HOW TO LEARN MATH EASILY
User-agent: Mediapartners-Google Disallow:
One of the most frightening days of my childhood was math class. I was not able to solve any math problem, not able to answer any questions in math. My teacher used to scold, my parents used to hit badly because of my poor performance in math. As a kid I feared math. Reading numbers having more digits, fractions, decimals, addition of decimals, addition of fractions etc. I had to solve problems, answer their questions. The terror of making mistakes, beatings, scolding’s created a type of allergy towards math. I had no idea about ’how to learn math.’
My progress report was very consistent with red mark. Our school principal’s chamber became more familiar to my parents. My parents met my math teacher regularly. They used to discuss my ‘math scary,’ in my absence and also in my presence. She labeled me as ‘slow learner’. But the fact was, I was learning nothing.
One day my math teacher asked me to solve problem on the board, I was standing near the board, had no idea, my teacher tried to give some hint, I haven’t moved an inch, looking down, with sweating palms. She asked me few simple basic questions; I was not able to answer many of them. Her patience was tested; I was beaten continuously half an hour. I cried, it was tough day of my life. I was treated like mentally disordered child.
As I understand it, I was honest, I tried to learn math, they forced me to memorize math table, but bad luck was, the moment I tried to learn math I was going blind. I felt that I was left behind my classmates. My dad arranged math tutor, they bought some puzzle books and made me to solve. My teacher said, ‘practice makes man perfect’ practice math, my parents said, wake up early in the morning and read math, and they made me so, but the result was same.
As a kid I was always compared with my sister, she was ranking top. My parents were completely worried about my future. In school, I was always blamed by my teacher. She asked all the questions which I was not known. She said “he is weak in math” My parent said “he is weak in math” My sister said “he is very weak in math” One day my tutor was asked by my parents, he said ”he never learn math, he is slow learner, he need remedial teaching, I tried my best, rest is left to you.”
It was tough experience for my mom. She had no idea, but she was the only one out of this universe said that, ‘you are brilliant, you will be good in math’. but it was not enough to overcome my math scary. There was extreme pressure on me. My dad wanted me to become an engineer. He said “if you are not strong in math, you will be weak in your life”
Other part of my math scary was math home work. I had to complete home work and submit in time, even though I was not able to do. This inevitability forced me to make friendship with classmates who are good in math. I used to bring their completed home workbook and copying word by word .These submitted home work book were corrected by our math teacher and she used to put ‘A ‘grade on that. Till today I wasn’t able to understand that logic.
The worst part of this mania was, the terror of non promotion to next class. The good news was that I was good enough to score average grades in other subjects. As I grew up I used my own technique, it worked, and my new math teacher said “he is improving”. My teacher used to give revision at the time of tests. I used to mark those problems and started mugup. Reading whole night before the math test and writing test next day. Usually they used to ask same questions. Luckily this technique worked out for unit tests. but the problem was at the time of examination. At the time of unit test two or three chapters they used to keep. But during examinations it didn’t. Memorizing whole year syllabus was almost impossible. So this is how my math scary continued. I feared by geometrical figures, decimals, fractions, started to hate math and also math teacher. They looked like my enemies. Believe it or not If I would have given a gun with only one bullet, permitted to shoot, I would have shot my math teacher. I was gutted by math.
One day my dad asked me “I don’t think you will be promoted to next class, what do you want do?” I was excited; I thought this opportunity may change my life. I was gutted; I badly wanted to come out of this school system. I answered, “I will do business” (I was not known what business is) He laughed at me, and said “Doing business without knowing math is falling in the sea by tying a big stone to neck.” He forced me to find the way to learn math.
As a child, I use to enjoy dreaming, playing, and swimming. I was curious about so many things, which always gave immense pleasure. I wondered, how some of my friends are very good in math? What made me handicap in math? I was jealous about my friends; slowly I began to avoid few of my friends who are good in math. Slowly, unknowingly, I was in a circle of friends who are academically weak. Slowly, a type of self image built deep inside me. I wanted to stay alone, avoiding groups, fear to learn math. (Later I came to know this is inferiority complex.)
The worst terrible day was examination result day, The promotion list from 8th to 9th was announced. But my name was not in the list. It was a shock to my mom, she cried. I was completely blank, as I remembered the hurting part of my result was most of my friends were promoted to 9th.The feeling of studying in the same class was very painful.
Once we got progress report, except math in rest of the subject I had fair grades. My dad requested the principal for providing chance to rewrite exam in math. They allowed me to take an exam, this time I was advised to learn selected chapters, I worked hard, finally I got passing grade. I was promoted to 9th. Believe it or not that was my last passing grade, from mid 9th I ranked top in the class in math.
Now my favorite subject is math, I am working as a math lecturer, visiting as a resource person for several institutes, running my own math tuition center, producing 100% results successively from last 12 years. So many of my students scored 100 out of 100 in their annual board exams. I wrote a book on math to state syllabus.
What made my math easy? Or how did I learn math easily?
The last episode of taking re- exam put me under absolute pressure. We use to get around month and half holidays, once we get the annual result. Those vacations are our dreamiest days and most mesmerizing days of every child, no one wants to miss. No school, no home work, spending whole day with friends on the field. But as I was detained in the same class, I had to rewrite exam, I had to miss. The pain with which I gone through was dreadfully bad. Whenever I opened my book tried to learn math, balls and bats, friends and their groups were playing on books. I was living in an apprehensive world. I started thinking that, all of my friends are very happy, they are enjoying, no exams for them, only I am struggling. Why? Why? Why? 3333333333333 misiries shows ways to sunshine.
Why only few of us are struggling? Why is this school system so painful for me?
This question screwed my brain, after the exam, even after the result.
One morning my dad asked me to get ready and follow him, He took me to somebody’s house and introduced me, to unknown gentleman and to his son ‘Roshan’ and therein he took both of us to one more gentleman’s office. I was waiting outside the office , they were doing some discussions. They called me inside, and my dad said ‘this sir is your math tutor, with Roshan you are attending math class.’ The teacher looked at me and thrown a piece of paper and asked me to solve what is on the paper. I was going blank, I wrote something to some thing and looking beneath the table which separating us and teacher. He just gone through that, took a deep breath and said ‘not bad’. Our timings was fixed , I and Roshan had to come to that place for math coaching.
The next day was my first math class. My parents had no expectations, but they didn’t forget to encourage me. I and Roshan went to our first math class, but it was first only for me but not to Roshan, as he already spend one year over there. I was little optimistic because, Roshan explained about that tutor little bit, but my anxiety continues.
Here it comes my first class, how beautiful it was; I enjoyed like anything. The way he put things, the easiest examples of this nature, questions, answers, stupidity of humans,beauty of nature,curiosity,natural events, relation between natural events… ………..it was fearless math. It was a period it built a ray of hope to my future. Within a few days I realized that MATH is not a table, not formula, it is not a theorem, it is nothing. It is just like studying ‘ history of human evolution with lot of fun’. Do you want to know what he taught first day? What was his first question to me in first day? and he gave me a similar to this book to get ready. Try this
