You Suck At Math Because Your Parents Sucked At Math (ispo facto, your kid will suck because you do)

If your kid is awesome at mathematics, please don't read this post.  

If you're not interested in my rants, please don't read this post.

If you're a cry baby and take things too personal, please don't read this post.

If you're a believer in the victim mentality, please don't read this post.

Warnings done... proceed at your own risk.

Let's stop blaming the schools. Let's stop blaming the teachers. Let's stop blaming the genetics. Your kids suck at math because you do. This is true whether your kids are in public school, private school, or homeschool.

You suck at math because your parents sucked at math. Your kids suck at math because you suck at math.

"I can do math in my head, I know math" No you don't. You know how to drive a car, but that doesn't mean you know how it actually works ... and you need to know how it actually works to teach how to build a car.... and make no mistake, the fundamentals of math are all building block items. Multiplications, Fractions, Subtraction, Probability, etc.

"You don't need to teach them math, they will figure out what they need as they go." WHAT!?! Wow. How far does this line of reasoning go with you and into what areas of life? Or is this a selective thing only applying to math? Well, your kids, your choice. I, on the other hand, will most definitely ensure my children understand mathematics before they find they need it (such as with predatory credit card terms, mortgages, insurance rates, etc.)

So, who will break the cycle? You? Your Kids? Or will you continue to allow it plague your family lineage and build in an excuse system?

I was horrible in math in elementary school. The pain! The Pain! (I can hear Paul Mordeeb in Dune screaming in the pain amplifier!)
Memorize this, Memorize that, go faster, wtf is this? Crazy madness. It all made no sense because those who taught it didn't understand it. But wait, that's the teacher, right? Yeah, but parents are the first teachers. Teaching math is a natural part of raising a kid. Basic math is infused in all aspects of our society. I bet you don't understand it so you can't infuse it into a family discussion. I truly understand math. In fact, I can teach mathematics through set theory and numerical analysis (300 and 400 level college), and I know I can step into a college and pass a class in combinatronics.

Am I saying that my kids will be doing this level of mathematics before they leave home high school? Extremely doubtful. Unless one of my girls is very clear that she wants to go deep into some computationally intensive science, our math education will barely, if at all, touch trigonometry or calculus.

What is key is to really understand the fundamentals of computational mathematics and how it works. If your kid knows 6 times 7 of the top of their heads, that's fantastic. But does your kid really know what 6 x 7 means? Can they explain it, can they show it, can they swap in a something other than a 6 and still lay out what is going on? Can they substitute an apple for the six and still get it? Can they add the apple as the unit and get it? Can the explain what the units are implied or not by 6 x 7? Do they understand the place holders that the 6 and 7 represent? Do they really understand that we are simply speaking out, in a short phrase, "six times of a 7"? Do they know that 6 times 7 will never be presented to them that directly in the world? Can they transfer from a real life situation into the 6 x 7 memorized fact? Do they know the answer to 6 apples times 7 oranges? Do you? It isn't a trick question, if you understand mathematics.

If you don't really understand math, go back and study it. I did. As silly as this may sound to you, when I was 20 years old I decided I had to really learn math. So, while I was stationed in Korea, I plopped my ass down in the post library almost every day for six months and started to learn. I started with basic counting. Literally doing 1 plus 1. What was 1 plus 1 really? How does it work? What do these things mean? 1 what? Etc. Etc. I did this for about 6 months, getting into geometry. I now really know math and can transfer that into my children, making it a part of our daily lives. It isn't some vague concept or algorithm sequence to memorize. I can explain and show why, and I can infuse logical thinking steps into our daily lives to help my kids grow and explore through mathematics in real terms. I can have discussions around Miles Per Hour and help them discover how that is a fraction with units and translate that further into distance covered over some period of time. I sure wish I had this comprehension before entering the adult world.... I would undoubtedly have made better financial choices as a young man.

As a nation, we approach mathematics education wrong, and we seem to be suck in this vortex of wrongness. We can either let it perpetuate or fix it. I'm fixing it, what about you?

So, fellow educator, take accountability. Own it. Go back, and really think through mathematics at the basic level. Do it to gift your family tree, as I have.