[robomartin]

I think the notation is very much needed because it quickly becomes a tool for thought and communication. This is very much the case for every spoken language and other areas, such as music. Your point, which is quite correct, is that the math might not be explained well enough and internalized to the extent where the notation becomes a language for students beyond the simplest levels of mathematics.

A kid can learn the notation for whole, 1/4, 1/8, etc. musical notes and their positions on the staff very easily. An immediate relationship is created to the key on the piano or the fret on the guitar. I have been to math classes where the professor simply vomits formulas on the blackboard for one hour and you are left to figure out what they hell happened. That is a problem. Not the notation. The way math is taught.

[GDC7]

> A kid can learn the notation for whole, 1/4, 1/8, etc. musical notes and their positions on the staff very easily. An immediate relationship is created to the key on the piano or the fret on the guitar

I don't know about that. How many people can read music?

But also music, much like Chinese and Japanese is at a comparative disadvantage compared to math because there are no other tools to explain how high or low a note is.

You can use words to explain math, just like you did with your son.

Internalization is key, if you miss the window as a kid then it's gonna be an uphill battle and life being complicated as it is would mean people giving up on it.

And real world feedback is telling us that such window will be missed, that's why I had thought about math being always explained using the familiar English language which is almost always never missed as a kid.