[Are our kids falling behind?]

14 hours ago, bush_cheney2004 said:

My own kid struggled mightily in today's academic environment for undergrads....he and his peers were decoupled from curriculum developed by old farts for a world that no longer exists.   Courses in math, science, engineering, history, literature, etc. were just a meaningless gauntlet to run for another expensive BA/BS degree with poor employment prospects.   

Then he discovered the world of finance, accounting, hedge funds, options trading, etc. and the heavens opened.   Ditched the computer science major and joined the crowd that understands what really makes the world go 'round...money.   

Now he is paying me rent instead of me paying more tuition.  Win-win.

 

 

Right on. You just nailed it. "Old crappy curriculum developed by old farts".  Now they have these online tutorial places like StudyPug or Math.com, teaching full on Algebra 2, Calculus etc. Glad your kid is kicking butt in finance. If all that finance stuff doesn't have an advanced Math requirement (Algebra 2 or Calculus, etc), then I would love to explore it further myself. Tips appreciated .  Surprised about the Computer Science major though. Technology is another great field to be in.  

[Are our kids falling behind?]

1 hour ago, GostHacked said:

It was not cool to be a geek/nerds based on how popular media portrayed it. I would hope that is not the case now as geeks/nerds seem to be at the height of coolness.

Yeah I think that might be a small percentage but overall, Math and Science are not just interesting anymore. Kids are influenced by if something is going to effect them in real life. Lots of kids were getting into Math and Science when the US announced they wanted to put someone on the moon. It kind of all fell off from there . . . Now they are into making Youtube videos. No Math or Science required, just a cell phone camera.

[No Canadian compensation for families of Gurkhas killed in Kabul blast]

@DogOnPorch - I understand that but if they agreed to the terms and conditions before signing up as guards for the embassy then it really doesn't matter. It's more of a what they agreed to before signing up for the job. More business then anything. If post death compensation wasn't part of the deal then that's just how it is. Respect to those soldiers and their families but if compensation wasn't promised before, then it's completely irrelevant.  I wouldn't want Canadian soldiers guarding anything that's not Canadian. So maybe it's something the Nepalese government should think about, not Canadian.

[Are our kids falling behind?]

So according to Forbes, Asian students are kicking some serious butt when it comes to education. I knew this about Math but looks like they are creeping into Science as well (Natural progression I guess).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2016/11/29/far-east-strengthens-grip-on-math-science-rankings-u-s-students-slip-further-behind/

What is causing this and how can we reverse the trend? From what I know, the Math curriculum in a lot of Asian countries (Including India) is quite intense.

Should we beef up our own program / create new out of the box solutions like simplified math tutorials or a combination?

How can we (North Americans) compete with the rest of the world?

 

[No Canadian compensation for families of Gurkhas killed in Kabul blast]

Aren't Gurkhas Nepalese? Shouldn't the Canadian government be responsible for their own soldiers? 

[BC Elections what a joke!]

So it looks like the elections are upon us (BC Elections).

I got my little registration reminder a few days ago.

I went on the website and they don't even have a single picture of someone who is running.

So I Google stuff on my own and found out there is not a single CONSERVATIVE party representative running.

Just NDP, OTHER and L . . . (Don't even want to say that word). 

Can someone recommend the most conservative person running (Vancouver - West End(. The closest thing I found was Spencer Chandra Herbert.

Which is a freaking disaster.