My 19 year old called Monday night. He is going to school at University of North Texas (UNT). He is a business major. Math was never his strong point, but he got by. He's having to take a Calculus course. He's never had any Calculus. He failed his first test. He said he got the right answers, but didn't use the right method.
I look back on the years we spent working on math together. I would encourage him to work the problems out. Do it the way he was instructed. But, neither he nor I really put too much emphasis on it. We figured that if you get the right answer, you must've done it the right way. Well, apparently that's not going to cut it in college.
What have I learned? Show your work!!! Immediately my 8th grader (who is a whiz at math) is now being required to show all work. He can do it in his head, but I don't want him to get bad habits that he'll regret later.
