They were having a grand `ole time at the kitchen table.

Heads were flung back, laughter filled the air, and Isaac was fuming.

I sent the younger boys outside to play and grabbed my black marker.

 

Ah, life as a homeschooler.

 

  As my marker moved across the whiteboard, I realized I had created the problem.

“Isaac, if this is you completing your Algebra lesson, what is the goal at the top of the stairs?”

He glared at me.

Crickets chirping in the background, A stray cat meowing in the back yard, and Water dripping from somewhere upstairs, I gave my best “I can wait all year” teacher’s smile.

He gave me a blank stare.

Even though I had a smile on my face, in my head I stomped my feet and cried.

“Bekki, you passed on your hate for this level of math…”

How to Teach a Topic/Subject You Hate

1. Withhold your opinion. If I hate a subject, am confused by a subject, or see no real purpose for its existence (like balancing chemical equations), I need to bite my tongue. I am perfectly suited to be a wife, mom, homeschooler, and blogger. I love my family, love to teach, and have a passion for writing. My kids will have a uniquely different set of likes, loves, passions and abilities.
2. Find the Greater good. Every dry, difficult, boring, and useless topic to me has an equally engaged, enlightened, and useful purpose to someone else in the universe. Balancing chemical equations is extremely exciting and wonderful to the biochemist researching and developing a cure for hormonal stupidity.
3. Speak about the Purpose. Use encouraging, uplifting, positive language. Solving algebraic functions is an exercise in patience, searching for the most efficient solution, and agility. If these functions are not necessary to our future we will find ways to avoid them. If they are necessary, we need to find the most efficient way to solve them.
4. Refuse to label something as a Who the Heck Cares topic for Anyone. Kids develop with different abilities at very different ages. Do not create self-fulling failures by saying things like, “I hate math”, “I think this is a waste of your time”, “ballet is for girls”.
5. Be Over Prepared. Sometimes ‘you hating a topic’ is a defense against not understanding it well enough to teach. If you, the teacher, hates a topic you need to over prepare before teaching it. Sometimes, Something Magical happens when you learn about something. You begin to appreciate it. Not always; sometimes.
6. Do not confuse ‘Challenging’ with useless. Our kids need to learn to press on, press through and conquer. They need to struggle. It’s their job to perspire, it’s our job to inspire. Victory is hollow without the struggle. The Chicago Cubs can attest to the fact that victory attained after an incredible struggle is sweeter than honey to Winnie the Pooh.

I zapped back into the present.

“In Algebra, blah, blah, blah, efficiency and accuracy are the correct goals, blah, blah. There are almost always multiple ways to solve a problem. blah, blah, blah. More words. Math is important. ” blah, blah, blah.

I am definitely prejudiced.

       I hate chemistry, algebraic functions, standardized tests and brussel sprouts.

 

I have no need for any of them to succeed as a wife, mom, or blogger.

The issue is that I do need to teach them without prejudice to my own children.

 

My “Who the Heck Cares” basket is mine and mine alone.

They will surely develop their own over time as surely as the sun will rise again tomorrow. They need no help from me.

 

Plus, this world needs people who love chemistry, algebra and Brussel sprouts.

Otherwise, there will be too many Brussel sprouts and I may have to eat some.

 

Learning is hard at times.

It’s ok to be frustrated. Just don’t quit. Do not be quick to throw something into the basket.

Empower them with the skills to take a step back, breathe, and to try again.

If all else fails, try duct-tape.

 

We need to STOP measuring success by grades, achievements, awards, and worksheets.