It doesn't take long for a person to perceive the lack of problem solving skills here. I personally present questions to my daughter and work on this skill with her in our daily life. I must say though that the reason we decided on the school she is attending now was because their model of teaching incorporates problem solving where I did not see that in the other schools we visited. There are math concepts such as US money that she will not learn here. I do plan on working with her on that. Are you a teacher 3casas?

The thing that interests me is that Brazilians swear that their schools are "harder".  My niece stayed with us in the U.S. for a year and was straight A in school but now is struggling to catch up because she is joining her grade mid-year in Brazil. 

Edited by Steven - 16 August 2012 at 17:54

3casas thanks for the info. I'll be looking at various subject material. Currently the hubs is traveling but when he gets back I'm going to make him work some math problems with me to see what you're talking about. Tonight I told my daughter we are going to start playing a lot of school. Haha. She said, "I get to be the teacher" if only I can manage to maintain this enthusiasm.

@OP- make the kid be the teacher, at her age it's great fun for her to teach you.
feel free to PM me if there's anything i can help with.

Originally posted by spongebob Originally posted by Steven The thing that interests me is that Brazilians swear that their schools are "harder".  My niece stayed with us in the U.S. for a year and was straight A in school but now is struggling to catch up because she is joining her grade mid-year in Brazil.    But when I question, "what is meant by "harder"", I don't get a good answer.    Digging a hole with a shovel in the back yard is "hard" but that doesn't mean it accomplishes any more than using a backhoe which is faster and easier.   I know that the Brazilian schools kill the kids with lots of homework and longhand solutions to math word problems but I'm not sure that the kids learn any more, and possibly even less in terms of critical life skills and independence. Hmm.. Steven, is it your wife that says that Brazilian schools are harder? Ask her why kids that go to private schools have to pay for "cursinhos' before taking tests??? That obviously shows that both public and private schools are deficient. They DO NOT prepare students like they should.Also, if you talk to the kids, you'll see that most of the classes here are s***. You get a teacher who thinks he/she is low paid and doesn't do a dam* thing (Don't forget the holidays and the bridges!). On the public school side, much worse: you got 40 kids in the class, 2 are paying attention and the other 38 are talking amongst each other while the teacher is talking. It resembles a granja with all of the squawking....

I agree with you, but a few points

My Brazilian mother (who was born in 1914), was one of the first women to be accepted to the school of engineering as well as chemistry, and she always credited the superior teaching of mathematics in Brazil

(she also benefited from the color and sex blind nature of the vestibular, which truly does admit 100% based on test taking merit. In the US of that era, she would never have been accepted to a co-ed engineering program)

In all honestly, I think she was correct on the superiority of the Brazilian mathematics programs. My older sister did her entire schooling in Rio, eventually passing the vestibular for the school of Architecture at the UFRJ, and she had a private tutor for mathematics right until the vestibular

When she came to the USA, after becoming disillusioned with the then very low salaries for architecture grads in Brazil at that time, she aced just about every mathematics test she was given. She decided to go to an American university, took the SAT and got 800 on the math sector. My mother insisted it was because she had been taught math 'correctly'

Me, I did my elementary school with the English, who were at that time very thorough and wonderful at inspiring creativity and critical thinking...not so much the math however (not with the drill sergeant methods used by the brazilians, so I don't have the same math chops - or maybe I just suck at math)

However, as per your other point, I think that some of the Brazilian schooling is shallow and can't compare with the best of the British or US prep schools or universities. In the US (at the top places) they teach you to think creatively, to read critically, to make unusual connections. At their best, the very very good US schools emphasize a broad based approach to learning which gives us an advantage over many other nations.

But, to be fair, most people never experience those schools. More and more schools in the US now just give "multiple guess" tests and other rote examinations. Essay exams are too time consuming.

In addition the expense of universities has become so high that few can afford the luxury that we had of liberal arts, of studying ancient languages or comparative literature. More and more, most studies must be practical and useful, even if that eliminates studies that broaden the mind.

That extra quality must be given by the parents, and can make all the difference

Fwiw, my husband is a quantitative analyst and often hires programmers and financial analysts. He has been impressed by the math skills of Chinese programmers, but underwhelmed by their abilities elsewhere, esp their problem solving abilities

There was an article about this in the NYT in fact:

"High Test Scores - Low Ability"

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/12/02/what-is-a-college-degree-worth-in-china/high-test-scores-low-ability

Its the same problem.

Harder doesn't necessarily mean better.

again, jmho



Edited by digiwench - 19 August 2012 at 01:44