Comment by mscarborough | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mscarborough | Hacker News Reader

I appreciate the goal and the bold tone. I volunteer time to tutor middle and high school kids in math. It would be nice to have a fresh approach available, and a hard copy or four would be nice.

Would it be possible to create a version without the 'bullshit' language? Outside of the cover there are two 'bullshits' in the first chapter. It doesn't bother me but I don't think the directors of my program or parents would be very happy about it.

I'm sure the kids would like it but in a program such as ours, adding unnecessary friction to the relationship with parents is not a good idea. The older kids are spending time in our program that could be used to work jobs to help support their family (and it is a real pressure on these kids and families), so anything that threatens that is a non-starter.

Just to clarify and since the author is being cool and replying to individual comments...

The reason I asked about a 'clean' version is this: we serve kids from relatively low-income households. The goal is to increase high school graduation rates and college attendance. This is a long-term goal that conflicts with short-term needs. Often times it might be better to have a 13-17 year old boy or girl go to work with a family member, instead of spending time being tutored or participating in athletics.

In this situation, I can't send a kid home with this book if they want to check out the new approach. I love profanity and curse more than I should, but there are certain situations and audiences where it's not appropriate. Perhaps much of the audience for this book could use a cleaner approach.

Thanks and good luck!!

I totally agree with you.

I am definitely going to do a cleaned up version with less attitude. I will start by cleaning up the examples. The theory sections are mostly OK. Please send me an email so I can keep you updated on that front.

I hope you are going to keep the cleaned up version separate. Some of us (me at least) would like the book in current form. :)

Oh for sure ;)

For v4.0 of the book, I am thinking of making it customizable. Before you order the book, you will be able to adjust the level of "attitude" with a slider.

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