Oh! The Unexpected Math Surprise

Monday brought an unexpected math problem. Our goniometer for RightStart E disappeared. Being that it's pretty necessary for the rest of our lessons, we searched high and low. Being totally irritated because of the waste of time & energy (We never found it.), I decided to order another one. Frustrated, I was not about to quit math for a week. A practice page came in handy, but I wanted more progress and less tears.

It was then that I remembered to check my shelf. I dusted off a resource that I'd bought on impulse, but never used. It was one of those thing everyone rants and raves about, but when I saw it, I thought it was the most ridiculous math book I'd seen and was bummed I'd spent the money on it. Desperate, and because it claimed to address an issue we were having, we dove in.

In case you're wondering, the book is "Times Tales", by J. von Eggers. Seeing as my son is a bit older than most starting in this book, we went through it pretty quick. Almost finishing it in one sitting. To say he was delighted, would be an understatement! He loved it and he got it. The trigger memory method used was right up his alley and the promise of tearless times tables is in sight! He finished the book on his own and by dinner had it all memorized. He practiced again at breakfast and is now bent over his multivide practice problem, eagerly smiling triumphantly through the problems that on Monday brought him to tears. Victory!

What was daughter (5yo) doing all this time? Why eavesdropping, of course! And...as can be expected, she has also learned many of the problems before she's even learned more than basic addition. I shake my head in wonder and am so pleased that I've redeemed an otherwise wasted purchase.

I can't help but wonder if God allowed the loss of our goniometer for such a time as this! :) I was so irritated over the loss of a piece of plastic, and God used the experience to bless us.