Clara Listensprechen @ClaraListensprechen4@qoto.org

@dlakelan
Now that I've put some more thought into it, it seems to me that the classical method of teaching math really leaves out too much of the visualization of what it is a solver is trying to do, and that's also part of the problem people have with word problems.

One begins with arithmetic but there are pictures of apples or oranges or other things to convey a picture of what exactly is going on. And it's a language that describes relationships--I don't recall a math teacher I ever had that taught it as a language. Once I figured that part out, it became easier to translate word problems in English into Mathese.

@dlakelan
I don't have a single resource recommendation, sorry. I wish I could remember the specific text I learned geometry with in high school decades ago--it was quite clear, beginning with definition and properties of a straight line, and progressed from there.

Incorporating algebra alongside Euclidean geometry would be something of a hybrid teaching method; what I had in mind was Euclidean line, then next linear equations because the mental picture would remain fresh.

Euclidean planes, then corresponding algebraic equations incorporating the plotting on a graph. While still in algebra, go to quadratics and explain those with Euclidean solids and conic sections.

I reeeealllly don't think there's a single text that teaches things that way, but I think you get the idea. Staying mentally in touch with the visual representation of the algebraic abstractions goes a long way towards information retention, I think.