From my experiences, I was not taught how to learn math. I was given the times table and told to memorize it. Math can be made easy, if you had someone to teach me math that is. Face it giving a child or anyone a times table and say memorize it is like reading a phone book. Our school system is so outdated at best how do we expect our kids to learn anything. I don’t want to put the blame on the teachers alone. Or the parents who are not spending the time with their children. I think its our school system and the budgets they face.

I have been out of school for many years, and now learning the things that should have been taught when I was 10 years old. Funny it was my own searching that I was taught how to do math. What were my teachers doing? Were they just glorified baby sitters. I was told I had learning disabilities, I was just dumb, all the good catch phrases. Come to find out it was them, not me or you or your child. There are plenty of other countries that don’t have these problems. Places where you can ask a child a problem and in their head give you the answer. It is not that this race is smarter, it is how they are taught. It would be like me and a caveman having a race to see who can start a fire first. He has two rocks and I have a lighter and a can of gas. Our school system is like the caveman.

A few years ago I was taught how to do the 9 X whatever trick. Very simple why was it I was taught this a 45 years old! I have now raised 5 children all great children, but the teaching is the same now VS when I was in school. I have seen my anger growing up, and my children’s. If you want your child to be ahead of their class, grow in life without the negative self esteem issues it’s up to you not the school system.

By: Brian Colbert