6×8=48

“I’ll bet you were great at math all the time. You’ve probably never gotten even a 99% on a math test!”

~ student

“Actually, I struggled with basic math for a long time, basic math facts and integers were the worst!”

~Anna Roshal

This is a snippet of a conversation that I’ve had with students of all ages. We all know that the story we tell ourselves about others is not always true. So let me debunk some amazing math tutor/teacher myths about myself.

I’m an immigrant who was raised in the 90s in the United States. My parents pushed me to get a good education and expected me to work hard in the land of opportunity. I didn’t understand why math facts were so important. Clearly, my parents and I didn’t see eye to eye back then. 

It’s been about three decades since the following story:

I was working on my times tables in third grade and I just couldn’t remember the 6s, 7s, and 8s. (side note: those are the hardest ones to remember.) My very patient former educator mother was helping me, and her patience was running thin. She became so frustrated with me that she just slammed her hand on the table and said, “6×8=48! You just have to know it! There’s no getting around it!” Of course, third grade Anna just cried and cried.

I didn’t tell you this story to paint my mother as a villain, although third grade me would have loved to do that! She had a long day at work and I was just not good at memorizing and she lost it! (Let’s be honest, all parents have lost it at one point or another after a long day of work.)

Rather, let’s take a look at this from the perspective of a tutor who still has this story fresh in her head about 3 decades later. I remember crying. I remember feeling like I’m never going to learn math. I remember the feeling of defeat.

Let’s fast forward. Currently, I’m homeschooling my own children who struggle remembering their math facts. (We have a shoemaker’s kids go without shoes situation going on here.) And I tell my daughter this story. 6×8=48. We laugh about it now, yes three decades later I can laugh about it, and my daughter even makes a poem about 6×8=48 and says it in my mothers accent.

My daughter knows 6×8=48.

I wasn’t always great at math. But I used the memories that I have to become a better math teacher/tutor to my kiddos.

And parents, if you’re reading this and it sounds like a typical evening at home during homework time at your house… maybe don’t traumatize your kiddos too much… After all, this is the first time in 30 years that I’ve been able to tell this story publicly. Maybe it’s time to get on the phone with us to see what we can do to help.