RM> DT>I know that many kids memorize facts...but can they apply them? 
RM> DT>But I see many kids, even 5th graders, still struggling with 
RM> DT>some basic math concepts.  I am left to wonder why?
RM> 
RM> 1. Many kids simply don't CARE why, they just want a nice,
RM>    easy formula to follow that ALWAYS works.  I see it every
RM>    day in physics, and I'm sure Sheila does in math.  It's
RM>    much easier than investing the effort in understanding.
    The _top_ reason most kids who reach your grade level without adequate 
math skills to succeed in physics is that math is a _sequential_ subject.  If 
the kid doesn't learn math just one year, by whoever's fault, he will be 
unlikely to recover and be able to succeed in later math and math-based 
courses.
    Other subjects are not sequential (through the HS level, and often 
beyond).  Getting an "F" in 6th-grade social studies doesn't keep a kid from 
getting an "A" in the subject every subsequent year.  Failing HS chemistry 
does not keep a kid from picking it up in freshman chem in college and 
graduating cum laude with a chem major.  Math, though, is the only sequential 
subject at the K-12 level...and the kid and his teacher must both succeed 
every year in order to prevent the kid from reaching HS as a "mathematical 
cripple".
--- Simplex BBS (v1.07.00Beta [DOS])
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