Why don't I follow your textbook?

Well, when I took math classes, I didn't like them much.  My teachers went section by section and we worked a lot of problems and I just didn't see the long-term point.  Let me say though that most math teachers do teach by the book. I mean, it makes sense that these books were written by experts.  And a lot of money has been spent on the books.  Ok, I agree with that some.  But, if that is really what you, as a student,  think then why don't you read the math book?

You and I both know that you don't read it because you don't think it is interesting and you don't really know how to read math.  But, if you think your book is boring, remind me to show you my collection of old math books.

Math instruction is based on what educators call standards.  While these things get tweaked from time to time (Florida adopted new math standards in September 2007), most of the math you will learn has been around a while.