Multiplication and division…those two words scare me! I admit I am a borderline math-phobe I can add and subtract with the best of them, but I get a little nervous around large multiplication and don’t even get me started on remainders.

So, it is with more then a little trepidation that I greet the third grade math unit on multiplication & division. Not so much because of the actual math itself…I can after all use a calculator and refer to the answer key…no I am worried because this means shortly they will venture into territory I am totally unprepared for like Geometry and Algebra.

At our school the math units are presented in a spiral meaning as each new item is presented they incorporate review of previous items…so the chapter on arcs and radius included some addition and subtraction. Yay! Because after referring to the answer key on all the geometry problems I could check the addition and subtraction without using the key-at least I didn’t feel like a complete dope.

Do other parents (who don’t use geometry and algebra for work) feel this way? I vaguely remember geometry and I was so bad at algebra I had to do it twice…I don’t want to pass my math-phobia on to the kids, yet…I have no idea what I am doing. I feel like I should enroll in a math refresher course just so I can help kids with homework.