I had attrocious handwriting as a child. As an experiment in one of my High School years a group of us chronic scrawlers was given an intensive course in italic script. I am eternally grateful to whoever thought up that idea. My ordinary handwriting is still a bit scrawly, but when I need to - and put my mind to  it -  I can still do a pretty good italic 'hand.

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@illicit69 wrote:

Whilst agree that Mathematics (without the use of the dreaded calculator) is the most important of all the subjects at School. However, if you’re not taught cursive writing (it used to be called “copy book” writing when I was a child and I loved it,are our children of today going to simply print their signature because they’ve never been taught basic ‘running writing’ – how easy that would be to forge? Call me old fashioned, but to my mind true cursive writing (penmanship) is a thing of beauty, it’s an art and something that should never be allowed to die. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That is pretty, illicit. We learned modified cursive at school (NSW late 60s early 70s) which was rather boring with no loops.

not if they had trained their brain sufficiently.

Math is simply about learning the sequences in a logical order and mastering each step before moving onto the next step. The only skill required is sufficient practise and mastery at each level.

The sequence that 16 MILLION children world wide follow is

7A-2A are preschool levels.

• Level 7A: Counting to 10
• Level 6A: Counting to 30
• Level 5A: Line drawing, number puzzles to 50
• Level 4A: Reciting and writing numbers up to 50
• Level 3A: Numbers up to 120, Adding up to 3
• Level 2A: Adding up to 10

Levels A-F are elementary school levels.

• Level A: Horizontal addition, Subtraction from numbers up to 20
• Level B: Vertical addition and subtraction
• Level C: Basic multiplication, division
• Level 😧 Long multiplication, long division, introduction to fractions
• Level E: Fractions
• Level F: Four operations of fractions, decimals

Levels G-J are middle school levels.

• Level G: Positive/negative numbers, exponents, Algebraic expressions, Pre-algebra
• Level H: Linear/simultaneous equations, inequality algebraic, functions and graphs
• Level I: Factorization, square roots, quadratic equations, Pythagorean theorem
• Level J: Advanced algebra

Levels K-O are high school levels.

• Level K: Functions: Quadratic, fractional, irrational, exponential
• Level L: Logarithms, basic limits, derivatives, integrals, and its applications
• Level M: Trigonometry, straight lines, equation of circles.
• Level N: Loci, limits of functions, sequences, differentiation
• Level O: Advanced differentiation, integration, applications of calculus, differential equations.

Level X is an elective level for grades 7+; also, there are no tests available yet on this level.

• • Level XT—Triangles: Sine, cosine theorems, application of trigonometry in area
  • Level XV—Vectors: Vectors, inner products, equations of lines, planes, and figures in 3-space.
  • Level XM—Linear algebra: Matrices, determinant, mapping, linear transformation
  • Level XP—Probability: Permutations, combinations, probability, independent trials, expected value
  • Level XS—Statistics: Binomial and normal distributions, probability density functions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing

As I said a LOGICAL order - now compare that to what and how it is taught in Australian Schools

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@*elizabeths-mum* wrote:

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@crikey*mate wrote:

When my eldest was in grade 9, he had to do some algebra test and use an Fx82 calculator (calculator skills are actually a part of the curriculum!). He didn't use calculators at all (mainly because he keeps losing them), so didn't on this test.

He got all of the answers correct in 20 minutes (they were allowed 40). His teacher failed him. She then called me up to the school horrified that my kid was failing Math. When I pointed out that he could do math, he had gotten every sum correct, her reply was "if he can't use a calculator he will never be able to do calculus"... I responded that Isaac Newton invented calculus and all he had was an abacus.

 

 

 

If part of the examination was to demonstrate that he knows how to use a calculator and he didn't, of course he would have failed. The same thing happens in other areas, sewing as an example. If part of the test/assignment is to make a garment using a sewing machine, a handsewn item (no matter how superior the french seams and hemstitching are) will not fulfill the requirements. 

 

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yes, I get that, but the point is the curriculum has been dumbed down so much that even the kids are being taught that to do the above mentally is impossible as evidenced by the teacher's assertion that if he couldn't use a calculator for algebra, he would never learn calculus..... (Isaac Newton would argue with that)

The above curriculum proves differently. The Facts are that a calculator IS NOT necessary for a child for school level math - their brains can and are being trained to do it without electronic aide - just like the good old days when kids could add up a few numbers in their head, tally up their father's golf score, work out how many cans of coke they could buy for $20, tally up a customers order even in a power outage and know how much change they should either give or receive.

Illicit, that is the cursive I was taught. Even the capital Q that looked like a number 2!

I don't think I closed my p like that though. I find I tend to print these days and I'm not even sure when or why that happened.

Obviously a calculator is not necessary for school maths, given the number of us who got by without one, but part of education is learning to respect the rules of the system you are under. Once upon a time you could drive without a licence, should you be able to now if you feel licences are unneccessary?

I am curious, when your child got credits for 4 years of university maths after 3 weeks, how was that assessed? 

Back on topic Sheepie...........this thread is about writing.............not Maths.

I remember sitting in class..............about grade 3 I think.........and we would sit with our paper tilted to the left......and our pens ready,  listening to music over the loud speaker which had a ladies voice saying.............and up and up and up and up and up................as we did line after line of what could only be called wavy writing..............to prepare us to learn the rest of cursive writing.

But I admit that I print mostly now.

I am curious, when your child got credits for 4 years of university maths after 3 weeks, how was that assessed?

Hard work and practice - apparently anyone could do it if they applied themself.

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

I am curious, when your child got credits for 4 years of university maths after 3 weeks, how was that assessed?

 

Hard work and practice - apparently anyone could do it if they applied themself.

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On a pre test in his 1st year Math course, he got 100% in 20 of the 50 minutes allocated. They did some more testing and because he was underage called me in and told me they had nothing to teach him, there was no point him doing that course.

This then went to the Dean of the university, who oversaw off level testing.

For every class that he was able to acheive 95% accuracy in their end of semester exam, he was granted credit. (He had to show a few other things in some subjects too) He managed credit for all Math Classes, First and second year Physics and First Year Chemistry.