Revealing all

[Ramblinman]

I know firsthand that having a weak foundation, one will eventually hit a brick wall trying to learn a subject that presumes that one is comfortable working with that foundation, even under examination room conditions and emotional stress.

It is one thing to idly watch an instructor put an equation on the chalk board and mutter, "Yeah, that makes sense".
It is another thing to walk up to a blank board and put that same equation on the board unassisted.
And yet another thing to know when to apply that equation (or some other equation) to a real world problem.

Working lots of problems is key. Do MORE than is asked of you.
I have never been assigned enough problems to really get good at something. It always took me more.

Learn it like your career depends upon it.
Someone's life might even depend upon your mastery of these subjects!

Calculus is not difficult provided that one has a solid foundation in the algebra and trigonometry that it is built upon.
It will only take you a few months to master the foundation first OR you can skip this step and flounder in calculus for several frustrating months and ultimately fail horribly.

[Petros]

"Calculus is not difficult provided that one has a solid foundation in the algebra and trigonometry that it is built upon."

That may be a large part of the issue. In our family's perambulations, I hit schools with different sequences, and as it worked out I got a double dose of Vergil [different approaches added interest] but got no trig beyond what I could sort out on me own.

But in any case, course work in most fields is just the Driver's Ed classroom, and nothing until you have been behind the wheel.

[jochanaan]

Amen. I THINK you have my two beat,

God send us teachers who are struggling to learn and spare us from the ones who dropped out long ago.

Yes. Or, God send us teachers whose first priority is to pursue and transfer knowledge and wisdom, not to retain their own position.

[Petros]

Fo tru. That was much less an issue back in the day than now.