tl;dr - don't be afraid to go back to math concepts from elementary school to help you along the way to learning more math.
You have a gaggle of responses to go through, but I want to put this out there anyways.
Algebra is talked about as a 'breaking point' for many Americans; however the solutions rarely look at what transpired (or didn't) all those years before a student reached algebra.
Math standards in the United States are set so that ideally:
Kindergarten: learn to count
1st and 2nd grade: learn to think additively (+ and -)
3rd and 4th grade: learn to think multiplicatively (x and division); learn fractions
5th and 6th grade: learn to think in ratios and proportions; learn to think algebraically
Throughout all of those grades you are also supposed to be learning the properties of operations.
By the time you reach an algebra course in 8th grade or 9th grade, it requires you to call upon all of that previous knowledge.
Common problems:
- learning the properties of operations by rote and thus not understanding how to use them to manipulate algebraic equations
- not making the leap from additive to multiplicative reasoning, which hurts a students ability to understand fractions, which hurts a students ability to understand ratios and proportions, which hurts a students ability to reason with algebraic equations
- I forgot exponents. Most students only know those by rote or a bit about them before suddenly seeing huge exponents and negative exponents attached to variables in algebra.
Algebra itself may not be a problem. It is however a strong indicator of knowledge of the above. It's also where the house of cards falls down for students like you and me.
Source: was student who math fell apart for in school. I learned all about this when I left the business world to teach 4th grade, eventually created and piloted an "Arithmetic to Algebra" course for students to put all of this into practice, students learned, we rejoiced
tl;dr - don't be afraid to go back to math concepts from elementary school to help you along the way to learning more math.
You have a gaggle of responses to go through, but I want to put this out there anyways.
Algebra is talked about as a 'breaking point' for many Americans; however the solutions rarely look at what transpired (or didn't) all those years before a student reached algebra.
Math standards in the United States are set so that ideally:
Kindergarten: learn to count
1st and 2nd grade: learn to think additively (+ and -)
3rd and 4th grade: learn to think multiplicatively (x and division); learn fractions
5th and 6th grade: learn to think in ratios and proportions; learn to think algebraically
Throughout all of those grades you are also supposed to be learning the properties of operations.
By the time you reach an algebra course in 8th grade or 9th grade, it requires you to call upon all of that previous knowledge.
Common problems:
- learning the properties of operations by rote and thus not understanding how to use them to manipulate algebraic equations
- not making the leap from additive to multiplicative reasoning, which hurts a students ability to understand fractions, which hurts a students ability to understand ratios and proportions, which hurts a students ability to reason with algebraic equations
- I forgot exponents. Most students only know those by rote or a bit about them before suddenly seeing huge exponents and negative exponents attached to variables in algebra.
Algebra itself may not be a problem. It is however a strong indicator of knowledge of the above. It's also where the house of cards falls down for students like you and me.
Source: was student who math fell apart for in school. I learned all about this when I left the business world to teach 4th grade, eventually created and piloted an "Arithmetic to Algebra" course for students to put all of this into practice, students learned, we rejoiced