Math class has long carried a reputation for anxiety and confusion, a subject where children often fear being publicly wrong. Numbers, unlike stories, don’t bend to imagination, and rules can feel arbitrary to a young mind. Teachers frequently present multiplication tables as immutable truths to memorize, leaving little room for curiosity. Little Johnny was one such student. He wasn’t lazy or unintelligent; he listened carefully, answered honestly, and believed understanding meant grasping underlying logic, not repeating mechanically. To Johnny, math was supposed to make sense. Unfortunately, classrooms don’t always reward that kind of thinking.
