Are you good at math?

Back in my teaching days one of mine and everyone else's biggest concerns was convincing kids--especially girls--that they can be good at math and that it could be equally fun. There were many times when I would have a conference with a parent who would blame his or her child's lack of mathematical achievement on themselves because they would say they weren't any good at math either.

The irony is that if a child doesn't seem to be good at math it's not because of genetic or hereditary factors. It's usually because one or both parents have convinced the kid that they're going to be lousy at math because they are.

Fortunately this is not going to be a problem for 8-year-old Brooke & her 5-year-old sister. First, their parents have high expectations for them a second they've found ways to make math fun.

This is especially true of Brooke who can't seem to get enough of math. She's always telling me that she knows the multiplication tables, square roots and long division and she frequently asks me to make up problems for her.

Her little sister is coming along too but for obvious reasons can't keep up with her older sister so she tends to feel left out.

When that happens we do something else or I keep the math challenges at her level so she feels successful.

Whatever the case, both girls will grow up liking math with no fear of it. Now let's hope the public schools can build on that.