FOR THE LOVE OF MATH

'Dear Mama, Mama I know you know I like math. Mama do you like math and Mama how are you doing at work. Mama you are the best mama ever. I love you. Love, Sagey'. This was the dialogue journal entry from school today which Sage wrote for me to answer over the weekend.

The writing was much neater and smaller than that of his sisters. His teacher told him his writing was small like mine. Though a few words were written according to sound, due to the many spelling rules and complexities of the English language, I was glad Sage was making such an effort in first grade.

Such was not the case last school year when he stated 'I hate school...I hate learning' and asked why he had to go to school. It appeared somewhere along the way a switch turned on for him to have such a change of heart, particularly when it came to math.

With the front door wide open for much needed light, Sage sat in the carved wooden chair this afternoon for close to three hours working on his math workbook. He got up only to show me his work a few times and to run upstairs to get his crayons for one of the assignments.

'Are you bored? Do you want to do something else?' 'No', he simply replied. So, I let him sit there until shortly before dinner when he switched to his adult dot-to-dot book.

After dinner, he readied for bed. The place was noticeably quiet with his sisters having gone to their father's house for the weekend. He noticed it was quiet and was pleased with being able to spend time alone with me for a few days though we will see the rest of the family at the soccer game in the morning.

I am quite sure he will return to his math workbook when we return. I will certainly not deny him his love of math, for a passion such as his is wonderful for a child who previously eschewed learning. In response to his dialogue journal question: 'Yes, Sage. I like math too.'