American parents are sending their kids to 'Russian math' (2017)(wbur.org)
wbur.org
American parents are sending their kids to 'Russian math' (2017)
https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/04/13/russian-math-school
525 comments
I went through the Soviet/Russian school system with all the advanced topics being covered in high school as others described here. My moment of zen was on my third year in one of the top tech universities in Moscow. There were quite a few students coming from Novosibirsk University who were comfortably ahead of the curve when it came to math. When they showed their transcript ("zachetka"), they had ~3000 hours of Calculus in the first few years against our ~120... As they described it, each day after the usual roster of lectures and seminars, they would spend 4 hours in class in the evening solving math problems with a teacher. While we might have spent a few hours doing homework every now and then, it was nowhere near this. Not to mention doing it in class with a teacher who would likely also give them more challenging problems and valuable feedback. The sheer amount of time and mental effort was staggering.
It's a weird article. I think this idea of 'Russian math' is very nebulous, and is probably used as marketing tool nowadays by some schools abroad. I have graduated from one of the top physics/maths high schools in Russia, and yes we had great math education there, but that was an outlier. Outside a handful of schools the math education is pretty dismal.
And even in the good math schools there are different ways of teaching maths. I.e. there is a famous system of 'sheets' where the actual teaching of formal theory is very limited, while most of learning is done by solving problems (given to you on a sheet) and then presenting solutions to the teacher. But it wasn't used in our school for example.
What definitely exists in Russia (or at least some big cities) is a system of free after-school classes, where you can go and learn how to solve olympiad-type math problems and become more interested in maths. That is definitely extremely useful to identify a few people who are talented in maths.
What definitely exists in Russia (or at least some big cities) is a system of free after-school classes, where you can go and learn how to solve olympiad-type math problems and become more interested in maths. That is definitely extremely useful to identify a few people who are talented in maths.
My college had a decent-sized contingent of Bulgarian & Romanian international students. The difference in their math abilities upon entry was striking. While most of my American-born classmates struggled in discrete math, linear algebra, and vector calc, my Bulgarian friend was like "I learned this when I was 9." They were frequently tapped as TAs by the professors, because they understood the material on a level that Americans didn't.
As a Portuguese citizen, I was not exposed to Russian mathematics during my entire academic career until I entered university. Whilst slightly better than the UK, our educational system was also not brilliant when it came to maths, and we only started to do calculus close to Year 12 (the last year before university). Anyways, my one and only brush with Russian mathematics was as follows - I flunked Integral and Differential calculus on Year 1 at uni, and was getting really worried it would take me a while to do this subject. In Portugal you need to repeat a subject until you get a pass grade. Then a cousin told me I had to "do Piskunov".
In those days you didn't buy books, you'd photocopy them, so he gave me a very large photocopied manuscript of Piskunov [1] in Spanish. I had never seen anything like it. It was a bit like a game; it had very little instructions, and it started with absolutely trivial exercises, but continued on and on, relentlessly. And somehow, it got you hooked. I read the entire set of books compulsively, just to see what the next exercise would throw at me. I finished my exam really quickly and got 95% (in my rush, I made one mistake in the exam). My teacher even asked me about some of the ways in which I solved some of the exercises.
[1] https://mirtitles.org/2012/03/06/integeral-and-differential-...
In those days you didn't buy books, you'd photocopy them, so he gave me a very large photocopied manuscript of Piskunov [1] in Spanish. I had never seen anything like it. It was a bit like a game; it had very little instructions, and it started with absolutely trivial exercises, but continued on and on, relentlessly. And somehow, it got you hooked. I read the entire set of books compulsively, just to see what the next exercise would throw at me. I finished my exam really quickly and got 95% (in my rush, I made one mistake in the exam). My teacher even asked me about some of the ways in which I solved some of the exercises.
[1] https://mirtitles.org/2012/03/06/integeral-and-differential-...
This is the video by the daughter of the founder of the Russian School of Math. We sent our son there over the summer, he enjoyed it and all the kids were pretty advanced in the class. California seems to want to hold everyone back in the name of equity. But that will force more people into the private school system, which is exactly what we did. I don’t trust the California government to have my children’s best interest at heart, I think they want to hamstring them in the name of equity.
https://www.ted.com/talks/masha_gershman_how_math_can_prepar...
https://www.ted.com/talks/masha_gershman_how_math_can_prepar...
When I started high school in Canada, my math grades were pretty bad. Probably in the 60%s (a C letter grade). I remember staring at a quadratic equation, struggling to understand why those 3 terms drew a curve. I had no intuition for it.
The summer before 11th grade, my father decided he had enough. It was time to learn math, Soviet style. He sat me down for a few hours each morning with problems from 6th and 7th grade Russian math textbooks - which was strange to me of course because I was about to start 11th grade. One important rule was that a calculator was not allowed.
Everyday he had a list of questions ready for me that he had judiciously picked. Back in Ukraine he was a regional physics Olympiad winner, and a gold medal winner (in the Soviet Union, the top graduates from each high school were awarded a gold medal - goes to show how they valued academics I suppose). I can pull up some photos if anyone is interested.
The questions were very clever and pedagogical. You developed intuition by solving them. And you couldn't solve them if you didn't understand the underlying principles. And of course, there's the word problems. I could barely read Russian at the time, so I had to take my time, but they bridge the gap between theory and application. And without a calculator, you are forced to develop techniques for manipulating equations and numbers. You get really good at it.
I aced math and physics for the rest of high school (and later graduated with a degree in Engineering Physics).
The western education system really fails us. My dad sitting me down with those elementary Russian math textbooks and enforcing a no calculator rule was one of the best things he could have ever done for me. The Soviet mathematic curriculum was designed by some brilliant mathematicians who understood the importance of developing intuition. That importance seems to be lost here. People think that quantitative intuition doesn't matter as long as you can plug your equation into Wolfram Alpha. But when you approach math that way, you don't develop an analytical and quantitative lens.
Photos: [My father and my grandmother on the way to university in the 80s - https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tgv2gpy428rKs2GS8
Gold medal - https://photos.app.goo.gl/KsisSEvb4fbNEE419
Physics Olympiad diploma with translation - ]https://photos.app.goo.gl/b3hw6HXmQN25iXay9]
The summer before 11th grade, my father decided he had enough. It was time to learn math, Soviet style. He sat me down for a few hours each morning with problems from 6th and 7th grade Russian math textbooks - which was strange to me of course because I was about to start 11th grade. One important rule was that a calculator was not allowed.
Everyday he had a list of questions ready for me that he had judiciously picked. Back in Ukraine he was a regional physics Olympiad winner, and a gold medal winner (in the Soviet Union, the top graduates from each high school were awarded a gold medal - goes to show how they valued academics I suppose). I can pull up some photos if anyone is interested.
The questions were very clever and pedagogical. You developed intuition by solving them. And you couldn't solve them if you didn't understand the underlying principles. And of course, there's the word problems. I could barely read Russian at the time, so I had to take my time, but they bridge the gap between theory and application. And without a calculator, you are forced to develop techniques for manipulating equations and numbers. You get really good at it.
I aced math and physics for the rest of high school (and later graduated with a degree in Engineering Physics).
The western education system really fails us. My dad sitting me down with those elementary Russian math textbooks and enforcing a no calculator rule was one of the best things he could have ever done for me. The Soviet mathematic curriculum was designed by some brilliant mathematicians who understood the importance of developing intuition. That importance seems to be lost here. People think that quantitative intuition doesn't matter as long as you can plug your equation into Wolfram Alpha. But when you approach math that way, you don't develop an analytical and quantitative lens.
Photos: [My father and my grandmother on the way to university in the 80s - https://photos.app.goo.gl/Tgv2gpy428rKs2GS8
Gold medal - https://photos.app.goo.gl/KsisSEvb4fbNEE419
Physics Olympiad diploma with translation - ]https://photos.app.goo.gl/b3hw6HXmQN25iXay9]
By about 1/4th of the way through I wanted to just know what 'russian math' looked like. By Halfway it was pretty clear they weren't going to tell me. I skimmed the last half, nothing stood out.
What does "Russian Math" look like?
What does "Russian Math" look like?
If the article is accurate, one Japanese equivalent of this, known as Kumon, is almost its polar opposite -- remembering my own experiences with it as a kid, it was very much about rote memorisation and doing the same sheet of arithmetic as quickly as possible. One of the exercises Kumon made kids do at the age of 5 is to simply place shuffled magnets with the numbers 1 to 100 in order on a 10x10 board.
I can't say that this approach really turned me onto maths: quite the opposite. Past a certain level, the Kumon teachers were essentially just marking from an answer book, without any understanding of the content themselves. They had zero interest (or perhaps ability) in conveying the beauty or applications of maths to the students.
The approach that made me love maths was one where I understood the intuition and purpose behind the methods, ideally enough to develop them from the bare minimum myself.
I can't say that this approach really turned me onto maths: quite the opposite. Past a certain level, the Kumon teachers were essentially just marking from an answer book, without any understanding of the content themselves. They had zero interest (or perhaps ability) in conveying the beauty or applications of maths to the students.
The approach that made me love maths was one where I understood the intuition and purpose behind the methods, ideally enough to develop them from the bare minimum myself.
My sister sent my niece to one, as even her 'private' middle school in Newton, MA, was just not strong enough. She did sign up my niece in every summer class she could, without overloading her. It was always my nieces' choice, and half the time she choose arts and half science. Now, my niece is able to do college entry level data science classes (she is about to become a Junior in HighSchool), and she actually likes it a lot.
American schools are too soft on science in general. I did grades 1-11 in Albania and my senior year of HighSchool in the US. Some of my schooling in Albania was done under communism, and some after communism fell in the 90s.
The Albanian school was brutal in teaching science. Biology started at 5th grade, pre-Algebra at 5, and full blown Algebra at 6, physics at 6, and Chemistry at 7. Then in highschool you did the same, but more advanced. There was no choice at all, you had to do them all. The only choice in HS was a second foreign language. The whole idea was that you have to know all the basics of ALL sciences, so in college you know what to choose and pursue. If you never tried, you will have no clue if you liked something or not. (also basic music knowledge, sheet reading, and arts was a requirement as well).
When I came to the US, I was flabergasted how behind most of the kids were in science. I took AP physics, and it became boring as it was things I had done in 8th grade. I got 800./800 on the SAT 2, physics.
The math part, I took AP calc, and it was advanced enough, especially the part B to challenge me. But this was clearly an elective that only about 30 students took it, while back home it was a requirement for all.
Unfortunately, the current movement on dumbing down math and science in the name of 'equity' is a step behind and very dispiriting. It is bound to hurt poorer but smart kids, that can't afford private tutoring and have to rely only on public schools. Extreme progressive Liberals are killing science and progress in this country, and are becoming actually regressive and backwards.
P.s. The only advantage of American teaching on science was that it relies more on experiments to teach concepts, while the Albanian one had no equipment, or lacked the basics of it. Heck, in the 90s we didn't even have glass on the windows and had to freeze all winter. Also basic electricity was lacking half of the winter.
Ps2. Most Americans have it good (condition wise), they just don't know it
Ps3. This is a good video how schooling was back then (in 88). Notice how the kids are wearing jackets inside, as there was no heating https://youtu.be/yZD1jaKbz2g?t=251
American schools are too soft on science in general. I did grades 1-11 in Albania and my senior year of HighSchool in the US. Some of my schooling in Albania was done under communism, and some after communism fell in the 90s.
The Albanian school was brutal in teaching science. Biology started at 5th grade, pre-Algebra at 5, and full blown Algebra at 6, physics at 6, and Chemistry at 7. Then in highschool you did the same, but more advanced. There was no choice at all, you had to do them all. The only choice in HS was a second foreign language. The whole idea was that you have to know all the basics of ALL sciences, so in college you know what to choose and pursue. If you never tried, you will have no clue if you liked something or not. (also basic music knowledge, sheet reading, and arts was a requirement as well).
When I came to the US, I was flabergasted how behind most of the kids were in science. I took AP physics, and it became boring as it was things I had done in 8th grade. I got 800./800 on the SAT 2, physics.
The math part, I took AP calc, and it was advanced enough, especially the part B to challenge me. But this was clearly an elective that only about 30 students took it, while back home it was a requirement for all.
Unfortunately, the current movement on dumbing down math and science in the name of 'equity' is a step behind and very dispiriting. It is bound to hurt poorer but smart kids, that can't afford private tutoring and have to rely only on public schools. Extreme progressive Liberals are killing science and progress in this country, and are becoming actually regressive and backwards.
P.s. The only advantage of American teaching on science was that it relies more on experiments to teach concepts, while the Albanian one had no equipment, or lacked the basics of it. Heck, in the 90s we didn't even have glass on the windows and had to freeze all winter. Also basic electricity was lacking half of the winter.
Ps2. Most Americans have it good (condition wise), they just don't know it
Ps3. This is a good video how schooling was back then (in 88). Notice how the kids are wearing jackets inside, as there was no heating https://youtu.be/yZD1jaKbz2g?t=251
It is not Russian but 'Soviets math'. Ironically, Russia introduced analogy of USA's standardized right after Itina emigrated from Russia and now Russian's math is also optimized for memorizing but not for 'emphasizing reasoning and deeper understanding'
we are one of those parents (in Bay Area) who send our kid to RSM (Russian School of Math). We are very happy with it so far (6yo completed her first year) and, most importantly, our daughter is very happy with it too. It is not simple rule memorization and counting, even for 6yo the problems they come up with are interesting enough so that the kid wants to solve them.
After school programs have been a profitable enterprise in South Korea and China. I think they're still in the growth-phase in the United States with companies like Kumon, Eye Level, and Russian School of Mathematics. Competition to get kids to accel in school is high but it's also increasing the stress of these kids. Parents in South Korea, for example, have stated in numerous survey responses that they would delay having kids (among many things) because of the cost of after-school tuition.
It's a shame because education is viewed as that one normalizer which allows a child from a poor family to make it up to the top through hard work. Wealthy parents are simply gaming the system by putting kids through cram-schools and SAT programs which train you how to read between the lines and fill out Scantrons effectively.
Private tutoring is nothing new but now you're seeing tutoring becoming like a Subway's or a McDonalds franchise.
It's a shame because education is viewed as that one normalizer which allows a child from a poor family to make it up to the top through hard work. Wealthy parents are simply gaming the system by putting kids through cram-schools and SAT programs which train you how to read between the lines and fill out Scantrons effectively.
Private tutoring is nothing new but now you're seeing tutoring becoming like a Subway's or a McDonalds franchise.
I had the same experience going from a French elementary school to a German school.
What we were taught in second grade only popped up again in 6th grade in Germany.
Then I went on exchange to the US in 10th grade and I noticed they were lagging behind the German system by about 2 years.
So US vs France must be a 6 year lag.
What we were taught in second grade only popped up again in 6th grade in Germany.
Then I went on exchange to the US in 10th grade and I noticed they were lagging behind the German system by about 2 years.
So US vs France must be a 6 year lag.
See here for an account of Russian-style ‘math circles’ for young children:
https://www.msri.org/people/staff/levy/files/MCL/Zvonkin.pdf
https://www.msri.org/people/staff/levy/files/MCL/Zvonkin.pdf
This is a sore point for me.
I graduated from a tony American private high school, and went on to graduate from an ivy league college.
The last math I learned was basic trig in eleventh grade.
Somehow I was allowed, encouraged even, to avoid math. I never had to say the word math in college or graduate school.
As a result I do not actually know what calculus is, and while I’m sure you don’t invoke it while calculating a tip, I often struggle with that exercise.
Regrettably. I’m sure my predicament is not unique.
I graduated from a tony American private high school, and went on to graduate from an ivy league college.
The last math I learned was basic trig in eleventh grade.
Somehow I was allowed, encouraged even, to avoid math. I never had to say the word math in college or graduate school.
As a result I do not actually know what calculus is, and while I’m sure you don’t invoke it while calculating a tip, I often struggle with that exercise.
Regrettably. I’m sure my predicament is not unique.
Chinese here. We followed the Russian/Soviet system of math education for quite a while. The Soviet textbooks were and are still considered superior comparing to our own (from middle school straight to university). They have a certain quality that Chinese textbooks fail to grasp.
Nowadays many schools turn to the American system (I don't know why) and the requirements for math has been dropping for a decade. The inequality of teaching resources is obvious when you compare a student from a privileged school with one from say a country-side school. The government tries to equalize things but it's very difficult to go against the top teachers and rich dads/moms.
Nowadays many schools turn to the American system (I don't know why) and the requirements for math has been dropping for a decade. The inequality of teaching resources is obvious when you compare a student from a privileged school with one from say a country-side school. The government tries to equalize things but it's very difficult to go against the top teachers and rich dads/moms.
I'm Russian and one thing I liked when I was a kid was the monthly physics & math magazine "Quantum" (Russian: "Квант", "Kvant") that was aimed at schoolchildren. Are there any such magazines in United States?
The core theory, that abstract reasoning and deeper understanding should be introduced as early as possible is marvelous.
But I'm over the idea of hammering kids with homework... This is in addition to their school workload.
But I'm over the idea of hammering kids with homework... This is in addition to their school workload.
I'm from Russia, and in the US I attended GCPM - a "correspondence program" with math assignments sent to me by mail and later graded by a university professor. Was a great learning experience (the program had dedicated books and interesting math problems to explore).
https://www.egcpm.com/ - Gelfand Correspondence Program In Mathematics
https://www.egcpm.com/ - Gelfand Correspondence Program In Mathematics
Here are the "Arnold's problems" — which every Russian kid even slightly mathematically inclined have seen and worked on many times: https://www.imaginary.org/sites/default/files/taskbook_arnol.... It is really good, in my opinion.
People may find this interesting http://toomandre.com/travel/sweden05/WP-SWEDEN-NEW.pdf (PDF)
It is written by a mathematician who has taught in Russia, the US and Brazil. They have a lot to say about how math is taught in the US. The paper also has a lot of sample problems.
It is written by a mathematician who has taught in Russia, the US and Brazil. They have a lot to say about how math is taught in the US. The paper also has a lot of sample problems.
I am from India. The school I went to (70-80s) wasn't the best, but I had an innate aptitude for math
(perhaps genetic). I was lucky to get introduced to some Russian math texts [1][2] from my 3rd/4th standards which helped me (alongwith some local texts) to get good scholarships and rankings in Maths and science
competitions (including a national level Math olympiad) and a later admission to a top level engg college in IIT
(again thanks to accessing good libraries for foreign authored books). I see the Russian books as having provided
me with a good foundation by being fun and interesting, informative, affordable, immersive and engaging and it
really fuelled my interest in math and science. Given the resurgence of the Russian school of math in the US I
wish I could be there to educate my children in that tradition. But not being there (out of choice and circumstance,
I studied in Boston for a while) I really wish something like this was available in India.
So my question is - is there some sort of a curriculum and associated training material (books, texts) available based on the Russian way of teaching, on which to develop a training plan locally in a country like India? Given the plethora of online school education options available today I do not know what exact training methods are used there, but platforms exist to have a broader reach for teachers to find interested students. I presume it would not be too difficult to setup a curriculum and training outside the normal school one with the explicit intention of developing strong math skills based on a Russian math education base if one wants to teach.
[1] Mainly by Mir publishers, some of which are thankfully still available online @mirtitles.org
[2] the ones I got were at throwaway prices, titles such as Yakov Perelman's Fun with Math, some Little Mathematics Library books physics, chemistry, cybernetics etc.
So my question is - is there some sort of a curriculum and associated training material (books, texts) available based on the Russian way of teaching, on which to develop a training plan locally in a country like India? Given the plethora of online school education options available today I do not know what exact training methods are used there, but platforms exist to have a broader reach for teachers to find interested students. I presume it would not be too difficult to setup a curriculum and training outside the normal school one with the explicit intention of developing strong math skills based on a Russian math education base if one wants to teach.
[1] Mainly by Mir publishers, some of which are thankfully still available online @mirtitles.org
[2] the ones I got were at throwaway prices, titles such as Yakov Perelman's Fun with Math, some Little Mathematics Library books physics, chemistry, cybernetics etc.
And then there is Singapore math
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/education/01math.html
In my experience and opinion about studying till High school and then University here in Ontario, Canada:
- Canada seems to be obsessed to maintain high-stats. when it comes to 'literacy rate' - that is why till Grade 12, education is intentionally dumbed-down to the point any kid could just do bare minimum and still pass. Even if the kid is dumb-as-bricks, they can choose to do watered down versions of maths, physics, chemistry and still complete their High School Diploma requirements.
- However, as soon as you enroll into STEM program at University, it is on-par in terms of difficulty with their counterparts elsewhere. What was a easy-peasy style of mathematics taught in Canadian High School makes way to the old 'no-calculator and Professors don't help' style engineering calculus and maths.
This is where I found students who had studied even in 3rd World countries like Pakistan and Eritrea (I kid you not) had advantage in math and science courses throughout their degree program. Heck, it took me few tries to get into the groove but in process wasted 1000s of dollars and couple years trying to retake the courses.
The severe downside is that if your kid has above-average intelligence (as it was in my case) and if they join the Canadian education system at young age (in my case at age 13), by the time majority of these kids become adults, majority of them (as in my case) permanently loose their spark and thus get destined to think only inside the box.
I don't want to rant but another thing I notice is the leniency showed by Canadian Education system when it comes to the whole 'culture' in K-12 years. It is hands down meant to destroy bright minds / make them outcasts. The whole toxic culture of labelling those who are intelligent and/or less fashionable as nerds/geeks/dorks and nonsensical encouragement for sports and arts activities ends up alienating majority of smart kids and many just intentionally dumb themselves down to blend in with their peers.
Had the Canadian education system taken leaf from countries like Singapore/India/Pakistan/Iran/Russia/China and actually made efforts to academically grind their students and to promote discipline (with uniforms and academic competitions leading to glory) - Canada would be producing far more intelligent adults. The current status is: Canada manages to 'import' bright and gifted scientists / university students from all corners of the World and is happy to grant them passports and claim 'Canadians are damn smart' -- what really is smart if you can take army of Canadian children and ensure they are smart-as-heck when they become adults.
- Canada seems to be obsessed to maintain high-stats. when it comes to 'literacy rate' - that is why till Grade 12, education is intentionally dumbed-down to the point any kid could just do bare minimum and still pass. Even if the kid is dumb-as-bricks, they can choose to do watered down versions of maths, physics, chemistry and still complete their High School Diploma requirements.
- However, as soon as you enroll into STEM program at University, it is on-par in terms of difficulty with their counterparts elsewhere. What was a easy-peasy style of mathematics taught in Canadian High School makes way to the old 'no-calculator and Professors don't help' style engineering calculus and maths.
This is where I found students who had studied even in 3rd World countries like Pakistan and Eritrea (I kid you not) had advantage in math and science courses throughout their degree program. Heck, it took me few tries to get into the groove but in process wasted 1000s of dollars and couple years trying to retake the courses.
The severe downside is that if your kid has above-average intelligence (as it was in my case) and if they join the Canadian education system at young age (in my case at age 13), by the time majority of these kids become adults, majority of them (as in my case) permanently loose their spark and thus get destined to think only inside the box.
I don't want to rant but another thing I notice is the leniency showed by Canadian Education system when it comes to the whole 'culture' in K-12 years. It is hands down meant to destroy bright minds / make them outcasts. The whole toxic culture of labelling those who are intelligent and/or less fashionable as nerds/geeks/dorks and nonsensical encouragement for sports and arts activities ends up alienating majority of smart kids and many just intentionally dumb themselves down to blend in with their peers.
Had the Canadian education system taken leaf from countries like Singapore/India/Pakistan/Iran/Russia/China and actually made efforts to academically grind their students and to promote discipline (with uniforms and academic competitions leading to glory) - Canada would be producing far more intelligent adults. The current status is: Canada manages to 'import' bright and gifted scientists / university students from all corners of the World and is happy to grant them passports and claim 'Canadians are damn smart' -- what really is smart if you can take army of Canadian children and ensure they are smart-as-heck when they become adults.
I used to think that the K12 math education was really bad, but now I have a different perspective. Many public schools in China and Russia are essentially like magnet schools in the US because students need to compete for entrance. So, those schools can afford more challenging syllabus. In contrast, the US has few such magnet schools, and people of different academic capacity go into the same school. As a result, teachers can't really teach too advanced concepts or assign too hard homework. This may sound far-fetched, but you may be surprised that more than 50% of students may never be able to understand Euclidean geometry, let alone analytical geometry or set theory or probability or proof by induction, and etc. And more than 50% of STEM students in college may not truly understand calculus, let alone analysis. Case in point, roughly 50% of middle school students can't get into high school in China, even though the entrance exams are really not that hard as most of the questions are designed to examine a student's understanding of basic concepts. Therefore, we may look at the quality of the math class in the US and feel miserable, but that's only because the class is tailored to the lower 50%-ile. On the other hand, the clubs and gift programs in public schools are still of high quality -- all the more reason for not canceling such programs in the name of equity.
[deleted]
I am also from Eastern Europe, but did my Bachelor in the west. For a lot of people there things like limits, series etc. were almost like greek. Speaking of greek, we did some group study and there was a person there who kept saying E this E that. I was perplexed until I saw he meant Sigma as in sum.
But those who didn't know learned it and that was that. I'm not sure it's really that beneficial to force a lot on kids before they are ready to use it or know what it's for. I remember 10th/11th grade sitting and eventually realizing all this stuff we do... I will eventually need to do it to make sure e.g. a building does not crash. And that scared me to death, I did not feel prepared at all. When things are thrown at you before you're ready and can really understand it, it's sort of like you lack a connection to what is essential and what you might be able to do with it on your own. You do your little examples and tasks and solve them, but outside of that context you don't really understand it. I don't think any educational system has figured that out for the majority of kids.
But those who didn't know learned it and that was that. I'm not sure it's really that beneficial to force a lot on kids before they are ready to use it or know what it's for. I remember 10th/11th grade sitting and eventually realizing all this stuff we do... I will eventually need to do it to make sure e.g. a building does not crash. And that scared me to death, I did not feel prepared at all. When things are thrown at you before you're ready and can really understand it, it's sort of like you lack a connection to what is essential and what you might be able to do with it on your own. You do your little examples and tasks and solve them, but outside of that context you don't really understand it. I don't think any educational system has figured that out for the majority of kids.
Reminds me of stories I used to see about Japanese families sending their kids to "Indian" schools:
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/business/worldbusiness/02...
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/business/worldbusiness/02...
Does anyone know where to find translated Russian math textbooks?
I was lucky to get an education in three systems (Soviet Math, Romanian Math School (influenced by both French and Soviet Math school), and finally in a world top 40 university in North America.
I would summarize the Soviet/Russian Math/Physics approach like this:
That being said, I did like some of the aspects from the so called "Western Math" (in my case Canadian university):