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Basic Maths, Round Numbers and Suanpan

Paddy

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since I posted on here, but I would like to ask if anyone else shares this interest. For the simple reason that I had so much trouble understanding it in school, I have always had a dislike for maths, but, recently, after reading about the Japanese and Chinese abacus and downloading a virtual one, I have discovered that I absolutely love adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing round numbers. I understand the importance of being able to work with numbers that aren't exactly round, but I have found that I see a real beauty and elegance in working with whole round numbers.

In school I had to do maths problems like adding 986 and 512 and I sometimes spent weeks getting my head around the concepts and methods involved, but I understand working with round numbers so much more easily.

Am I the only one who sees the beauty and simplicity in working with round numbers, or can others relate to this as well?

Just curious, I guess.

Parents

  • We have a production line education system these days.

    Turn out clones, every one the same, and the ones that don't meet the 'standard' are rejected.  Which is how much talent goes to waste.

    I was taught to subtract by 'borrowing and paying back', anyone taught this method will know what I mean.  And to me it makes perfect sense, and it gives the right answer. 

    Now they teach some other method.  It also gives the right answer, but for some reason the old method is discredited.  Does it matter if it works?  I just wonder if there are some children (especially on the autism spectrum) who would be far more suited to the 'old method' (just as some may be more suited to the 'new'.  I'm probably well out of date with education methods, there may even be several other methods now, all of them valid but some probably a lot easier to understand.

    And arithmetic is only a small part of mathematics.  There is algebra, linear algebra, trigonometry, calculus, matrices .. and probably others which I cannot think of.  All of them have concepts which some find difficult, all of them have various methods of working to come to the same answer. 

    Everyones way of thinking is different to other peoples.  But I know that those on the autism spectrum have the best way of thinking.  And it will always be so!

Reply

  • We have a production line education system these days.

    Turn out clones, every one the same, and the ones that don't meet the 'standard' are rejected.  Which is how much talent goes to waste.

    I was taught to subtract by 'borrowing and paying back', anyone taught this method will know what I mean.  And to me it makes perfect sense, and it gives the right answer. 

    Now they teach some other method.  It also gives the right answer, but for some reason the old method is discredited.  Does it matter if it works?  I just wonder if there are some children (especially on the autism spectrum) who would be far more suited to the 'old method' (just as some may be more suited to the 'new'.  I'm probably well out of date with education methods, there may even be several other methods now, all of them valid but some probably a lot easier to understand.

    And arithmetic is only a small part of mathematics.  There is algebra, linear algebra, trigonometry, calculus, matrices .. and probably others which I cannot think of.  All of them have concepts which some find difficult, all of them have various methods of working to come to the same answer. 

    Everyones way of thinking is different to other peoples.  But I know that those on the autism spectrum have the best way of thinking.  And it will always be so!

Children
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