Comments on: X + Y = WHAT??? https://gregladen.com/blog/2010/09/10/x-y-what-1/ Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:29:35 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: DuWayne https://gregladen.com/blog/2010/09/10/x-y-what-1/#comment-522921 Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:29:35 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2010/09/10/x-y-what-1/#comment-522921 These sorts of books tend to make rather useless textbooks, but supplement classroom texts quite nicely. I also suspect that they are most useful when parents sit down with their kids to help them use them. The problem is that kids who need supplementary texts the most, are the least likely to use them efficiently or even use them at all. I know that when I was in primary school, I wouldn’t have had the least desire to even touch this book, while a history supplement (I was tutoring a couple of seniors when I was a freshman) would have been awesome.

If you have a child young adult who is having trouble with a given subject, it makes a big difference if you actually work with them.* Texts like this one are absolutely wonderful in this context, especially if the subject is not one of your strong suites either. This can also be a great way to connect, as you work on learning what they need to know alongside them.

This is not to say that I don’t believe very strongly in self-directed learning – I absolutely do. But when your child is struggling, you can be an invaluable resource. Though if you have problems with patience, tolerance and/or empathy, this probably doesn’t apply to you. That is not a values judgment either, just pragmatic.

*Of course this presupposes you have worked with them all the way through. As preteens and teens, they are not all that likely to accept your help otherwise – for that matter, it will be hard enough if you have been working with them.

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