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Comment by protomyth | Hacker News Reader

I would hope the poster knows what things the sister actually likes to do. Math is the one subject people will use to excess when it isn't seen as Math. Watch any fantasy draft or craft and see how much math is going on. Find the Math in the math she is already doing and work up from their.

We have the same problem with new students at the community college I currently work at. I am at the "searching for sources" phase of trying to put together a "just numbers" course to get students comfortable with numbers and their uses.

Perhaps buying some of WeWantToKnow AS's software https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragonbox+-algebra/id5220691... https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragonbox-algebra-12+/id6344... for iOS if you have that.

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The first and hardest step is getting them to think of math as something other than torture devices for teaching children obedience. (Un)fortunately, being a mathematically-adept child from a mathematically-adept family, I've never encountered that problem and can't offer solutions.

> Watch any fantasy draft or craft and see how much math is going on.

Indeed. Check out my irb history from playing Hero Academy (there's way more above):

  >> 200*2.55+200*0.8
  => 670.0
  >> 200*2.55+200*0.8*2
  => 830.0
  >> 300*2.55
  => 765.0
  >> 300*2.55+399*0.8
  => 1084.2
  >> 300*2.55+300*0.8
  => 1005.0
  >> 0+300*2.55+300*0.8
  => 1005.0
  >> 260*2.55+260*0.8
  => 871.0
  >> 260*2.55+260*0.8*2
  => 1079.0
  >> 260*2.55*1.5+260*0.8*2
  => 1410.5
  >> 260*2.55*1.5
  => 994.5
  >> 260*2.5+260*0.75*2
  => 1040.0
  >> 130+180+230+280
  => 820
  >> 820*0.8
  => 656.0
  >> 1350*0.8
  => 1080.0

"...what things the sister actually likes to do."

There is no more important thing than knowing this. What will this woman-to-be do with this math? Will she be an business manager or an accountant? Will she be a fashion designer or a fabrics engineer? Will she be a naturopath or a chemist? Each of these either/or's has a significant difference in the amount of basic math required.

Once you discover what she loves and is naturally good at, help her follow her path, and then add in math as necessary. Honestly, there are some people for whom cross multiplication will never factor in significantly in life. You may be wasting her valuable time by pushing her in mathematics.

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