A long time ago, I wanted to go to college to be an engineer. Mechanical, electrical, some type of engineer. I loved science, and the applied uses of it. But because of bad experiences with poor teachers, one size fits all math books, standardized tests and public school bullies, I thought math was too hard for me. I will never forget the day a mean girl in school told me I was in the algebra class for dummies. I realized that all the kids in the class were really struggling with math, so I thought she was right. I was a dummy, even though I got A's in most all of my other classes.
That was the day I started to believe that math was scary, math was too hard for my brain. I took as few math classes in high school that I could. I forgot about being an engineer. I didn't think I could handle the math classes needed to get the degree. So I decided to go to a business college, not realizing that managers need math too. After business math, accounting and statistics classes, I found out maybe I wasn't a math dummy after all. It wasn't scary, after my roommate (an accounting major) sat down and explained it to me when I didn't understand. I went from getting C's and D's in math to getting A's. I went from being tutored in math to being a math tutor.
By then, it felt too late to switch and become an engineer. But I hung out with friends who were engineers, and I married a mechanical engineer. I get a thrill when I figure out how to fix something around the house or make something to substitute for another thing.
I have always wondered, what if? What if I had had a different experience in school? What if someone had helped me overcome the obstacles? What if someone had helped me develop a positive attitude about math? What if a teacher in school had noticed that I needed a different way to learn math?
Now that I'm a homeschooling mom, I find out that even smart kids can have a problem with math. Some people just need a different approach to learning. When you are homeschooling your kids, you don't have to stick with curriculum that isn't working. You don't have to use one math book for all your children. When my children have a problem with math, I try not to get frustrated. I try to help them to understand. I don't want them handicapped like I was with a poor attitude and belief that I just wasn't smart enough.
I can't go back and change the past. But I can change the future for my children.
