English
Hi, I’m Nicky, and I want to tell you how hated numbers became my best friends. It all started last September when our maths teacher wrote these words on the board:
“The climb will be hard, but we’ll get to the top.”
Underneath them was a mountain. a mountain. But not just any mountain!
A mountain of numbers
It turned out to be our annual maths plan:
1. Foothills: fractions and multiplication tables.
2. Cliffs: Motion problems.
3. Top: Olympiad problems with an asterisk.
I gulped. To me, even the bottom seemed like Everest!
The first “bumps”
The first week I:
1. Confused area with perimeter (drew a fence instead of a vegetable garden!).
2. Divided 100 by 4 and got… 35 (even the calculator was outraged!)
3. I forgot where the zero goes when multiplying.
But the teacher – she’s like an experienced mountaineer – just winked: “Nicky, you like adventure, don’t you? Think of it as an expedition!”
Lifeline
Everything changed when I realised that maths is:
1. A secret code (like the ciphers Polly and I make up)
2. A sport (the key is to “pump up” a skill like a muscle)
3. A game (every problem solved is a defeated boss)
The boys and I even came up with a Maths Quest:
1. For each “conquered” topic we got a part of the map
2. We solved puzzles with treasures.
3. We kept a “climbing diary” with stickers.
Glacier of Doubt
But in December, I’m stuck again. Those darn fractions!
1. Adding numerators and denominators separately (1/2 + 1/3 = 2/5 – ha!)
2. Confused whether the “more” was 1/4 or 1/5.
3. In my dreams, I saw pizzas falling on each other.
Then my teacher gave me… Lego cubes. Turns out:
1 brick = 1/8 of a piece
By assembling the tower, I was automatically adding fractions!
Rising to the Stars
By April, a miracle happened – I:
Solved the train problem faster than anyone else in the class
Learned how to check answers using Polly’s method (substituting numbers like puzzles)
Even explained to my desk mate why 0.999… = 1
And yesterday… Yesterday, I was the first person to raise my hand in the Olympics! Never mind that I didn’t win – I conquered my pinnacle of fear.
View from the top
Now I know: maths isn’t about right or wrong. It’s about:
Perseverance (as in my football training) Curiosity (as when Polly and I explore the attic)
The joy of “Eureka!” (when suddenly everything comes together)
Our class is now heading to a new peak – geometry. The teacher says there’s a “proof pass” waiting for us. I’m already stocking up on a circular and… patience!
