I may be way off on this, but I think the schools (Not All) get the Algebra thing wrong. They give very little time in 1st through 7th grade in problem solving skills. Most of what they teach is operational in nature. So you take a gifted math student who has it easy (Mostly just follow the operations to get the answer). They cruse along with little to no effort. Then Algebra hits and they have to use effort, and try and solve a problem, and they hit a wall. They think I am not smart enough, or I am not good at math. When it was the schools who never taught them how to problem solve, or how to work on a problem and give effort towards a math problem or puzzle. I hear of this Algebra wall, and what I see it is self created by a short sighted belief in operation over computation. That�s my 2 cents it, and I've been paid well.
Whew, yes, does that sound familiar. Add to this the fact that the gifted kids coast through computational math without studying at all, ever, and you end up with students who have no concept of "studying."
I struggled to get Bs in Algebra in school, and at the end of the year, I finally sat down and really studied for the first time the weekend before the final. I got the highest grade in the class on it (I was shocked).
I've noticed that the word problems in math books I've looked at over the years are generally quite trivial and straightforward. I struggled to find books for my kids that have problems requiring thought.
Val
