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Comment by tediousdemise | Hacker News Reader

The human brain is like a self-compiling compiler. You can teach people math by teaching them how to read, and then suggesting a good math book.

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The set of people who can teach themselves mathematics by reading a good math book is quite small.

I'm trying that with my son (who is not yet 5). He has no trouble reading anything in his math book[0], but 'suggesting' that he work through the book isn't enough. He'd rather play with lego, read a story book, or do pretty much anything else.

My solution: short sessions of a few pages at a time, with me sitting by his side, ready to intervene when he gets sidetracked.

[0] https://shop.singaporemath.com/index.php/product/dimensions-...

I do a lot of mathematical play with my 4yo.

I tell stories with mathematical concepts - anything involving money (selling and buying things) is popular around here. And the Boolean Logic Baby Gate was a big hit (you have to put in just the right filter function if you want to let your friends in but keep the disruptive babies out).

https://bancosparenting.wordpress.com/2021/05/08/pickle-and-...

I sing Baa Baa Black Sheep but with lots of different numbers of wool distributed in different ways (this also keeps the 1yo entertained).

https://wordpress.com/posts/bancosparenting.wordpress.com

Guess My Secret Number gets lots of requests: "If you have my secret number and you add four more, you get seven. What's my secret number?" (We take turns guessing and giving clues.)

https://wordpress.com/posts/bancosparenting.wordpress.com

Another good game is Tiny Polka Dot - we've come up with so many of our own variations on the games.

https://wordpress.com/posts/bancosparenting.wordpress.com

In terms of actual books, we really enjoy Life of Fred.

https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/9813/Life-of-Fred.h...

I think it's much easier if there is a teacher involved in that process. The best possible teacher would be a personal tutor who understands your needs and works with you. The next best would be a teacher in front of a class who gives specific assignments to each student based on their own talents. Unfortunately none of that is on offer in the U.S. public educational system, where the quality of the teachers is quite poor and the education is standardized to a lowest common denominator, with substantial time spent on standardized testing, and a reluctance to remove disruptive students or poor performers from the classroom.

Even recommending which books to read -- a very personalized topic -- is something a good tutor can do.

Can you suggest me a good math book to read?

Tons, but it really depends on where you're starting. Is there anything in particular you'd like to learn?

Every time I've recommended Calculus Made Easy [0] it's been a huge success. The writing is lively and full of motivating examples, and it's an enjoyable read.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17185577

While there are many amazing math books out there that specialize in a particular branch, I tend to prefer generalist books that cover a wide range of topics.

It you want something that starts with the absolute fundamentals, What Is Mathematics? is a perennial classic. I think that one starts with addition and takes you all the way through advanced calculus.

If you want a comprehensive survey of nearly all major branches in mathematics written by some of the most prominent Soviet mathematicians, you’ll want Mathematics: Its Content, Methods and Meaning.

If you want more of a reference-style encyclopedia, The Princeton Companion to Mathematics is a good one.

If you want to build a solid foundation for math tailored to computer science, look no further than Concrete Mathematics, coauthored by Donald Knuth himself.

I'm a strong proponent of learning things yourself, and have done so life long, but I suspect there may be something different about Mathematics, at least up to undergraduate level. At least based on my experience helping my kids. Even today's rich kahnsphere doesn't seem to adequately stand in for a good teacher.

This is what happen when you drink that cool AI. Humans are analogical and not machines.

> You can teach people math by teaching them how to read, and then suggesting a good math book.

It didn't work for all. The correct way to teach maths is to remove NUMBERS!

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