Ithaca

One question I often hear is one that is often heard by anyone who teaches..."When am I ever going to use this?"

There are a couple of different ways you can go about answering this. You can either give them the answer and move on, or you can give the child a therapy session.

1.) The Therapy Session Answer
"I understand that you are frustrated with this, but that's why I'm here. It's my job to help you with this, so let's try to figure out a way to make this work."

I have used this a few times, but it's on very rare occasions. At times like this, "When am I ever going to use this?" is usually a symptom of a problem, and not the actual problem itself. The kid is looking for an out, as if someone is going to say, "You know what? I had never thought about that! You're right, no more math!"

Of course, the problem is more complex than that, and of course the child will have to learn how to do the math anyway. You can help them figure out a way to make it work, but it can easily be taken advantage of by the child. The child doesn't do this consciously (usually), but the teacher can quickly become a crutch. A teacher's job is to eventually make it so that the student doesn't need them anymore. If you can't teach the child to do it on their own, then you're being counterproductive.

The Underlying Problem: And I will write a post on that one day, I'm sure. But we're getting off track now. Most kids just need a nudge in the right direction, some clarification, and then they're happy to move on. But every now and then, you will get the question out of actual curiosity, and often you will get the question out of snark. I have a friend that loves to say, "Another day, and I still haven't used algebra."

I agree that you will probably go through your adult life without having to sit down and work out an algebra problem, unless you are a teacher or unless you are a parent who is fighting with their teary-eyed, angry child because "That's not the way Mrs. Buchanan wants us to do it!" The kid and the parent end up angry at each other, and the child learns to hate learning.

2.) The Snap-Out-of-It Answer
This may seem a little harsh to some of you, but I figure you've already tuned this out, so you're not reading anymore. But believe me, I am a huge proponent to looking at things from a child's perspective.

You don't have to say, "Snap out of it!", but you do need to let the child know that they need to learn this anyway. My answer is that all kinds of jobs, first of all, use math every day. The fact is that you are not going to sit down and work out math problems, but that your brain is being trained with logic, spacial reasoning, and number sense in ways that will pay off in the long run. We are training the mental muscles (the neural pathways) that will make them smarter and smarter and make their brain learn to expand and learn and adapt. This is all done with Math (and other things).

Think about it this way, you exercise. You lift weights, you do push-ups, you do sit-ups...do you do those things in everyday life? No. In your job, you will most likely never have to sit there and do sit-ups as a part of your job. So why do we do it? It not only makes us healthier, but it makes it easier for us to get up, to move around, and get through every day life without getting tired before 5pm.

If you can estimate in your head that your groceries are going to cost about $50 before you check out, and then your bill actually comes to $53.29, you're not going to bat an eye.

If you know that you owe your dad $100, and you earn $128 in a couple weeks of doing work for your neighbors, you have made $28, you are doing algebra.

The Bottom Line: No, you are not going to be in the middle of a work day and have to sit down and answer questions about central angles vs. inscribed angles, or arcs vs. chords. But the truth is that because you have learned this, your mind is stronger. I will make the case until the day I die (or until my mind is changed) that your mind expands by learning things like the states and capitals so that it is ready to be expanded by wider ideas in college, life, or whatever you are going to end up doing. And that is what makes you ready for the world.

Okay, I did bite off a big chunk there at the end, but I really think it's great to learn. Yes, there will be days when you're going to want to wring the teacher's neck for assigning this project, but everything you do in school is preparing you for life on the outside. And believe me, the teacher thinks the same thing about themselves for assigning it when it comes time to grade it. But it's their job, and it's your job.

By the way, I realize this may not work in cases of children who have certain emotional disabilities. I am far from being an expert on these cases, as my degree is not in special education. I do have quite a bit of experience in dealing with these students, but my experience is not backed up by an official degree in it. I did find out quite a bit of information by reading whatever was handed to me to help me understand, so I did want to express that I am no expert on that.