Mom, but Why do I Have to Take This Math Class?!?
By, Chris Blesch, Special to the Daily Press
Isn't this the plea we often hear as parents of Middle and High Schoolers? As a parent, I have heard this more than a few times at home AND in the classroom.
The curriculum in Secondary schools is challenging for our youth. Their lives are full of all the Three R's (Readin', wRitin', and aRithmetic) we so often hear about, plus many elective classes, co-curricular and extracurricular sports and activities, television, video games, tutoring, friends, dances, family get-togethers; the list goes on and on. Let's face it; these kids lives are packed! So why do we want them to learn a difficult topic like higher math?
The reasons are multiple and they are real; they will influence the future of our students -- their college, their future careers and their adult lives.
Higher math classes help teach our students sophisticated problem-solving skills, which become more and more important as they take higher level science classes, and even for English 104, Critical Thinking, a first-level English class at our local Victor Valley College. And that's just the beginning of their college classes, for those college majors that are not in technical fields.
Problem solving skills are important in the workplace, too. The professional person is often paid higher wages for their ability to solve problems for business, supervising personnel below themselves (including solving a multitude of time, resource and personality problems), or keeping the customer happy (often by solving their problems or satisfying needs).
The successful family person is so because she or he can deal with changes in the family and neighborhood, challenges in different employment situations, and other events that surround life. These are all handled by recognizing problems, then adjusting lifestyle and available resources, like time and money, to handle them.
On the one hand, the student pursuing a non-technical field of study and career will find it very important to have problem solving skills. On the other hand, if the young adult wants to go into technical fields such as medicine, engineering or others, she or he will need all the math and science they can get, and the earlier in school they can get it, the better! High-level math and science classes on high school grade transcripts are always a boost when applying to universities, and will open the doors wider to the limited enrollment many schools can offer.
So, yes, students should take the harder math classes that are offered by their school. It will open many doors in the near future, and pave a better path to eventual success in career and life.
Chris Blesch is in his 8th year of teaching. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a B.S. in Engineering.
Used with permission by Daily Press, Freedom Communicatio, 2004n