For a while, a long while, I let this math blog just sit. I didn’t want to delete it. I spent too much time on it and I knew it was full of great stuff that was still being used. But I wasn’t in love with writing on it.
In my lethargy, the hackers and jerks managed to infiltrate and completely take it down. That was on October 23, 2025.
Today is December 30, 2025. I rescued all the posts and will gradually get all the good ones reposted. But I have to start over, creating the whole website from scratch.
Luckily the wayback machine (internet archive) has a nice snapshot of the images and layout. It’ll take me a while, but I’ll get it all back up. Maybe even with some improvements!
If you are looking for a specific post – something you remember from long ago or something you want to know about – leave it in the comments. I’ll hunt it down and get it posted.
I’m looking forward to having all those great math stories, thoughts and tips live again – I hope you are too.
Years and years ago there was a math education model. It went like this:
Children would read a section or chapter of a textbook the night before class. They would come to school the next day ready to ask questions and do hands on practice with a teacher close by to help.
This was a “normal” classroom situation.
Over the course of many years, textbook publishers have squeezed more and more topics into textbooks. Thus, they have squeezed more and more detail out. Which has gotten rid of much of their value.
As math texts had their details extracted to fit more topics, children began having difficulty comprehending them. Even if they attempted to read the section the night before, the teacher would have to fully explain it during class the next day.
Thus the first flip happened!
Kids gave up altogether on trying to read math textbooks. They soon realized that the teacher’s instructions to “read the section” as homework was just an empty request. The teacher would explain all of it the next day anyway.
This model, the first flipped classroom, has sustained for quite some time.
Enter web-based video.
Fun to watch and easy to rewind, online videos allow kids to flip back the model. Because videos aren’t regulated, nor monetarily driven, anyone can make them – including people who are really good at it.
Yes, a pair of teachers at Woodland Park officially did the first flip. But check out what kids have done without teachers. They found Cousin Sal’s videos before it was ever <cue music>Khan Academy.
They inherently knew that there could be more and that there was a better way to learn. They started watching videos at night after they didn’t get everything they needed during the day. And they started going to school the next day asking questions of their live teachers: “I saw this video on YouTube and he did it this way… can I do it like that?”
We didn’t flip anything.
Yes, we think we’re really clever and have this great “flipped classroom” model. Guess what? We adults haven’t done squat – we’re just writing about it and making cute infographics.
Let’s give credit where credit’s due, shall we? Textbook companies drove the first flip. And kids are driving this one.
Over the past ten years or so I’ve been hearing this word “creationism.” It seems that it’s the opposite of “evolutionism.”
No problem – until I read about people trying to “prove” creationism. And articles trying to refute it.
I’m not sure what the big hubbub is about. 20 years ago I heard a guy make a simple statement about it all. He proved creationism in 30 seconds.
And it was a mathematical argument.
Before I give you that 30 second super-statement, let’s chat a little about what a real mathematical proof looks like.
Math starts with definitions.
We say, “Okay, here’s the deal. Let’s define a nebino as a number that’s greater than all prime numbers,” or something of that nature. (And yes, you get to make up your own words if you want.)
No math – none – ever starts out with confusing terms. If it does, someone jumps in and says, “You’ve got stuff that isn’t defined clearly.”
Everything shuts down until that gets resolved.
Math assumes… well… assumptions.
Once you have your definitions clear, you get to set up what you assume. This actually might come before the defining part. And often it isn’t said out loud at all.
Which is one reason that scientists sometimes think that they can do math. They’re always assuming the world (i.e. reality). Mathematicians don’t cotton to such vast and willy-nilly assumptions.
Then you get your hands dirty.
You’ve got definitions and you know what you’re assuming. You’re foundation is down. Now you build.
In other words, you create some math.
But things don’t always work out like you planned. So…
If it doesn’t work, you change the definitions or assumptions.
Yep – sometimes we really want something to work, so we just go back and tweak some of the starter points. Which means we change a definition or add (or delete) an assumption.
(Which means if you’re using someone’s math, you have to make sure you’re working with the same definitions and set of assumptions.)
And that’s the best argument for Creationism.
The statement I heard from this Creationist was, in essence, this:
We don’t have to use any evidence of science to prove God created the world in 7 days, 6,000 years ago. God planted the fossils and created all sorts of nifty things like DNA that would contradict the Bible. It was all meant to test our faith.
Voila! Creationism proven.
Brilliant! Change the assumptions, and you’re there.
Beliefs are just that: beliefs.
Which means there’s just no proving them. Kinda like my thoughts on the real line. I don’t believe in it – to the chagrin of my Twitter friend Colin.
So if you want to prove something, change the rules. Or ignore them. Mathematicians do it all the time.
*If you’re really really interested in my beliefs, I’ve shared them here.
Now that school’s officially in session, I’m really thinking about all the homeschooling moms who are taking on teaching math. I can’t help but see the similarities to something they’ve already done – given birth.
For each, I noticed that…
It’s darn scary.
Giving birth is pretty freaky. Especially if you’ve never seen or done it before. If you have the privilege of seeing another arrive in this world, it makes it easier. (I watched both my sisters and my best friend give birth!)
Teaching math might be a whole new world – and pretty strange if you’ve never done it. Dig back to some good math experiences you had as a child and draw on those.
It’s gonna happen no matter what.
Kids get born. They must. And they do. So you might as well make the best of it and enjoy the process the best you can – with a happy and positive pregnancy!
Kids learn math. They must. And they do. So you might as well make the best of it and encourage them in the best way – with a happy and positive math environment!
You get to choose how you do it!
You can give birth at home, in a hospital, with a doctor, with nobody, with drugs, without drugs… pretty much any way you want.
We’ve got more freedom now that we ever had. In Texas, where Betsy and I live, a homeschool is an independent private school. We get to teach in an unschooling way with lovely things like Math on the Level.
It may not go the way you want,
You’ve got a great plan. You know what to do and how to do it. You’ve taken the classes and my goodness! You’re in hard labor for 32 hours and you’re still at labor station -4.
You might think you have the best curriculum in the world. You’re all prepared. You start teaching an holy cow! Your sweet student couldn’t be less interested in everything you’re presenting.
…so be flexible.
Yes you’re frustrated. Remember the goal – a healthy child. Put away the frustrations and go for the C. Make it up by being a breastfeeding champion.
Likewise, you’re wanting a happy, healthy child. Choose a different curriculum. Let your child choose a different one. Experiment. Make it up by taking the crew to a great museum.
There are professionals for this.
Get a good ob/gyn, doula or midwife. You don’t have to go-it alone.
Get a tutor, enroll in a program like Kumon, join a homeschool co-op. You don’t have to go-it alone.
There is lots of information online.
With books like Betsy Dewey’s Birthright and sites like this one, there’s no reason to go into either blind.
It’s hard,
Giving birth is no piece of cake. However you choose to do it, you’re gonna have pain – in some way. Not to mention the nine months of puberty-like hormone swings!
Teaching math is a challenge. It’s not about conveying information, it’s about following a child’s natural curiosity and pointing out the math that happens along the way. Which means having to recognize math and the learning/curiosity style of another human. Not an easy task.
…and it’s worth it.
AH, the prize! When you are presented with a slimy little mini-human, you can’t help but think how cool it is!
And when a munchkin comes to you and says, “Did you know…” your heart fills with the glee of knowing that she extrapolated to get that – not just memorized it.
Are there more?
Any other similarities that I missed? Share them in the comments!
Betsy Dewey, my cousin, was a huge help and resource when I was pregnant with Daughter. She was pregnant with her second at the same time – that made it even cooler!
Betsy is an advocate of natural home birth and homeschooling. This article is written in honor of her and everyone else that listens to the beat of their family’s drum – and marches to it!
Today’s article is from Laura Laing, author of the book Math For Grownups and publisher of the website of the same name.
So you think you don’t use math on a daily basis? Think again.
You may not be solving for x, and the distance formula may not roll off the tip of your frontal lobe—mainly because you haven’t used it in years and years. But if you can put “parent” among your titles, you do math. I promise.
Just look at a typical day:
6:35 a.m.
Your darling daughter went to bed late last night. Seems that she couldn’t pull herself away from the most recent novel she’s devouring, and she had to finish, “just one chapter.” Problem is, she’s a bear to wake up when sleep deprived, and she’s got an 8:00 checkup at the pediatrician. She can usually get ready in about 45 minutes, and it takes 15 minutes to get to the doc’s office. How much longer can you let her sleep in?
9:03 a.m.
Check-up is done, and you’re waiting to pay the bill. You’ve got $33.65 in your wallet and a $25 co-pay. But after a morning of running errands, you’ve promised dear daughter lunch at the local fast food place. Should you use your cash for the co-pay or pay with plastic?
11:21 a.m.
At the grocery store, you’re deciding between three brands of ketchup. One is on sale for $2.27. For another, you have a 50¢ off coupon. And the third is a smaller container for only $1.49. Which one should you buy?
12:08 p.m.
At Burgers ‘R’ Us, your daughter has requested the chicken nuggets and a drink – no fries! You’d like to eat the fries that come with her kids’ meal, but you’re not sure you can afford the calories. Luckily, the restaurant has a handy sign displaying the caloric values for each menu item. What can you order to go with her fries that won’t force you to eat only carrot sticks for dinner?
1:31 p.m.
You need to fill up, and you have your choice of gas stations. One offers regular unleaded for $3.27 per gallon, plus a free car wash (a $10 value). Another offers $3.15 per gallon—no car wash. Which station offers the best deal?
2:47 p.m.
It’s time for your daughter to practice piano—a task that she hates. You thought the practicing contest that her teacher started would give her the motivation to practice every day. Nope. So today, she’s going to try to catch up on the days that she slacked off. She’s expected to practice a total of 15 minutes a day, but she’s only practiced a total of 25 minutes for the week. Her lesson is tomorrow. How many more minutes does she need to practice to please her teacher?
5:32 p.m.
Time for dinner, and you’re exhausted. Instead of making a meal from scratch, you decide to order from the local pizza joint. Your daughter wants plain cheese, your husband wants pepperoni and sausage and you want a veggie pizza. What’s the most cost-effective way to order dinner?
8:35 p.m.
Thankfully, your daughter has crashed early, meaning she can catch up on the sleep she lost last night. If you wake her up at 7:00 a.m., how much sleep will she have gotten?
Typical day? Perhaps. Typical math? Definitely.
So the next time you think, “I can’t do math,” keep in mind the number-based tasks that come across your path on a normal day. You might be surprised at what you accomplish without even thinking about it.
Where is the math in your day? Tell us in the comments!
Laura Laing is the author of Math for Grownups, a funny and accessible look at how the over-18 set uses math in everyday situations. While this post is not based exactly on a day out of her life, it could be. She is a freelance writer and the parent of a pre-teen in Baltimore.
In an attempt to join the Wordless Wednesday crowd, I’m sharing this photo. But as you can see, for MathFour.com, this is only a Somewhat Wordless Wednesday.
Before this photo we were discussing size of shirts – a numeracy concept that is visually displayed through the inability for grownups to fit 4T nightshirts on their bodies. Count 10 Read 10 is part of our family’s afterschooling routine.
Originally published as a guest post on MathForGrownups.com, a math blog by Laura Laing.
Guest Post: Grownups can learn new tricks!
Bon Crowder, another math evangelist
A couple of weeks ago, a fellow freelance writer wrote me about her foray into graduate school. She needed to brush up on some math skills, and she wasn’t sure how. I have a feeling that her questions weren’t unique. Whether you need to learn a little extra to help your kid with his homework or you need to take a math class to further your education, learning math again (or for the first time) can be daunting.
Luckily, my friend and fellow math blogger, Bon Crowder offered to write a guest post on this very topic. I swear, Bon and I were separated at graduation or something, because we approach math education in very similar ways. Plus she’s fun. (See? Math folks aren’t always boring and difficult to understand!)
I wanted to title this “Being a Great Adult Learner.”
But that’s dumb. All adults are great learners. If we weren’t, we’d be stumbling around, bumping into doors, starving and naked. We know how to learn, and the proof is that we’re still alive.
And dressed.
The question is “What makes you learn?”
1) You need confidence.
Confidence involves two things: feeling worthy and knowing you have the ability.
When people feel they’re entitled to something, they’re more likely to feel confident in getting it. Hang around any Best Buy service desk and you’ll see this in action. People say all kinds of strange things when trying to return a broken product, and these things are said with a sense of entitlement. BY GOLLY they’re going to get their way!
So how do you gain worthiness and ability? You’re worthy of it because you already have it. And you’re able to do it because you already do.
You have it all. It’s just hidden behind a wall of words you or someone else (or both) has told you for years. Now’s the time to ignore everybody, even yourself.
Because here’s the gosh-honest truth: There is not a single thing within a mathematician that is not within you.
You’ve done math since you were a kid. Even before you were in school. You knew at a deep level that if there was one toy and there was another kid around, you’d better run like the dickens to get it. There’s no dividing that toy evenly between kids.
You balance your checkbook (or you would be in jail right now), you probably have some rough idea of your gas mileage, and you know that if you have 12 people coming over, you’re going to have to double or triple that recipe for shepherds pie. You know math. Now’s the time to admit it.
So say this every night before your prayers. If you don’t pray at night, say it twice:
I do math. Today I woke up on time because I calculated how long it would take to get dressed. I knew how much money to spend because balanced my checkbook. I figured out how much weight I needed to lose – and I used math to do it.
Modify this statement to fit your lifestyle and run with it. Every night.
2) You need the right environment.
Once you’ve tapped in to the realization that you’re inherently good at math, you need the right learning environment.
This includes location, timing and the other people involved. If you have to drive too far away after working all day and all you get is a lousy quarter-pounder-with-cheese, you’re going to be tired, grumpy and irritable. If your class is full of teenagers fresh out of high school and the professor is 400 years old and believes in death by PowerPoint, things are not going to go well.
How do you know the right environment?
Look at all the learning experiences you’ve had through the years. List out the good ones and the bad ones. And then dig deep – what made the good ones good? Why were the bad ones so detrimental?
Include timing, location, student body, temperature in the room and details of the instructor. List out the attitude of the instructor, his/her teaching style, voice intonations – even how he wrote on the board.
Pick out the deal-breakers and the nice-to-haves and write them on a special piece of paper. This is your official “Environment Requirement” page. Laminate it, put it in Evernote, tatoo it to your bottom – whatever you do to keep it close so you can refer to it often.
How do you make sure your Environment Requirements are honored?
Here’s where that sense of entitlement comes back into play. If your class has a deal-breaker environment element, do something about it. Think, “If this were a faulty remote control that I bought at Best Buy, how would I handle it?”
Ask the instructor to manage the loud students better. Ask building maintenance to change the temp of the room (or bring a sweater). Don’t sign up for a class during a time when you’ll be tired, hungry and irritable.
And if you can’t change the environment – leave. Drop the class. Get your money back.
If it were a crappy remote control, that’s what you’d do, right?
You’re dressed…
And fed. You learn all the time. And you do math.
Now go find a class that fits and have fun!
Bon Crowder publishes www.MathFour.com, a math education site for parents. But that’s not all! Bon has launched a really, really, really cool initiative called Count 10, Read 10. While parents are encouraged to read to their infants, toddlers and preschoolers, we’re rarely encouraged to inject a little bit of math into the day. Bon will show you how. Take a look at her blog for more information on developing math literacy (or numeracy). I’ll be writing about this more in the coming months.
Questions or comments? Leave them in the comments section below!
I’m heading to the Texas Home School Coalition’s Convention this weekend in The Woodlands, close to Houston, Texas. The excitement I have for it makes me think of the excitement due to math…
(and I have on Husband’s Roger Creager shirt that is faded brown – I’m NOT naked.)
On Friday and Saturday I’ll be attending my first ever homeschool conference.
And boy am I pumped!
I’m so fresh and new at this – but really, I’ve been doing it forever. My ma sent us to public school (a really good one, Tarkington ISD) but as a single parent, she didn’t have much choice. At least back then.
But she started her own business cleaning houses so she could be an afterschooling mom. She really REALLY wanted us to have the learning and interaction she could provide from 4pm to bedtime.
Almost everything I know about math, I learned from her. She (and you) might be surprised at that because her degree is in English! But she taught me puns, patterns and a way to look at the world in a totally different light. Which is exactly what math is.
I’m an afterschooling graduate and parent.
Husband and I haven’t decided on how we’ll educate Daughter. Right now she’s going to a day school, which is really good for her and us.
And we afterschool like crazy. It takes me forever to get anywhere with her because I let her observe everything. For as long as she wants.
Everything I publish on this site is either used on her or I can’t wait to use it on her.
I need your help!
My mission is to help the first and most important teachers – parents – to be comfortable enough with math to teach it to their children through experiences. Which means I need to know what parents need from me. How can I help?
I’ve got experience with infants and toddlers at this point. I know grownups, too (taught college for 15 years). But school-aged kids? I’m depending on y’all.
So what should I ask when I go to the conference? What should I learn and discover that will help me help you?
Please, please, let me know in the comments!
(Oh, and if you want to meet up, let me know that too – I’d love to connect!)
It’s been mentioned more than a few times that ‘math’ is indeed a four letter word. Quickly after that’s said comes a look of, “So why are you claiming otherwise in your website title?!”
I just got an email from someone asking the same question.
Math isn’t a four letter word.
When we type “math” we use four keystrokes. But we actually mean “mathematics” which has 11 letters. In some parts of not-Texas, outside the U.S., they abbreviate mathematics as maths. So really, math and maths are both 11-letter words!
Math isn’t a four-letter word, either.
The real statement of this site is that math isn’t a four-letter word. It isn’t a bad word. It isn’t something that should be feared, loathed or avoided. In fact, since everyone does it, it doesn’t make sense to fear, loathe or attempt to avoid it.
It’s like saying, “I’m afraid to eat,” “I hate eating,” or “I avoid eating at all costs!”
It’s something you do. You were born with it.
Math is a four letter word.
But indeed, yes. Math, the English language construct, has four characters:
