[grose]

My 4th and 5th grade teachers tricked us into learning algebra by calling it "enigmas" and treating it like a fun puzzle instead of a math problem. It definitely worked on me, I was quite shocked when middle school math was just those puzzles under a different name. Made those classes quite easy though.

[zozbot234]

This is done as standard practice in many countries outside the English-speaking world - complex "word problems" are used to gradually introduce algebraic-style reasoning (often involving multiple "steps" as a matter of course) in the earliest grades as part of the study of both arithmetic and what English-speaking schools call "pre-algebra". Teaching proper algebra after that once the students have the proper level of mathematical maturity becomes almost seamless.

[1970-01-01]

The way math is taught in the USA is downright disastrous. It's been through several revisions over the last 30 years and still isn't showing average students reaching anywhere near these levels.

[lupire]

This is what DragonBox does too.

Kids hate math because teachers and textbook writers hate math, who put no fun into it.

[ghostpepper]

It looks like Dragonbox was bought in 2019. It's now called Kahoot! Algebra by Dragonbox and requires accepting a bunch of tracking permissions on the App Store, plus a subscription.

Anyone know an alternative?

[thorncorona]

Art of Problem Solving books