M.J. McDermott is a meteorologist in Seattle and a mom who’s on a mission to wipe out the fuzzy-thinking math curricula plaguing our schools and ensure that not only will the US someday once again be a leader in math and hard sciences, but we will also be able to find a retail clerk who can make change from a dollar without using the register.
If you’re over 30, are not in the educational establishment, and don’t have kids in school, you’re going to be astounded at what passes for math education today. Coddling and self-esteem as a primary concern is not limited to English and social studies.
Yet another reason we’re going to be homeschooling our kids, who will have a headstart on all those public school kids who can’t do math without a calculator. (I mean, seriously, fourth- and fifth-grade textbooks with 35-page chapters on how to use a calculator? Come on!)
