Archeuland and Baughistan wrote:Wintergord wrote:There are several important aspects that are useful in daily life but of course some that can be discarded:
-Long division.
-Calculus.
-Polynomials.
I learn physics and trigonometry at my current grade, at first I was against it but I have developed a tolerance for both subjects.
Long division can be discarded? What? Long division is basic mathematics. Calculus and polynomials are among the more obscure and useless portions, and they can certainly be disregarded, but long division. Again. What?
Long division is useless. I don't even bother teaching it to my students any more, because there are more efficient ways to divide (most of which can be done mentally once you get proficient at them).
Algebra on the other hand is an essential building block of mathematics. Teaching mathematics without algebra would be like teaching English without verbs.