in his lectures. He teaches in medicine and biomedical sciences. Personally I think it is scary that students seem to be allowed to do science degrees, of any flavour, without taking on board that mathematics is a fundamental tool of science that they have to have at their fingertips.

When will you use quadratic equations?

My OH always says that he wishes someone had told him at school that quadratic equations are what you need to calculate the trajectory of a cannon ball! It would have made all the difference to his enjoyment of maths :)

I have dyscalculia, which makes life quite difficult. I can transpose numbers with shocking ease and even using a calculator, I can get the wrong answer. I am unable to remember how to do most maths things unless I am doing them all the time (think percentages). I am not dim, but maths is a closed book to me. I failed spectacularly at exams and did not humiliate myself by trying resits. If I tell someone I am crap at maths, believe me, it is not a boast; I am telling them because they need to know.

What its about IME is the unspoken and subconscious implication that being terrible at maths means they have been gifted with some kind of creative genius. Its a female thing. Oh I'm awful at maths! (Because im so dreamy and impractical and creative and free-spirited). Thats the subtext!

I dont really understand maths. Ive got a bit of a mental block and numbers make me anxious. Im really not proud of it and do not want my children to think this is ok.
I was always ok with algebra, and science subjects, but not maths. I wish i could do it. I cant even help with the kids primary homework in this subject

pythonesque I worked in paediatrics for a while and yes I did a lot of calculations in my head. There wouldn't have been time to write them down

I've rarely written stuff down, except in NICU where the nurses were instructed to check all of your calculations in complex dilutions. But that's why there are caluculators at every work station - mind you, they discouraged any form of rounding where I worked so working out something like 175mg/kg/dose for a 683g neonate was beyond my mental maths skills.