Trigonometry

Through a free program called Running Start, 11th graders in Seattle public schools have the option to take classes at community college, earning both high school and college credit. It’s a terrific program. Jordan will do half-time at North Seattle College (science and math), and take the other half of his classes at his high school. (The logistics are significantly easier with everything online… if it weren’t for the pandemic, he’d need transportation.)

Back in June, we made our way through the byzantine application, including a math placement test. Jordan was both delighted and tantalized by his results: He almost qualified to go straight into calculus in the fall (effectively skipping a year). But not quite! He asked if he could do the remaining material over the summer, and of course my answer was HECK YES. Are you kidding me? With every other organized summer activity cancelled? We signed him up that minute. 

The missing material is trigonometry. It is a fully online, asynchronous course, and keeping up takes him an hour or two of work most days. It’s going great! He enjoys it, and I love that he has something worthwhile to do every day. 

After the first couple weeks he recognized that there’s no use trying to work alone in his room: he gets distracted and nothing gets done. So now he works at the dining room table, at a time when I’m also free, and asks for my backup. I love this so much. First of all, when your sixteen-year-old son invites you to do essentially anything with him, the answer is YES YES YES. And I’m the only one in the house who’s fluent in trig, so it has to be me. (Dale learned trig once but doesn’t use it.) But also, it’s fun! With me there, Jordan talks through what he’s doing, has me check his answers, enjoys my semi-socratic prompts, and generally wolfs down his new understanding like a happy dog. Some of the benefit is just my presence: the fact that I am there and I care what he's doing keeps him on task. Some of it is me helping him parse the odd grammar of math problems (“From a point on the ground 47 feet from the foot of a tree, the angle of elevation of the top of the tree is 35º. Find the height of the tree to the nearest foot”) and trace errors in copying numbers from one place to another/into the calculator (191 turns to 919, etc.); this is dyslexia/dysgraphia support. And some of it is the two of us enjoying the material together, him learning and me reflecting or re-learning. It’s been a delightful part of the summer. I'm so glad I have the flexibility to do this with him.

Here is a picture of us at work, in front of a large pile of kale that Dale brought in from the garden. I know he doesn’t look happy, but I promise, that’s just about having his picture taken.