<p>Corranged,
Finite Simple Group is one of the best pieces of math music out there. S has a sizeable collection, as you might imagine! Tell me there are people at Chicago who like this stuff…</p>
<p>Tom Lehrer was part of my kids’ musical education from a young age. It explains much about out family, I fear! :)</p>
<p>Zm,</p>
<p>5th grade may be a turning point and you don’t even know it. Be careful of what activities your s gets involved with. My S played the coveted part of Col. Chamberlain in his elementary school re-enactment of the Civil War. He was amazing and dressed in full uniform. I had to make the uniform and I don’t even sew!!! (They no longer have this activity because of political correctness.)</p>
<p>Eleven years later he chose to be an army officer after college. I am now kicking myself that I didn’t have him play in the band, or spend more time in the art room … who knew??;)</p>
<p>( I gave up on helping with math around then too. He was very gifted in math and got bored with the everyday math. He aced the math SAT section.)</p>
<p>NJres (off topic): I saw Lucy Kaplansky a couple years ago when she did a concert with Richard Shindell. Really liked her a lot!</p>
<p>Elementary math - aarrrggh. The thing I always hated was if you tried to help, and you didn’t do/eqplain it exactly the way the teacher did, “it was not right”, and of course since my telepathy is a little rusty - it was never right. the of course in middle school, big points got counted off if it was presented the way the teacher wanted, which might be exactly the way I would do it, but I never really knew, unless the slightest thing was wrong. Senior in hgihg school - woo, woo!!!</p>
<p>zmom, I so relate to your math struggles. My D3 just started middle school this week (btw, it feel kind of strange that, for the first time in 14 years, I no longer have an elementary school-aged child)and, while I was able to somewhat help with most of her math last year, once they start progressing closer to pre-algebra (especially with those word problems), I’m pretty much on thin ice.</p>
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<p>Same situation here. When my H, who’s actually pretty good at math, would try to help out w/ math homework, our kids would get frustrated because they had to follow the specific problem solving process that they were taught in class to the letter.</p>
<p>As far as math songs go, the one that my girls used to like was that “Figure Eight” song from Schoolhouse Rock(it was also in the soundtrack from the movie, “The Squid and the Whale”. (“Figure eight is double four, Figure four as half of eight…” Pretty basic 
)</p>
<p>zoos – let me cheerfully tell you: it only gets worse!</p>
<p>You are not alone. We’re off to a bad start here too. But kiddo is a sophomore in high school and the stakes are that much higher. Big sigh. Is gin and tonic allowed before 8:10 am?</p>
<p>In-house math tutor leaving for college next week. We are SO in trouble! Gotta look into some video-conferencing equipment - soon. :)</p>
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Definitely. I’ll be stewed by noon because D2 has the most totally messed up schedule, and they closed up shop for program changes before getting to her letter in the alphabet. I swear I’m so stressed I could take booze in an iv and I don’t even drink!</p>
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<p>My daughter is the math tutor, too. Let me know about the video equipment. Sounds like a great plan! Thankfully the teacher knows it’s ludicrous and is going to do other math on the side. I think she’s amused by the parental angst.</p>
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<p>This is a great math poem. It was recited in the recent Harold and Kumar movie (Kumar recited it to his girlfriend). It was definitely the only uplifting moment in the film.</p>
<p>Trying to remember what comes after the first line of the poem “a dozen, a gross and a score”, I found [Mathematical</a> Limerick](<a href=“http://www.markcarter.me.uk/math.html]Mathematical”>http://www.markcarter.me.uk/math.html)
except that most of them aren’t appropriate for young 'uns, not because they’re dirty but because they reach into trig and calculus. Anyway, here’s that simpler one:</p>
<p>This poem was written by John Saxon (an author of math textbooks).
((12 + 144 + 20 + (3 * 4^(1/2))) / 7) + (5 * 11) = 9^2 + 0</p>
<p>A Dozen, a Gross and a Score,
plus three times the square root of four,
divided by seven,
plus five times eleven,
equals nine squared and not a bit more.</p>
<p>I am relieved to see I am not the only parent who isn’t much help with math homework ! My younges just entered middle school and I hope her math teacher is a good one , so I don’t get dragged in</p>
<p>I know one in spanish:</p>
<p>Dos y dos son cuatro, cuatro y dos son seis. Seis y dos son ocho y ocho dieciseis. With a song to go with it.</p>
<p>Everyday math was unanimously voted “LAME” by our household. Both kids were bored with it, and came to the same conclusion about it…what’s the point? </p>
<p>It only gets much, much worse. D was seeking help for this problem yesterday from college (obviously, not from mom!)…</p>
<p>A marble thrown into a bowl executes oscillatory motion. Assuming that the inner surface of the bowl is parabolic (y = ax^2) and the marble has a mass m, find the oscillation frequency. Neglect friction and assume small oscillation amplitude." </p>
<p>Hint…the Answer: sqrt(2ag)…</p>
<p>Z-mom</p>
<p>Are you aquainted with Dr. Math. Google it and go to the site.</p>
<p>I used to go to it all the time when my kids were in elementary school. The first time that they asked me about prime numbers I was like what the …</p>
<p>Did anyone else kid’s do those Chicago Math bonus problems? Or the math problem that looked like a tic tac toe board and you had to put in 9 numbers that were given to you. Dr. Math had the way that you would put the numbers into the chart. </p>
<p>I was of no help to them. I don’t remember much that the dear nuns taught me in grade school.</p>
<p>“Hint…the Answer: sqrt(2ag)…”</p>
<p>Huh? squirt 2 aggies? oh boy is D in trouble if she asks me for help with 8th grade math!</p>
<p>Senior year and we’re STILL doing crafty projects. For Canturbury Tales, they had to either make a model of their character, or dress as their character. Well, I knew that I’d have to pay $40 for the men’s tights alone (even if I could get Son in them)if he dressed us. S we dug out the Barbie stuff, found Ken and turned him into the Scholar. Ballerina Barbies’ tights (with mud splattered on them and holes in them.) John Smith’s boots. We even did spurs out of tiny rubber bands and wires. Books out of match books and dental floss containers, zpray painted red and black. 12th grade!!!</p>
<p>As for math, by 5th grade H and I were both not competent to help. It has actually been a bit of an ego booster for Son. He has been in “regular” math and is not a math natural, but it makes him feel pretty good to be able to help his younger sisters.</p>
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<p>Snorted ice-tea out my nose at that one! SO true!</p>
<p>D had to do a poster last year for honors English. She didn’t have nearly enough info to fill the poster board. So, glitter to the rescue! When she got done that was one impressive-looking poster. Admittedly, she is an artist…</p>
<p>I hated Everyday Math. But my kids survived it.</p>