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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

> The advantage of studying math is not just that you
> might use mathmatical calculations in life, but the
> mental skills, logic etc. apply to all our thinking.

My life would have been much different if I had not gotten a bad case 
of the flu in seventh grade. I was getting straight A's in algebra 
but when I returned to class after missing a week of school, I could 
not catch up with the class and my grades went to B, C, and D.

The teacher said she could not spare the time to give me extra help 
to catch up and my parents were of no help. My mother was the first 
of her family to graduate from high school but she had not studied 
algebra. My father had to quit school at 7th grade to go to work, 
when his father died. We lived out in the country and none of our few 
neighbors had a clue about algebra.

I never recovered from that algebra class. It was a humiliation I 
felt for years. It made me think I was "not good" in math and I 
subsequently avoided all further math classes. I believe that if I 
had not had that negative experience, I would have gone on to become 
an architect, my first and enduring passion.

So all forms of school: government, home and unschooling failed me.