It’s not too late for this mom to tackle algebra

Published 1:30 am Sunday, August 14, 2016

Another week has gone by when I didn’t use algebra. OK, maybe that’s not true. Algebra probably came to my rescue all the time and I was too unaware to realize it. Like when I analyzed filling station prices to get the cheapest tank of gas, or when I calculated how much sherbet and soda I needed to make punch for 10 children and three adults. But I didn’t fall asleep each night thinking “Thank goodness I could solve for x.”

If the world is divided between techies and fuzzies, I am definitely a fuzzy. I got through college-level calculus with white knuckles clutched to my TI-81 calculator. I squeaked out an A- on a shaky foundation of memorization. But I didn’t know what the heck I was doing.

That became apparent last year when I was helping my son with his math homework. I was the mom who either said “Go ask your father,” or “Let me study the book first.”

Before you think I’m more pathetic than I actually am, it wasn’t that I had trouble with fifth-grade math, it’s that as a 10-year-old, my son was doing seventh-grade math. Next year for sixth grade, he’ll do Algebra 1 via eLearning. By a strange twist of DNA (I blame my husband) our son is gifted in math.

In order to prepare for fall, this summer our son is working through the Algebra 1 curriculum on Khan Academy, and I’m sitting next to him brushing up too.

Khan Academy is a non-for-profit website that offers free curriculum using online videos, quizzes and a personalized dashboard for every learner. It lets users skip concepts they already know and zero in on skills they need to master. At any moment if a learner does not understand something, all he or she needs to do is click on a video explanation of the concept.

I don’t believe in stereotypes, and the one about girls not being good at math is one of the most disgusting lies out there, but I do know that when I was in eighth grade peer pressure weighed me down. I was afraid to raise my hand and ask for help. My algebra teacher was an old man who was kind but intimidating. My strategy was to shut up, listen and take copious notes. Notice how “fall in love with math” was not part of that equation.

As an adult, the first time I clicked on a Khan Academy video I got jitters. Then I remembered that there were no eighth-grade boys witnessing my need for help. The computer wouldn’t judge me either, so I could click on those videos as much as necessary.

I can’t go back in time and give 13-year-old me the Internet, but I can rebuild my shaky algebra foundation. The next time my son needs help with homework, I intend to be up to the job.

Jennifer Bardsley is an Edmonds mom of two, and author of the book “Genesis Girl.” Find her online on Instagram @the_ya_gal, Twitter @jennbardsley.

or at teachingmybabytoread.com.