Secular Confessions

[Gwenn]

Oh, yeah, I'm bad at math, too. I was in special ed just for math from 3rd grade until 5th or 6th. My mom is really bad at math but both of us are musical. Music is very math based and Mom and I both say we see math musically.

[girlwonder]

Yes, that sounds about right. I can't have music on pretty much ever. I can listen to podcasts and spoken word stuff, but music just end up grating on my nerves because it takes a certain amount of energy or attention to listen to it.

I love the taste of onions, but I cannot abide the texture unless very finely minced and cooked to death. It used to take me 30 minutes to deconstruct my mom's meatloaf into two piles: onions and meat crumbles. I think my mom was most annoyed by my food issues.

[Gwenn]

I know I drove my mom crazy! I'm not sure what was worse, though, food or the fact that I hated all the clothes she bought like turtle-neck sweaters.

[girlwonder]

Oh, yeah, I'm bad at math, too. I was in special ed just for math from 3rd grade until 5th or 6th. My mom is really bad at math but both of us are musical. Music is very math based and Mom and I both say we see math musically.

I wish they would have just put me in special ed- at least then I might have gotten some help. It was so frustrating (still is) because I actually get the concept if it is explained right but it slips away like quicksilver - I can feel it leaking out of my brain even as I am trying to keep a hold on it. I just don't have the framework for it to stick.

[Gwenn]

Well, lucky for you there are calculators in the world but it must have been really frustrating as a kid. It's too bad nobody got you help.

[girlwonder]

I know I drove my mom crazy! I'm not sure what was worse, though, food or the fact that I hated all the clothes she bought like turtle-neck sweaters.

Another funny joke from days past (very not PC, so please skip if you are offended by size-ist jokes): Wearing a turtleneck and a backpack is like getting choked from behind by a midget on your back.

Can you imagine being a man and having to wear a necktie all day long?

[Gwenn]

Another funny joke from days past (very not PC, so please skip if you are offended by size-ist jokes): Wearing a turtleneck and a backpack is like getting choked from behind by a midget on your back.

Can you imagine being a man and having to wear a necktie all day long?

And no, I can't imagine. I wouldn't.

[girlwonder]

Well, lucky for you there are calculators in the world but it must have been really frustrating as a kid. It's too bad nobody got you help.

It really limited my career choices, so for me it is still frustrating. I can't get a decent score on the GRE even if I do perfect on verbal, so grad school was kind of out (except for English or the equivalent, which would have been great but monetarily makes no sense - I know enough math to figure that one out ). My SAT score was 800 verbal 400 math. I should be walking around with my head tilted to the right because I am so lopsided.

I was looking into grad school for paper/book conservation, but you need several semesters of chemistry so that is out. I really love science, but I couldn't do it because I just don't have the math. I do feel like it is taught a certain way, and that if I could have found someone to teach me a different way it would have gotten in somehow.

Ugh. Sorry I am so complain-y tonight.

[Gwenn]

I was so worried about my GRE scores. I practiced and practiced - I was actually wondering if I could be accepted with a 800/400 split but in my case it didn't come down to that. I can do abstract concepts like geometry but it's the basic arithmetic that's hard for me. Given multiple choice answers I was able to do okay on the thought-based questions.

[girlwonder]

You know I think I probably could have done geometry, but it was taught by people who are good at math so I didn't get it. I remember once figuring out one of the proofs/theorems (?) on my own measuring for some project I was working on and thinking "OOOOHHHHH! I get it now. I think it was the one about how a2+b2 = c2.

They should teach geometry in a carpentry or sewing class. I would have gotten it then.

[Gwenn]

I was looking at your website the other day. If you can do all that with string you could absolutely have done geometry.

I'm off to bed - it's late and I'm trying not to stay up too late anymore.

[MammaMia]

I haven't read anything to back that up, but I think some things are just less concrete, and a little more... loose in childhood. One thing semi-related but not entirely is hearing about how common synesthesia is in children (it's basically mixing senses, but many times it's associating colors with numbers and letters). It is assumed that this may be a normal thing and that people just outgrow it. Interestingly, my dh still has this although it's faded as he's gotten older. If he pictures numbers and letters in his head, they'll be in specific colors--for example the number 4 is associated with lime green for him. He's also incredibly amazingly good at math. He can do long complex equations in his head as long as I don't try to talk to him at the same time.

Cool, I have synaesthesia too. Mine hasn't faded at all. I just got a book on it called "Wednesday is Indigo Blue" but I haven't started reading it yet.

I'm hopeless at maths, but I do have an excellent memory for numbers.

[MammaMia]

I was always bad at math. I remember in first grade that I had a hard time doing the problems because each number had it's own personality, so of course in my equations, a 2 and a 7 would not be next to each other because they were so different and would never be friends. 2 was boring. 7 was fun and exciting but in the end unpredictable and a mystery (kind of a loner). The number 9 was worse than 7 . Sounds silly, but it made math difficult because I got everything wrong all the time and it has never changed to this day. I still need a calculator to subtract. I can't carry numbers because I don't know where to set them down again. One of my favorite jokes from my old stand-up comedy days was from a friend of mine Eddie (who works at Tosh 2.0 now - funny show if you get a chance): "If it wasn't for math, I'd be the funniest guy at Nasa! How much gas will it take to get the shuttle to Mars? I'd top 'er off! Fill it up and bring an extra gas can in the trunk."

Oh, and names and words are always pictures in my head. Lydia is eyelashes. Linda is the floaty fluttery scarf that hangs off of princess cone hats (and generally blue). Barbara is short frosted hair. Sam is a 2x4 wood board. Etc.

Haha - my numbers had (still have) personalities too. 3 is an arrogant jerk, 4 is kind of a nerd.

I actually made a website about synaesthesia when I was 17. I haven't touched it in a decade, but it's still floating around the interwebs somewhere.

[daylilies]

Yes, that sounds about right. I can't have music on pretty much ever. I can listen to podcasts and spoken word stuff, but music just end up grating on my nerves because it takes a certain amount of energy or attention to listen to it.

I'm similar with music--I listen to it all the time but it really takes some energy for me to listen to and remember the lyrics. I can hear a song a thousand times and still not know the words. I pay more attention to the melody and the drums (I love good drummers)

I wish they would have just put me in special ed- at least then I might have gotten some help. It was so frustrating (still is) because I actually get the concept if it is explained right but it slips away like quicksilver - I can feel it leaking out of my brain even as I am trying to keep a hold on it. I just don't have the framework for it to stick.

Same with me--I remember in college sitting in statistics class and actually kind of understanding it and by the time I got back to my room and opened the homework, I didn't get it. One of the reasons I never finished my psychology degree is because statistics hung me up so much, I dropped it before I failed it.

I found the last page really fascinating, by the way, but obviously didn't want to quote all of it.

[Bridget]

Wow. This page is totally fascinating. I suck at math too but I'm not musical or artistic. I just suck at math. But as I've mentioned, I had no love for learning. I lost it as soon as math started getting hard and I had to stay after school to finish my time tables. That's also when I started getting headaches almost every single day.

[Bridget]

I confess that I took my mom shopping last night and she had such a great time. She told me over and over how nice it was and how we should do it more often. I cried all the way home. I just can't shake this guilt. My mom always wanted to do things with me and take me shopping and the like. I am just not the kind of person that enjoys shopping with other people. I never even went with my girlfriends. I like to get in and out. And I hate the mall. I just feel sad that I didn't suck it up and go with her more. And I feel bad she never got to plan my wedding or make my wedding dress like we always said. I never did much with her at all because I didn't want to. I was selfish. I know I need to shake the guilt and just focus on right now. But I haven't gotten there yet.

[daylilies]

[missychrissy]

I think I lack a little patience this week because a) I'm pregnant, b) I feel like crap, and c) he's pushing my buttons

All really valid excuses.

I was always bad at math.

I was and still am. In fact, one of the reasons I didn't stick with high school and pursue the computer field earlier was because I was told by the school guidance counselor that you had to be 'really good at math' to work in computers.

I'm living proof that's total BS because at 29 I finally went back to school and that's what I do now-work in computers. It took everything I had, and I only got a B-, but I managed college level math. There were some tears involved, but I am proud of myself. I worked harder for that B- than I did for all the other A's combined.

We're just better at some things and others take work. No one in an education setting should ever scare a kid away from something they love. They need to find ways to help those kids accomplish their dreams.

I confess that I took my mom shopping last night and she had such a great time. She told me over and over how nice it was and how we should do it more often. I cried all the way home. I just can't shake this guilt. My mom always wanted to do things with me and take me shopping and the like. I am just not the kind of person that enjoys shopping with other people. I never even went with my girlfriends. I like to get in and out. And I hate the mall. I just feel sad that I didn't suck it up and go with her more. And I feel bad she never got to plan my wedding or make my wedding dress like we always said. I never did much with her at all because I didn't want to. I was selfish. I know I need to shake the guilt and just focus on right now. But I haven't gotten there yet.

Oh Bridget.

I'm just like you-I like to get in the store, get what I need, and leave.

[MammaMia]

I confess that I took my mom shopping last night and she had such a great time. She told me over and over how nice it was and how we should do it more often. I cried all the way home. I just can't shake this guilt. My mom always wanted to do things with me and take me shopping and the like. I am just not the kind of person that enjoys shopping with other people. I never even went with my girlfriends. I like to get in and out. And I hate the mall. I just feel sad that I didn't suck it up and go with her more. And I feel bad she never got to plan my wedding or make my wedding dress like we always said. I never did much with her at all because I didn't want to. I was selfish. I know I need to shake the guilt and just focus on right now. But I haven't gotten there yet.

I was and still am. In fact, one of the reasons I didn't stick with high school and pursue the computer field earlier was because I was told by the school guidance counselor that you had to be 'really good at math' to work in computers.

I'm living proof that's total BS because at 29 I finally went back to school and that's what I do now-work in computers. It took everything I had, and I only got a B-, but I managed college level math. There were some tears involved, but I am proud of myself. I worked harder for that B- than I did for all the other A's combined.

We're just better at some things and others take work. No one in an education setting should ever scare a kid away from something they love. They need to find ways to help those kids accomplish their dreams.

This is so true. Both my DH and my father are brilliant programmers, but neither of them are mathematically talented.

I'm also horrible at maths (it's "maths" not "math" in Australian English). I got nearly straight A's in high school, except for the D's and F's in maths.

I'm also going to have to suck it up and struggle through it later this year when I start my science course.

[daylilies]

I hate shopping too! I remember going with my mom when I was a kid. She used to drive me up the wall. She's the type where even if she found what she wanted (like a pair of jeans) she still had to look at all the other jeans, to make sure she wasn't missing out, I guess.
Me, I find clothes I like, yippee, let's get out of here.

[stash]

For those of you who "suck at math" (I do, too) - were you young for your school grade? Meaning, did you turn 5 in the six months before you started kindergarten, (say, March on) instead of prior?

[missychrissy]

This is so true. Both my DH and my father are brilliant programmers, but neither of them are mathematically talented.

I'm also horrible at maths (it's "maths" not "math" in Australian English). I got nearly straight A's in high school, except for the D's and F's in maths.

I'm also going to have to suck it up and struggle through it later this year when I start my science course.

It's not a matter of being able to multiply and divide, it's knowing which formula to plug in that makes things work.

[missychrissy]

For those of you who "suck at math" (I do, too) - were you young for your school grade? Meaning, did you turn 5 in the six months before you started kindergarten, (say, March on) instead of prior?

I started kindergarten when I was 4, but I was held behind in 1st grade. I turned 5 after being in K for 1.5 months.

[addysonreese]

For those of you who "suck at math" (I do, too) - were you young for your school grade? Meaning, did you turn 5 in the six months before you started kindergarten, (say, March on) instead of prior?

I was turning 6 that December.. so I was five when I went to six grade. I never went to kindergarten. I had gone to preschool for 2 years where my mom was finishing up her degree, and they said I'd be behind in my mind and that I'd be better in first grade.. and I still suck at math

Speaking of school.. girls..








I GOT ACCEPTED TO UTA TODAY!!!

[missychrissy]

Speaking of school.. girls..








I GOT ACCEPTED TO UTA TODAY!!!

Congratulations!!

[Cosmosmom]

Lauren Congrats!!!!!

[addysonreese]

Thank you girls!!! I am so excited right now!!

[MammaMia]

For those of you who "suck at math" (I do, too) - were you young for your school grade? Meaning, did you turn 5 in the six months before you started kindergarten, (say, March on) instead of prior?

I was right in the middle, age-wise.

DH was talking about a study he read about regarding kids learning maths. The gist of it was that they took a bunch of kids and didn't teach them any maths at all until, I don't know, I think he said about 10 or 11 years old? They found that the kids who started late picked it up very quickly, and within a short amount of time they were just as good at it as the students who had been learning it since kindergarten.

So some might conclude that there is no value in trying to teach small kids maths, and that it would be better to just wait until their brains have developed enough to grasp it easily.

[MammaMia]

I was turning 6 that December.. so I was five when I went to six grade. I never went to kindergarten. I had gone to preschool for 2 years where my mom was finishing up her degree, and they said I'd be behind in my mind and that I'd be better in first grade.. and I still suck at math

Speaking of school.. girls..








I GOT ACCEPTED TO UTA TODAY!!!

YIPPEE! I'm so happy and relieved for you!

[Cosmosmom]

Stash that is an interesting question. I have a Sept birthday and was tested (and passed) to be pushed ahead and be the youngest in the class. My mom talked to some people and decided to pay for junior kindergarten instead. So when I started regular kindergarten, I basically turned six in the first two weeks. I have pretty much always been the oldest in my grade and for the most part school was pretty much easy for me and I liked it. Of course some struggles here and there but nothing much. I was one of those who did all the honors classes when they would fit in my schedule around French and Orchestra.

I wouldn't say that I'm great at math and love it, I don't really enjoy it but I also did pretty well with it. I basically dropped calc senior year because it was at 7:30 in the morning and I didn't need the credits and didn't want to get up so early.

I'm one who likes to do several things at once. I almost always did homework during TV commericals and even now I will watch TV, play on the computer and talk on the phone at the same time.

I'm a very visual person. So many people in my library just LOVE audio books. I have tried them and hate them. I lose concentration after a few minutes. I really just need to read things myself and don't like being read to.

Now my DH on the other hand likes to read but is soooooo slow a reader. So in college I used to read his geology texts out loud to him because that was faster than him reading silently....and than we could go play computer games once his homework was done. He is very strong in science and math and really enjoys those.

I'm not artistic at ALL. Seriously, I'm guessing that most of your guys kids do better artwork than me. I can crochet and that is it.
Musically, I did play the viola for something like 12 years......I was decent but not great.