Maths?

I think that maths, like foreign languages, is taught by and for people who have natural abilities in the subject. For me, maths was taught badly. I have zero interest in maths as maths, I get no satisfaction from solving maths problems per se. I do not find either numbers or equations beautiful. Maths was presented to me as, "there is a thing called simultaneous equations and this is it, this is how you apply it". Then we would spend an age doing simultaneous equation problems. It was tedious, dreary and meaningless.

I really need to know 'why'. Why are simultaneous equations useful, why were they developed. Also, what real world problems do simultaneous equations help to solve? I really needed these explanations to make maths accessible to me and I never really received it. 

I think that maths, like foreign languages, is taught by and for people who have natural abilities in the subject. For me, maths was taught badly. I have zero interest in maths as maths, I get no satisfaction from solving maths problems per se. I do not find either numbers or equations beautiful. Maths was presented to me as, "there is a thing called simultaneous equations and this is it, this is how you apply it". Then we would spend an age doing simultaneous equation problems. It was tedious, dreary and meaningless.

I really need to know 'why'. Why are simultaneous equations useful, why were they developed. Also, what real world problems do simultaneous equations help to solve? I really needed these explanations to make maths accessible to me and I never really received it. 

My experience of maths was the same, and I also need to know 'why' to understand something fully. I'm better with numbers now as an adult who has learned through experiences compared to how I was in school. On top of that they had to recruit a new maths teacher every year for our set because they kept leaving. 

I got a C in my maths GCSE and was put on the foundation paper (C was the highest I could get on it). I did protest that but they refused to put me on the normal one, fearing I would fail it. Funny, because I got As and Bs in everything else lol. 

. I hated the mental arithmatic exams - showing my age a bit here, but that was where they'd play a tape that verbally asked us to answer sums without anything visual to refer to. By the time I'd processed it and worked it out, they'd be 2 questions ahead  

Other times, on paper tests etc. I'd see a sum and know the answer right away, but then be asked to show my working. I remember saying to the teacher but theres nothing to show because I just knew the answer it in my head. Lol. They thought I was just being difficult/ lazy or something. 

I probably am actually ok at maths, but how I was taught was just inadequate and had too many barriers. 

I did have one unhelpful teacher whose reply when I didn't understand the explanation was,  ' we will be covering it again on a later date'.

Today I think there are not enough good Maths teachers. My son seemed to have a chance with a very good teacher, untill he was changed near to exam time to one of several newly enlisted Maths teachers and he had no further teaching, but was just given worksheets. 

What you needed was better teaching.

What they should have done is started with practical problems.  Then showed how these problems can explained as a set of equations.  Finally explain how to solve the equations.

Never really understood Fourier Transforms (or Laplace Transforms) as I couldn't see the point.
Then some years ago realised FT are used in radio signal analysers so read it all again from an old maths book and it all made sense, only took 30 years to see the need for it.

Laplace are used in electrical circuit analysis I believe (and other applications0). Have not looked at it in detail. But once there is an application I can see why it is is useful.

Partial differential equations also confused me. It was always, "we can't really solve this, but we can get a solution if we guess it involves e and sin x, and it works". What?

If I understand stuff I remember it. If I try to learn parrot fashion, it won't stick. I think this is why my maths plateaued many years ago. Also all the trigonometric identities confused me. Just seemed to be a requirement to fill my head with pointless info where the space could be better used for other real world stuff.