Solving Square Roots

Square roots

Although often subjected to social isolation and unkind depictions in movies, nerds are comfortable in their own skin and making a name for themselves.

THE school playground can be one unusual setup.

Covertly observe the students and one will spot the different personalities at work and how they come together – or not – in the socialisation process.

Athletes or bully boys will be their usual raucous selves, the more artistic ensemble will spend their time drawing pictures in the sand while there are those who frequently alternate between the two.

Each delight in the convivial company around them and with so much going on, one could easily forget to observe the odd few who hug the shadows.

Enter the nerd – generally accepted to be intelligent people who prefer introspective pursuits to the company of others.

Although not always the case, nerds are often portrayed as socially and physically awkward, bespectacled, and having a single-minded interest – to the point of obsession – in tasks and fields that are obscure, novel, or simply too complex for the “mainstream” society to understand.

Indeed, Hollywood is not kind to nerds, but cruel scenes of mock and ridicule play out in real life as well, and a number of the self-professed nerds interviewed for this story confess to have been subjected to acts of moral abdication.

One such individual is Show De Yang, 19, who is set to read Mathematics at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom (UK) this September.

The impending move, he says, is akin to redemption for all the isolation and stick he received in primary and secondary school for being “too square”.

“I know I was different but I really wanted to have fun with my classmates and know them better,” he said.

“I got jibes all the time and people would call me ‘ kaki bangku’ or worse.”

Hanif Dzulkarnain (not his real name) recounts a period of his life where he dreaded going to school.

“I would ask, ‘How bad is today going to be for me?’ each morning as my father drove me to the school gates,” recounted the 26-year-old.

Equipped with the ability to devour books and the carriage resembling that of a doleful stork, Hanif was bullied to no end and at times, things got physical.

On one occasion in Form Two, Hanif found himself tied to a pole while the perpetrators – classmates whom he regarded as his friends – photographed him in his tormented state.

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My daughter asked me the other day, to explain to her further her math lesson, as she said she could not fully understand it. Most of the time, she works on her math work book on her own with very little help from us. This time, she hit a snag, and needed more explication.

We are homeschooling our kids since Grade 1, and are planning to continue maybe until they finish middle school or up to early high school. Then they may go to a “real” school for a few years of high school before they embark to college.

My wife had delegated me to teach math and science to our kids since she said I was the “best in math and science” (and I have medals to prove it), when I was in high school. My daughter now is doing pre-algebra. Many times if she had questions on the math problems, it took me only one look and I could figure it out and could explain the problem to her. Her current lesson was how to solve square root by long hand.

I read the teacher’s manual (yes, their books comes with teacher’s guide), I even watched the DVD that comes with it where a math teacher explains the concept, but for the life of me, I still could not understand how to solve square root manually. I guess that is what calculators’ square root function is for, made for people like me. I end up calling my friend, who is a math major for help. I thought to myself, Ms. Faderogaya, my high school math teacher would rescind my medal!

Now I am having apprehensions if I can tackle teaching algebra, geometry and calculus. Though I still feel confident teaching science (maybe not that confident in chemistry), including the experiments, as long as we don’t burn our house down.

But I am determined to re-learn all these subjects so I can help my children as they continue in their home education. I believe that if I we parents invest ourselves, our efforts, and our time in teaching our children, it is not just math or science that they will learn from us. It would be way much more. Yes, the more important things that are really needed in life.

In the mean time, I’ll help her solve the square root of 15,625. If I can figure it out first……..without using the calculator.

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