Teaching Math to the Talented

at least in the math department, the US really needs a revamp, especially in elementary school/middle school

in 4th grade, my math education consisted of a year full of "do 100 simple addition problems in 5 minutes". Once you did it in 5 minutes, it became "do 100 simple addition problems in 4 minutes" on the SAME sheet of problems. Then 3 minutes, then 2 minutes. It became an exercise in memorization and pencil dexterity.

i'm pretty sure everyone who did their elementary education in the US had to do this at one point in their lives. but come on! not only did my penmanship degrade from having to write so fast, it was an utter waste of an entire year of my education.

disclaimer: i didn't complain while i was doing it though. they rewarded me with candy :)

The article assumes that mathematicians are produced by schools, whereas I think in reality neither schools nor even individuals can reliably create/become mathematicians by an act of will.

The best thing most people can do for those who are deeply interested in advanced subjects is not to damage them.