THE WRITING OF POST: “HOW KIDS ACTUALLY GET GOOD AT MATH IN AMERICA”

• I feel like in general people look around, see talent, and don’t realize there is some hidden structure or pipeline that cultivates this talent (true for a ton of things).

• Regular learning of any degree compounds incredibly.

• It’s funny being finished with teaching reading. I’m in an in-between time in that way: my youngest I haven’t started with yet (but will next year), and my eldest is totally finished.

• Math doesn’t finish in the same way reading does, so it feels more daunting.

• What’s something I myself can actually contribute in the short-term? Obviously, I’m not going to go teach my kids super advanced competition math myself, it’s beyond my purview.

• But there is a core of math that all adults know… however, it’s spaced out in weird ways. Why is probability reserved for a 12-year-old? It’s way more useful than most algebra. Etc.

• I settled on teaching the loosely-defined set of “math that I think an average adult would know.” It’s the math you don’t forget because you’re exposed to it enough, so it’s a self-sustaining set in a way other types of math aren’t. You can actually finish teaching it. And, of course, it’s very easy for me to teach it, since it’s all basic stuff I know.

• I’ll do that over the next year. If you want to follow along, please subscribe!

• At the same time, I’ll be investing the best resources and extracurricular programs for later.