My Math Journey

Math was always difficult for me as a child. I don’t remember my mom having me “tutored” though until Jr. High and High School level Math. I vividly remember staying after school daily beginning in the 8th grade. My 8th grade Math teacher, to this day, is still one of my favorite people on the planet. I have only positive memories of her constantly telling me “you can do this!” As I moved into high school, I remember meeting a Math tutor at my church every Wednesday night prior to Wednesday night activities. In college, I dated my Math teacher’s son…..so I passed. {not fully joking here}

This experience however made me a good elementary Math teacher! I understand kids who struggle. When I taught in public school, I was chosen to attend the Marilyn Burns Math School to teach kids Math through experiences. This was a life changing experience for me and I realized why I struggled so much as a child. I loved teaching Math in my elementary classrooms. I loved watching the kids faces light up when they would finally understand a concept through experiencing it verses a bunch of problems on a page. 

Fast forward a few years into homeschooling……I picked a workbook full of problems without experiences? SAY WHAT? I knew better, but the time monster got the better of me in the beginning. {I had to check it off my list!}  I vividly remember the day, one of my children started crying and said “I can’t do this!” I stopped in my tracks remembering immediately the words of my 8th grade Math teacher to me. I remember closing the book and THROWING IT AWAY! I did not want this child to go down “my Math road” thinking they could not do Math. That very day, I dug back out my  Marilyn Burns Math files and just started playing games with this one child.  I don’t remember how long I took this approach with this child, but long enough to build back the confidence level it would take to make them successful at another Math curriculum. 

For this reason, I love Math literature to teach Math skills, especially in the lower elementary years! Looking back, you don’t even need a Math curriculum in the younger years.  If you need a little bit of guidance on what Math skills are recommended a different ages, that is easily accessible online. Grab the list of skills and find Math literature and hop on over to https://mathgeekmama.com/ for some awesome lessons and games per topic.