Teach students how to learn

Re: Don’t torture kids with math skills they’ll never use, Opinion, Oct. 24

I agree with Naomi Lakritz that higher math does not serve any practical purpose in a child’s life. However, the basics should be drilled into their brains. School is not the place to acquire loads of knowledge on various subjects, but to learn how to learn. What methods to use to become knowledgeable.

Higher math should be, at best, optional. If a student learns how to obtain knowledge and to retain it, he or she can always acquire that knowledge outside of school. The fact is that five years after graduation, 50 per cent of everything learned is mostly forgotten unless it is vital for a person’s career.

None of my own special interest subjects were covered in depth by the school I went to.

What I know now is far greater than what anyone could have taught me. Learning is a lifetime occupation. Hans Kusche, Cochrane