Sixes, Sevens, Eights, and Nines

How do you teach your child the poetry of mathematics? This is the question that vexes me now. I lay part of blame directly at the feet of Joshua's third grade teacher, Mrs. Redus.

I thank the deities of your choice that Joshua has had many truly excellent teachers. Unfortunately, last year he had a teacher that was, er, straight out of my past!

At first, I thought her little quirks were rather harmless. For example, she kept the boys and girls segregated in the classroom. She even went as far as to prohibit boys and girls from playing together at recess. I even overlooked her "write the word you got wrong 100 times" mentality.

A few months after Joshua's third school year started he would come home complaining bitterly about Mrs. Redus. I became concerned when the complaints didn't stop. She was grinding him down and it was affecting his performance in school. Joshua resorted to faking illness to get out of school many times. I couldn't do anything to fix the problem.

I had to sit Joshua down and explain to him that there would be times in his life when he had to work with people he despised. This was one of them.

It was a bumpy year, but nothing a little home-schooling couldn't solve. To that end Joshua and I are concentrating on multiplying 6, 7, 8, and 9. And this is where I came in: How do you teach your child the poetry of mathematics?