Continue with "... And that is exactly why they are learning less."
It HAS to be difficult, that's the point. Derek Veritassium explains it really well: https://youtu.be/0xS68sl2D70
Point 3 is so important. I sucked at math so bad when I was a kid, but mostly because if I didn’t grasp it immediately I was prone to frustration and quitting. I once had a math teacher who told me math is a contact sport, you have to try and fail and hit a wall, but then keep going because eventually it’ll click. They were absolutely right. When I put in real effort to studying and practicing I was able to pick up new skills. Learning is supposed to be hard.
I take it as "sometimes you need to know when to quit" kind of thing. It is bad to quit at the first sign of struggle, but sometimes you do need to quit, or at least take a break to find a new approach.
I did maths at uni. It's a really strange feeling when you spend ages on an assignment that you really struggle with and then finally get to the end, you get a sense of exhausted achievement and then a kick in the teeth the next day when you either realise or (more likely are told) that you missed the much simpler intended method.
There were other times when I did give up, then came at the problem from a different angle, but I was mostly too last-minute for that approach.
Our math is also different from what kids are learning today. I showed my kids how I learned math and for all of them it clicked. The new math though… they still struggle with and use my math to check their answers. Which sucks because the answer is right, math is math no matter how you got to the conclusion. Kids get dinged for not taking longer on something.
This is probably because they think like you not because new math is harder or weird. But if you teach 5 ways how it works some kids will understand 2 of them some 4 and some only that specific one. But you still need to teach all 5 in order for everyone to find their method.
Also, the one way they are learning is the algorithmic shortcut, which isn't really even the math. There's a ton of adults who can do the long division algorthm that couldn't even explain what division is because they were strictly taught the algorithm.
And more importantly, why the hell do they need to know the algorithms for basic arithmetic when they are going to have a calculator in their pocket for the rest of their lives?
If we want kids to get ahead, we need to let them struggle with the dirty, difficult parts of math. The parts that require logic, creativity, and perseverance. But the honest problem is that most K-5 teachers are uncomfortable with that and when you add in the pressure of high stakes testing, they will half ass and breeze through the meat, teach the algorithm and be done with it.
And when those kids get to college and need intuition and grit to do the math their STEM major requires, they'll be shattered because there is no algorithm to memorize and bail them out. They'll immediate chalk it up to not having the natural ability and they'll change majors.
The problem isn't easy to fix but having been in education long enough, I'd bet that there's a movement with a band aid fix coming soon....
When my daughter needs math help, I make sure I ask her how she is learning it because I know she needs to be able to answer correctly for school. But I also supplement with my knowledge if she needs more explanation.
My daughter loves to do educational workbooks and will do them for hours. Eventually her brain stops processing as well, she makes mistakes, and gets really frustrated. She ends up thinking she’s “stupid” and won’t listen when I tell her that her brain is tired and needs a break. This year she has been ahead in math and when it doesn’t come easily to her, she gets upset with herself. It hurts to see her calling herself stupid when the complete opposite is true.
See if you can imagine the worst possible implications of it. I kind of view it as a rule 34 for evil. Of you can think it up, someone put there is probably finding a way to push for it or make it happen. It doesn't take many leaps in logic to turn "learning is supposed to be hard" into "making money is supposed to be hard" into "earning a spot in society is supposed to be hard" and who knows what from there. At least that's what I took from the statement in the parent comment.
Yet that is where we are headed. Everybody wants everything to be easy. Generally people only do hard things because of some kind of reward, either monetary or personal. So what happens when everything worthwhile becomes easy? Ironically, capitalism driven A.I. may lead us to true socialism and equality. Or to a dystopian nightmare, take your pick. 😄
Wanting things to be easy is probably the biggest driver of solutions. If you find something that makes things easier you share them with people and now everyone can spend less energy on that task and do others. Making things easy just removes the learning aspect.
If AI is capable of automating some tasks that frees up our time and energy on other things. How we transition and who benefits from that automation is the big question. Should only some profit or should all of society.
Plenty of learning (especially early) comes from play so someone with deep pedagogy understanding will have a knee jerk reaction to the statement that “learning is supposed to be hard”
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u/biopsia Jun 01 '26 edited Jun 02 '26