Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Do monic polynomials, coefficients, and real roots make your brain swoon? Tune in as Chairman Michael Farris talks with a homeschooler who's got his numbers straight, today on Home School Heartbeat.

Mike:


Our guest today is Anders Kaseorg, who's a 16-year-old homeschooler from North Carolina who was a silver medallist at the 2002 International Math Olympiad in Glasgow, Scotland. Anders, when did you first realize that math was something you were really interested in? And what was it that caught your imagination?


Anders:


Well, I've been interested in things like math for a long time, but the first time I really knew was when I was about 7 years old, my uncle got me interested in Algebra. And I checked out a book at the local library, and I got very interested in it.


Mike:


How did homeschooling facilitate your success in mathematics?


Anders:


Homeschooling gives me time to practice it; time to learn new things about it. It gives me opportunities, like I'm taking some classes at UNCC and I would not have been able to do that if I were in a public or private school.


Mike:


Anders, could you give advice to students who might be struggling with math?


Anders:


Well, everyone has areas that they're good at. So you keep working at those. And math isn't interesting to many people, mostly because of the way it's taught. Computation and memorization are emphasized a lot, and those are really the most boring parts of math. Problem solving is much more interesting.


Mike:


Anders, thanks so much for being with us today. I'm Mike Farris.