Olny srmat poelpe can

Uki Chick

Uki Chick

New Member
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it denos't mtater in waht oredr the ltetres in a wrod are, the olny iprnoatmt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
 
Done that before, we end up with the conclusion that it is not enough to have the first and last letter of a word, you also need the context.
 
The 12.7 year old who inhabits select space with us is falling into the trap.

She had some "reports" due for school. 7th grade now.

She typed them up on Word. She spelled plain as "plan". Naturally, spell checker didn't catch it. When I pointed it out, she got all manner of indignant. My attempts to explain to her that it is important to KNOW what is correct is more important than knowing how to operate a word processor fell on unbelieving ears. She cannot get past the notion that if spell checker likes it, it's good. She's the same way with arithmetic. It astounds her when I do math in my head faster than she can on a calculator. The concept of KNOWING something is becoming unimportant, because why know it when you can access it?

I say it all started when the dropout at McDonald's couldn't count change back without the cash register telling him/her what to do. It's grown into this, and it's growing more every year.

Sad really.
 
Yep. My kid will not go to a school which allows calculators before you get past algebra. It's the thinking method that counts, not the ability to push buttons.
 
SnP - buy the kid a typewriter and watch the frustration when s/he can't find the F7 key :)

Also kinda hard to find the copy/paste on an old Selectrik :D
 
Don't get me wrong. By contemporary standards, she's a smart kid. She does well in school and makes honest effort at her school work.

Lemme give another example. When she gets stumped on something with her homework or whatnot, she'll ask us. I don't give her the answer, I try to lead her to it. This is particulalry true of spelling. She then sounds it out, and usually gets it or gets close. I don't mind that...it's the effort. Now, the English language being what it is, and our regional accent further playing hell with it, it takes a little patience. Her most memorable gaffe of late was "tenn-a-shoes". I assumed she ain't much of a Venus Williams fan after that'n.

I'm glad she's got some computer utilization skills. It's important. I just want her to know how in addition to knowing how to access.
 
My kid is a lot like me when it comes to writing. He refuses to write in our local dialect when chatting with friends or sending sms'. (Quite common among people of all ages when writing unoffocial texts amongst friends)
He joined a Norwegian forum, and would repeatedly point out bad spelling/grammar with a surprised "They're older than me!" He then joined an English-speaking forum, and has me proof-read practically everything he writes to make sure it's correct. :p

As for math, I'm really no good with numbers. It's not his best subject either, but some stuff he adds up in his head a lot faster than me. :/
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
I say it all started when the dropout at McDonald's couldn't count change back without the cash register telling him/her what to do. It's grown into this, and it's growing more every year.
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They don't even have words on the registers anymore. Just pictures. I can't figure out mickey Ds has anymore cause I never learned to read pictography & they don't have written menus anymore.
 
I always enjoy the would be e.e. cummings' sending email and posting in forums.
 
Gonz said:
They don't even have words on the registers anymore. Just pictures. I can't figure out mickey Ds has anymore cause I never learned to read pictography & they don't have written menus anymore.
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cheaper to make them that way than to have stuff printed out in a billion languages/currencies.
 
They are ruining the children's minds by allowing calculators to early. Yeah, when you have one set of brackets of something the calculator will do it for you...but when you get oodles of brackets within brackets and exponents within exponents...then you need to KNOW the algebra behind it so you can break it down and enter it in stages...few people could do the math I do on a daily basis in their head but if I didn't know the basics of algebra and the like I'd have no idea how to do it on a calculator either cause if I tried to enter it as it appeared my preeeeeeecious Casio fx991 would implode...:lloyd:

It's stupid people allowing calculators to young kids who are still learning the basics...people who think technology is the be all and end all frustrate me. Technology is only as good as the person making/operating it. grrrr *shakes fists in anger*
 
I think algebra and geometry was the stuff I actually liked in math as a kid. They just started with algebra in my kid's class, and so far he loves it. I have a feeling that may change in the future. *knocks on wood*

Over here they start using calculators in 5th grade if I remember correctly, and then only on specific tasks, they don't get to use them all the time.
 
I tend to think in equations. I aced algebra, but geometry was my only C in high school. That created...issues...when we got to calculus.

OTOH, it made me a natural for accounting and finance.
 
Funny enough, I've never taken the time to learn Calculus. It was the math class for the semester after the one I got tossed out during. Maybe if I get 15 minutes this weekend, I'll get around to it.
 
Gonz said:
Allowing? It's required for (at least) 8th grade on here :rolleyes:
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wow...that is ridiculous...I never had a calculator until I was in highschool and even then it wasn't allowed for all classes.
 
Nixy said:
wow...that is ridiculous...I never had a calculator until I was in highschool and even then it wasn't allowed for all classes.
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Trig, Calculus and AP Physics only for me. Seriously though, high school geometry and algebra are so f'n easy who needs a calculator?
 
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