“I hate Math!” a sweet grimacing face declares.
The words fill you with dread. They surround your heart and squeeze viciously. Multiplications, sums, angled symbols all fall to the ground in hopelessness and are covered with tears. You know the work is achievable and no modifications are needed. You have hard data that proves it. Another story would be told with different data.
You loved math as a child.
How could this happen?
You hated math as a child.
Did you pass it on? How can you overcome it’s grip?
Take a deep breath.
Today is not tomorrow.
Tomorrow is not today.
I know. As a former high school science teacher I encountered students regularly who made their stance clear regarding their hatred of math. My reaction? I’d smile. Yes, smile, for I’d just found a kindred spirit. Science requires math, yet math rebels hold my heart.
I was once one of them-I hated math.
In my younger years, I also hated vegetables, coffee, and the color blue. So, what changed? Time. Think about that sweet child you adore, do they like the same things today as they did yesterday, a week ago, a year ago? We tend to assume that preferences never change, yet time changes you.
Please don’t assume math aversion is a forever thing. I know that thinking about the passage of time doesn’t help with the “in the moment crisis” as we tend to want fast-easy answers. It’s hard to slow down and see the world through your child’s eyes. Take time, look at your own face, describe what your child sees. Is it frustration? Is it hope?
Choose to offer hope. A love of math might not come to full blossom, yet seeds could be planted that yield fruit. Homeschooling is more than a single subject, more than statistical charts and data points. Instead of feeling powerless as tears of frustration flow, accept them. Accept your child for who they are in their fullness of life. Take a deep breath, be strong and courageous, embrace each day with abundant love. Regardless of love or dislike of a subject, it is the heart of a child that matters the most.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
-Joshua 1:9 (KJV)