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I can do math.

I have had a bad relationship with math.
As a grade 2 student, I remember not really understanding what the teacher was getting at when she placed a handful of cubes on my desk and asked me to take some away.

Things became more fraught in grade 4 when I was one of 2 kids who was disqualified from a class taco party for not knowing all my times tables (we were eventually brought back into the fold).

I developed math anxiety which made things worse.

I excelled in other areas that involved language and I came to accept that I was just not a math person.

As a parent, I was determined not to pass on my anxiety about math to my daughter.  By then I was also running a business that involved daily math and I discovered things I actually liked about math.
I embraced math, outwardly at least, as much as possible.

One day this week, my daughter wanted me to help her with her math homework.
I took on the task with gusto, not betraying my underlying self-doubt. I stared for a very long time at the sheet full of percentages, unwavering in  my optimism.

I have always approached math backwards. I find knowing the answer to a few questions first helps me tip toe back towards how it can be solved.

Not logical really, or time efficient, but more satisfying and less scary.

68% of 168.

hmmmm.

I hummed and hawed, I used a calculator and then came up with a way to teach her (without a calculator) that is so easy that I really wish someone had taught me this way.

50 % of 168 is 84
10% of 168= 16.8( move the decimal one place to the left)
5% of 168=8.4(half of 10%)
1% of 168 is 1.68 (move the decimal 2 places of the left)

84+ 16.8+8.4+1.68+1.68+1.68= 114.24 (68%)

68% of 168=114.24

Not efficient. But not scary. I can do math, I can even teach it.
I guess the secret is to fake it until you make it!
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