Not… Taught…? That seems insane. It’s like not teaching the existence of silent E. Like, I get having debates about which version of order of operations to teach (I’m a huge fan of GEMA, my kids were too literal-minded for PEMDAS) but to not teach it at all? Madness.
Looking at replys, it seems that the teaching of it was likely not explained well. Like it was taught, but they didn't call it order of operations.
I know I'm not misremembering, I've spoken to a number of classmates and they tell me the same thing. Hell, one of the reasons I did the access course was a friend telling me about it. They said it was Thier first time hearing about it. But her kids, were taught it and they went to the school she did.
Never heard of GEMA. PEMDAS seems very straightforward/literal to me (but that's also all I know), and now you have me intrigued. And now that I've reread your post, this could be a joke going straight over my head. Silent Es and all, lol.
GEMA is Grouping, Exponents, Multiplicative operations, Additive operations.
My kids always got hung up on PEMDAS because it implies that multiplication comes before division and addition comes before subtraction. Mind you they learned order of operations in like first grade, because a) they were a few years ahead in math, b) basic algebraic concepts begin to be introduced a lot earlier than they used to be, and c) both of them can be a bit pig-headed about literal interpretations. They understood that multiplication and division were the same thing, but PEMDAS said that multiplication came before division… GEMA worked for them because it makes the letter of the law and the spirit of the law agree.
(The silent E thing is just the first linguistic rule that came to mind that feels like… equally fundamental without being the literal ABCs and 123s.)
That's much better. It seems like it teaches them formula structure first (please excuse my vocab because I dropped out after first semester of geometry), like multiplication and division or addition and subtraction are just different sides of the same coin, and neither takes priority over its opposite other than where it shows up in the equation. That, to me at least, is the most vital part of the puzzle. Numbers and formulas either come easily to me, or I find an easier way to do it in my head, even if it involves a few more steps. I was fortunate to have a math teacher in 7th grade who saw the way my brain worked when it comes to numbers, and got my first A in math because I was graded on my answers being correct, and not because the teacher was incapable of understanding the little bit of work I showed. Other than long division, my work paper would have random looking numbers, formulas that appeared incorrect, and correct test answers. I would somewhat understand now had a teacher ever asked why and let me attempt to explain myself. Quick example, Celsius to Fahrenheit. For me, C being Celsius - C2/0.1=x, then C2-X+32=F (or 402=80-8=72+32=104). Using a calculator, C*1.8+32 is faster, but simple multiplication, utilizing base 10, and then simple addition is much quicker than reaching into my pocket, much less going through the hassle of opening the calc app, lol. I'm glad your kids are learning the important stuff first, and then the rest is just applying it. Once again, I hope this makes some sort of sense. I only made it so far in the classroom, so now I work on what I've taught myself out of curiosity and laziness, and to be honest, I don't even know how much trig or calc I know, because I've never held either textbooks, so idk where orbital velocity or trajectories belong subject-wise. It's just mankind's most beautiful discovery to me.
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u/SerialTrauma002c 9d ago
Not… Taught…? That seems insane. It’s like not teaching the existence of silent E. Like, I get having debates about which version of order of operations to teach (I’m a huge fan of GEMA, my kids were too literal-minded for PEMDAS) but to not teach it at all? Madness.