The most important fundamental thing in both math and science, imo, is
logic.  The scientific method is all about logic.  Logic, critical
thinking, and questions that have only one right answer are unpopular
concepts right now.  "Self esteem" is considered more important.

I'm really grateful for the approach we use in our after-school program.  
In our games, sometimes you lose.  None of that "everyone's a winner"
crap.  I remember playing a card game that required speed with this one
girl, and she said "Can you slow down, because I can't go as fast as
you, and it's not fair."  And I said "If I slow down, you'll never learn
to be faster." And within a few weeks, she was just as fast as I was and
giving me a real challenge!  

In our arts and crafts projects, sometimes there _is_ a wrong way to do
it.  If a kid is upset because he or she messed up, instead of lying and
saying they did fine, we say "What part do you not like?  Is there a way
to fix it or make it work?  What will you do differently next time?"   I
love getting to weave in these life-skills concepts into things like
playing cards or making a paper plate mask.  In arts and crafts, instead
of telling them how to do a project, I usually start with showing the
finished product, and asking them things like "What do you think the
first step should be? What do you think the trickiest part is going to
be?"  Reverse engineering! Love it!!  

Anyway, blah blah enough about work.