Door-2-Math Blog

In terms of K-12 math, 6^th- 10^th are the four most important years for a child. Before 6^th grade, math classes cover rudimentary arithmetic topics such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals and some fraction. Those topics mainly deal day-to-day tasks such as paying the bills, how much tiles to buy for a 2,400 square foot house or how much tip to leave the waitress if the meal cost $34. Beyond 10^th grade, math classes dive into conceptual modeling of simplified real life events and making simple predictions such as what a boat’s bearing is after it traveled NW for 1.5 hours at 30 knots per hour then turned SE with the same speed for another 1.5 hours.

The mathtopics that span from 6^th – 10^th grades is the connecting/gate material through which one is allowed to advance from the rudimentary “survival math” to “understand the world around us math”. Unfortunately, this gate material is covered when kids hit pre-puberty and enter teen years. Social, emotional, physical and psychological transitions are all hoisted upon those young shoulders at the same time. If an 11- or 12-year old did not acquire enough personal skills to ask for help or did not have adequate support structure at home by the end of 5^th grade, this transitional period can literally crush the child. Some withdraw into themselves, some seek peer protection of the worst kind, some turn violent, and some gave up completely.

For parents who, for whatever reason, didn’t or couldn’t or wouldn’t get involved before 6^th grade, letting go of 6^th – 10^th grades is the worst mistake they can make. That is when the road of math gets too dark and too treacherous for their kids. Once kids get off this road, they lose options to pursue their dreams. 6^Th – 10^Th grade is the period when many give up of becoming a doctor, a vet, a biologist, or an architect. Unbeknown to many, in those four years math begins to separate kids into the ones with freedom to choose their own career paths and the ones without such options.

Want to preserve your child’s freedom to choose? Here are some guidelines to follow:

- If you have a 6^th grader or younger, get involved. Get to know his/her world. Don’t meddle in, arrange his/her world to your like. Just be a fly on the wall. Discuss with your significant other or decide beforehand on your own, what life lessons/principles that are important enough to you to pass on to your child. Keep in mind at all times that teaching lessons and making contributions of any kind without being solicited first will put a strain on your parent-child relationship.

- If you have a 6^th grader, evaluate and assess the quality of your parent-child relationship. Listen to your gut feeling: Is it strong enough to help him/her through the next 4 years that set the stage for his transition to finish high school and starting college?

- If you have a child older than 6^th grade, brace yourself. Know that to guarantee him/her the freedom to choose, you will need to be the academic general contractor – not that you need to sit down and teach math or biology or physics or whatever the tough subject happen to be, but you need to find the best help you can afford to get him caught up and/or get ahead.

Getting good grades already? An A is an A, right? Think again. Get to know the grading policy. To my shock last month, one of my straight A students from a local school has been peer-grading all 4 years of her middle school math and neither of the parents had any clue that the teacher does not ever teach in class. All material was spoon-fed and all tests werepre-taken, taken and re-taken. Think any college worth its salt will give kids 3 chances to take a test?

When the road to math is getting too dark and too treacherous, seek help. Take charge. Our kids’ future career freedom depends on how we make their math our current priority. To download a complimentary k-12 Math Milestones guide from Dr. Pan, click here.

Happy Zen Math!

MathDoc @ Door-2-Math