Algebra

The other day, my Facebook status said, "Jeannie thinks it is unfair that algebra should be the bane of one's existance more than once in a lifetime." See, I hated algebra. I took pre-algebra in 8th grade. I was really bad at it. I think I may have ended up with a C. I attribute it to the fact that the teacher was terrible. I remember that she was completely uninterested in explaining it. Then I took algebra 1 in 9th grade. I was still terrible. I still didn't like my teacher. What is it with math teachers who don't want to teach math? This particular teacher acted like the act of showing up at school, not to mention teaching, was just too much for her. Again, I am pretty sure I made Bs and Cs. Probably mostly Cs. My math experience didn't get much better...except for Geometry. I did really well in Geometry. 100s. A+.

So here I am, nearly 30 years later, still suffering the ill effects of my algebra experience. And what am I doing? Algebra. Every day. Teaching algebra to my reluctant math student daughter. I will admit, it is coming a little easier to me now than it did then. But you see, God has a sense of humor. He really does. And he has gifted me with a daughter who thinks just like I do. And it is my responsibility to teach this stuff to her in a way that makes sense, and to try to convince her that it is important and necessary for life. Junebug will agree with me that those things are not true. No one really uses algebra. At least no one who is normal. I think Funandone does algebra in his spare time because he thinks it's fun. But Funandone also doesn't think wood floors are necessary, and he doesn't like onions. So what does he know?

Anyway, my days (or at least my mornings) are now consumed with trying to explain how to solve: 8(x-3)-5(x-2)=6 to a child who can't comprehend that 5 is really -5, and 2 is really -2 and therefore (-5)(-2) is really 10 and not (-10). Do you see my dilemma? And then there is the whole issue of moving the parts of the equation from one side to the other. Oh my. Do you move the x's or do you move the numbers and which one do you move first? And do you add them or subtract them? And if you subtract from a negative number is it more or less? Makes me want to run screaming from the room.

I don't run screaming though. (Well, okay I USUALLY don't.) I remember those teachers who didn't care and didn't teach. And I remember how much that made me hate it. And I remember how poorly I did in Math and how it showed up when I took the SAT. So I sit patiently, problem after problem, trying my best to remain calm and positive. I'm not sure how long I can maintain the facade.

Lucky for me, child #2 is a math whiz. Hopefully she will not require quite as much attention (although by then I'll have it mastered). She on the other hand, has other issues. Today she said this to me: "Mom, my lesson book says to read (history) to page 21. This section ends on page 22. So, can I just read to page 20 instead?" Yes, she really said that.