No, not one bit.I passed high school with As and Bs- and Ds in algebra. Managed to sub science classes for math credits in college.

Oh, I feel for you. You're not alone. I did well in school but algebra?...pppfft, forget it. I will admit I didn't give it my all. I hated it. I actually took Algebra I over again. The following year I went to Algebra II and got Ds. Business math was how I finished my senior year.

In high school I was also a D student in algebra...A's in everything else. Wasn't till I went to college (as an adult) that I took it. They put me in the most remedial algebra class, like a pre-algebra, because I tested so low on it.

I know that there is no way I could do an on-line class. You need a tutor, and I'm afraid if you get too far behind, you can't catch up. The instructor I had explained it in such a way that the lightbulb finally went off and I breezed thru the first series, but when it came to algebra 103...forget it!

I need to get back into it since I've been taking this course thru work that relies heavily on algebraic calculations. We're talking people taking this class who are engineers...me...uhhh...I don't even know how to use a scientific calculator!

I think I might have something to help you: try going to the link below. It's an amazing project...it's helped many kids I know and many thousands more I don't :) Just wander around until you find the topic you need.

Here is a link that might be useful: And it's all free!!!

that should be "*may* have something" -- let's assume there's a real possibility :)

I loved Algebra 1 and 2. Geometry in the middle was a nightmare. I struggled so much. I raised my D to a C by the end of the year. My teacher was so proud of me and I had to feel good because I set a realistic goal and achieved it. I think I had a near nervous breakdown while in that class.

Now my DH, he is a wiz. Science, Math, you name it. My dd hates asking him for math help because he gets it and is frustrated when others don't. Luckily she is getting it too so she doesn't cry anymore when he helps her.

I like to joke that my dh may be a smarty pants but at least I can read the simple 4 letter words on the door that say PUSH or PULL. lol Many times he has pulled a Justin Beiber and smashed into a door that he was trying to push instead of pull.

I just recently learned that there is a name for an inability to do math. It is called dyscalculia. People afflicted with this disability are usually unusually gifted in speaking and reading abilities.
That is true for me, my sister, and one daughter. How about you?

Yes its true for me I write articles for one of our publications- I can't do fractions either by the way.
My DH had to help the kids with math and alegebra once they got past addition and subtraction. I helped with all of the english and writing assignments.
Now geometry was fine because theorems were made up of words, not numbers. Hate numbers, I think they change when you dont look.

Oh thanks guys. Not that not being proficient in algebra is a good thing, but I don't feel all alone. I was able to make some progress today. I still have a full chapter to do before I am caught up, but the day ended much better than it began. I found a website (MyAlgebra) that helps solve the problems. It helped by allowing me to complete the assignments as opposed to being permanently stuck, and thus getting further behind. Thank GOD for the net!!!

You all have been so kind and it truly warmed my heart when I read your posts. Thanks so much!!!

Peaceofmind~~~great point! I sort of pride myself on those abilities as well.

Flyleft~~~AMAZING SITE!!! He explains things sloooowly and I was able to learn a lot in a short period of time.

I know I said it a lot but I do thank you all. I was feeling as though I had made a huge mistake but now I feel totally encouraged.

: )

Years(and I mean YEARS)ago, I too had a horrible time with Algebra in college.Went in for extra help, and still got a D. Nothing to be worried about. No one cares once you are out of school. I teach high school science/chemistry. I can do all the equations for that, but still can't do algebra. When I have taught summer school, I could do all the math, fractions,decimals, etc. but not algebra. Who cares? I hired an algebra tutor for my daughter in middle school too!

It is amazing, isn't it? I think the person who created it (Khan himself) is possibly a great equalizer of education across the planet. Glad it helped you. Keep plugging along and you'll be so proud of yourself when you're done!

I had straight A's in math (Algebra and Trig), Physics, English, art, etc. But I studied non-stop. Memorize those equations and make a sheet full of the important equations. This really works - I used this in my physics classes. Do read the chapters over and over again until you get it. Do take the study quizzes over and over again. Get help if you need it.

Terrible in math in HS..I took pre-Algebra as a Jr. (that slow) and instead of taking the final I cut class and went shopping.

Upon my return back to class the following day the teacher asked me when I planned on making up the final. I said 'Come on. You know and I know that I could get an A+ on the final and still not pass for the year.;

The teacher said 'You're absolutely right' and moved on.

Fast forward a billion yrs. to when I started taking my pre-req's for nursing school and I had to pass algebra. I too, tested only for pre-Algebra and I guess all of the yrs. made a huge difference. I couldn't wait to get to school. I passed w/ an A. Although math still does not (never will) come naturally to me (I had to practice, practice, practice) I greatly enjoyed the challenge. I decided to pursue a position as an MA instead but still look forward to the day that I can take higher math courses 'just becuase'. It was so much work for my meager brain but I felt so good about myself through all of it.

It usually boils down to your misunderstanding (or not understanding) one of the basic concepts. You have to go back to where you started having problems and get help there. When you keep building onto a concept you haven't mastered, you will continue to make the same mistakes and never fully "get it." My suggestion would be to get a tutor to help you work from that point on. Check with your high school, sometimes their math teachers can put you in contact with one of their top students, who could tutor you, or maybe take it as a non credit at the community college.

I passed. But it took a LOT of work. I had to do ALL the homework every night. I remember in a statistics class I took, students went to complain we were being overloaded. The front row of students got A's or B's and did not complain...the next row got c's & d's....and the rest of the class dropped out. We had a graduating class of 9, started out with 16! Hang in there! :0)

mboston, funny you say that. I was just reading an article about schooling in some island nation. Not Singapore. Hmm. Anyhoo, they teach differently and students do far better than the US. That is because they teach until the student gets it, then moves on. I guess here in the US we have tried all these different ways to teach and just keep moving on when they fail. This other country found that by slowly building on the foundations of a subject by the time the students got to say middle school they were able to grasp new ideas much more quickly. That is why so many kids are failing here. The teacher just keeps on teaching whether the kids get it or not. The few that get it do fine while the others never end up getting it.

That is exactly how I feel. I feel the focus is on quantity as opposed to quality. I was telling my DH today that because of the fast pace of the program, I'm just busy trying to find the solutions and I feel I'm not learning much of anything. I then asked him why our schools focus greatly on quantity as opposed to quality, and wouldn't it be better if students learned a little as opposed to a lot of nothing.

I accept responsibility for my actions, the school didn't force me to take the classes, but I didn't think we would be pushing through so many chapters in such a short period of time.

I taught kindergarten for 22 years, not higher math but I realized a long time ago that what I taught and how I taught it could make a big difference in the long run. Number awareness, meaning how numbers relate to each other is something that when mastered makes math seem logical. The kids that "get it" might make a mistake but they realize it and correct it. They don't rely on memorizing "how to do something" and then if that form of the problem changes, become lost. No, they can adjust the original form of the problem to the new form. I'm not saying you don't have to memorize "formulas" that you need in alegbra but you also know how to derive them.

An example - in elementary school, you are taught to memorize math facts, addition then subtraction, multipication and division. But for many years they were treated as seperate and unrelated operations. Once kids were taught that subtraction is the opposite of addition and that multiplication is a shortened way of doing addition and that division is the opposite of multiplication, all of a sudden the light goes off. Now, that doesn't mean that all kids get it easily but "math families" approach sure did help to build the confidence of many kids as far as how they felt about math.

I still go into schools to do pre and post testing for grants in our county. I was amazed at how many kids would start to add or subtract from the left column of the problem, instead of the right. Works if you don't have to regroup but is a sure fire failure method if you do. What it means is that kids don't understand what "borrowing" or "carrying" as we called it in my school days, now called regrouping, really means. Somewhere back in kindergarten or first, they weren't physically shown how to do it. We did it everyday when we counted the number of days in school with straws. When we had say 9 days in school, the next day we would add a 10th straw, band them up into a "group" of one "10's " and move then into the 10's spot. When we had our 100th day of school, my kids got it that 100 could mean a hundred ones, or ten 10's. I even had one kid who made the connection that if 100 means ten 10's then 1000 must mean a hundred "10's"! About blew me away but that child had a number awareness at the age of 6!

I know I'm rambling but it goes back to finding out where you started having problems and moving on from there. You have to look through the forest to find that one tree and chop that one down! Good luck!

Anyone ever have "new math" classes? Base 5, etc.? We had that in 8th grade I think and NO ONE, not even the nun teacher understood it at all, except me. It was conceptual math where instead of base 10 which we use everyday, some goof decided to teach youngsters "new math" which has no basis in reality. So, I remember that the nun was trying to explain base 5 to the class as that was a book chapter and she had no clue what it meant. So she asked if anyone understood it. I did and I got up and went to the blackboard and taught the class how to do the math. But again, it was a math that had no use in real life. I also remember solving a trig homework question in high school that the math teacher used as an example to teach the class. My small moments of victory - LOL!!

Think this way - math has rules like music has rules, like English has rules. Learn the rules and you will do better.