"I Can Add by 9's!"

"I can add by 9's!!!"

You would think these were the words we heard, shouted with glee, throughout the house today by my boy. But no, it was me!

Okay, I know that if you have ever admitted out-loud that you home school, you've heard this response at least once: "Oh wow, I could never do that! I'm not smart enough."

Then you immediately think of that one subject that you just never did very well in yourself, and still struggle with appreciating the importance of, and have to work hard to find motivation to teach to your kiddos. Well, if you're like me anyway. And as you think of this, you try to convince the other person that one can in fact home school their children even though he/she didn't ace every subject in school.

Math was my worst subject! From the beginning! Actually, in high school I was interested in Algebra, but quickly got frustrated and far behind because I didn't have the basics of math to allow me to do even remotely well at the Algebra level. It was a miracle I even got that far!

When I began homeschooling I literally had, at the most, a 2nd grade math level under my belt. I was labeled as struggling with math by 2nd grade and sent to a separate room, with a few other lucky kiddos, during math time. In that little room we were taught "Touch Point Math." In order to keep this post from growing much longer than anyone has time or interest for, I will just let you go Here if you're interested in learning more about this evil method of teaching math. It does not teach math. It teaches how to hide your counting, because you're counting in your head instead of with your fingers (eventually, once you move past tapping on the number at it's 'touch points').

Now, there was nothing wrong with me. There was nothing wrong with my brain. I know I was capable of learning all the math facts, if someone would've just taken some extra time to help me figure it out and memorize them. I did pretty well through grade school and high school. I even graduated from college. I have a college degree! But couldn't do the basic math facts, beyond the easy ones: adding by 0's, 1's, most of the 2's, and most of the doubles (1+1, 2+2, well you know, unless you learned Touch Point Math like me).

It has been humiliating whenever I felt like I've been caught counting, even though it was in my head and not my fingers.

By the way, the whole issue of Touch Point Math is one of the major reasons we began homeschooling. My girl's 1st grade teacher taught Touch Point Math. When I raised my (deep) concern, she simply said, "Well, most of these kids aren't going to learn the math facts, so I just teach them all Touch Point Math." Whaaaat?? So sad that this mentality is allowed in education!

I struggled through teaching my girl math, and used the help of friends and my wonderful husband. She got the basics down and is doing well...phew!! (I'm still not the one teaching her math though. She uses Teaching Textbooks and my husband).

Now, with my boy, we're using Math-U-See. And the most wonderful thing is happening...I'm learning my math facts!!!! We're about to move on to the lesson that teaches how to add by 9's. I read the teacher's guide for that lesson last week and was pretty confused (Math-U-See in general is a whole different way of doing math than what I'd ever seen). I thought, "I'm gonna have to ask my husband to teach this lesson." I looked at it again a few days later, just to make sure I was doing the prep work with my boy so he would be ready for the lesson...I was still confused. I read it again today, thinking I'd give-it-another-go before I asked for help. Wonder of wonders...I got it!! I got it!! I understood!! I went straight into the office (where my girl and husband were) and proclaimed with much joy and satisfaction, "I can add by 9's!!" I then proceeded to go through all the adding by 9's math facts!

It felt so good!

I felt so good! (Even though my daughter was sitting there nodding her head like, "Yeah, 9+8 is 17, you didn't know that already?")

So usually when someone responds with, " Oh wow, I could never do that! I'm not smart enough." I think about my learning gap and how it hasn't ruined our home school experience/our children's education, and share that it is possible. There are so many great curriculum choices out there, as well as numerous resources available through home school groups, co-ops, and more. Even certified teachers have to use curriculum to teach. The same kind of curriculum we use...that tells the teacher exactly what to say when teaching the lesson. And 'they' say that most people/students excel in some subjects more than others. No one excels at everything.

Truly, it is possible to successfully home school your children even though you may have learning gaps yourself.


And who knows, you may end up with that learning gap filled!