[geeks] geeks Digest, Vol 86, Issue 11

[Jonathan Patschke]

On Wed, 20 Jan 2010, Phil Stracchino wrote:

> I was thinking more on the level of "These are the minimum core
> competencies that any college will expect your child to possess on
> entry.  If your child does not have these core competencies, he or she
> may be unable to find employment above minimum wage or gain admission to
> any higher education without first taking remedial classes.  We
> recommend that you ensure your child masters these core competencies.

Aha.  Now that I fully endorse.

> Yeah, there'll be some people who will leave their kids competent only
> to get each other pregnant, boost unlocked cars, shoot each other over
> crack turf disputes, and bungle robberies of the local Kwikie-Mart.
> *But they do that now*.

Exactly.

>> Here's a datapoint for you: last week was the first time I ever needed
>> linear algebra in the real world.  You'd require every person to
>> know[0] that?
>
> I picked linear algebra because it's a not-too-difficult concept that
> pretty much anyone should be able to master, but should give them the
> basic tools to go on to calculus and higher math *if they want to*.
> (And I may be misremembering the actual term.)

If I were to pick a mid-level math, I'd pick geometry/trig.  Trig is
useful if you ever need to build anything, and the notion of proofs in
geometry is great for building abstract thinking skills.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke  ) "Science is what we understand well enough to explain
Elgin, TX         (   to a computer.  Art is everything else we do."
USA                )                                    --Dr. Donald Knuth