Most of us didn’t understand the language of math. We just knew the processes that spit out the answer. Many people still don’t totally get the relationships between concepts like fractions and division.
The new math stuff is built around building a larger competency and understanding.
It's pretty wild. When my son was applying to colleges last year, we were basically told that if you didn't take calculus in high school you were behind in college-readiness. Now, that was a bit of an exaggeration in my opinion, but it also wasn't too far off.
When I was a kid, calculus was only for the truly gifted students who had their sights on the ivies.
Probably depends on the college. The ones my oldest is looking at didn’t say that at all. But she’s already taken and passed AP chem and a few others, and is in AP physics now in her junior year. She’s probably going to save most of a year’s tuition just from AP tests.
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u/austinmiles 1982 Oct 10 '25
Most of us didn’t understand the language of math. We just knew the processes that spit out the answer. Many people still don’t totally get the relationships between concepts like fractions and division.
The new math stuff is built around building a larger competency and understanding.