How is a Homeschool Mom Like a Mathematician?

But mathematics is the sister, as well as the servant, of the arts and is touched with the same madness and genius.

~Harold Marston Morse

How is a homeschool mom a mathematician? It’s not because she appears a bit mad at times, and borders on obsessed with her job. And most of us aren’t wearing pocket protectors, horn-rimmed glasses, or muttering under the breath like Rain Man. Ok, so maybe some of us mutter. But that’s besides the point.

Here’s how we all fit the bill as a number romancer – even if our algorithm is unique:

1. Homeschool moms take on problems that seem unsolvable and work them over and over until they come up with answers.

Problems like:

A. How to go against the norm?
B. How to take on the weight of the world (ie: your child’s education)?
C. How to chart a course in to the unknown? Graphing!

God does not care about our mathematical difficulties; He integrates empirically.

~Albert Einstein

2. They are constantly at work on yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily equations like:

A. What are their learning styles?
B. What are their temperaments?
C. What type of methods will you employ to teach them?
D. What curriculum will you use?
E. Where can she get and how can she afford the resources she will need? Divisibility of one income to X number of children…
F. What are their motivators?
G. Where are their academic weaknesses and strengths? Greater or less than…
H. What shapes their interests? Personal geometry!
I. What character traits do they need to work on?
J. What is their mood today? The temperature of the home…

3. And, of course, homeschool moms always multiply by the number of children in their household; averaging in as balanced amount of individual time for each as she can. Doing this with their schooling as well as their nutrition, daily. Who says we really don’t border on the genius?!

The difficulty of her problems is often doubled by the fears she has in her own abilities, tripled by the lack of funds in her bank account, and quadrupled by the opposition she might face by friends, relatives and the general public as she counters her culture.

The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple.

~S. Gudder

Homeschooling is not for the weak or unteachable student (and moms are students, too – learning right along side their pupils). It requires a life-long learning mentality, for both mom and kids. It requires doing your homework and being consistent. It requires searching out the answers to your problems and getting tutored when you need help. It requires passing tests of all sorts – for both teacher and student.

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

~Eric Hoffer, Reflections On The Human Condition

Once you start figuring out the trajectory for your journey, though, don’t give up. Even if it seems difficult. The answer will come – if you passionately tackle it – and it will be worth every effort you pour in to it. It will be a journey that eclipses space and time – one that is written on the heart of both you and your child. It’s worth all that calculating.

———–

The laws of nature are but the mathematical thoughts of God.  ~Euclid

**And if you don’t believe that God loves math… check out this little video by Vi Hart below! **

As a side note, even in mathematics, you don’t always have to get your answers the way others do… and homeschoolers are busy proving that schooling doesn’t have to happen in a box. Are you set on course for a unique educational experience?

Trust that God will work out those problems for you.

And as my numerically talented friend, Bon, says : THAT’S MATH!

{How are you coming along with your Homeschool arithmetic lately?}

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