Sometimes I feel as though what I write here is the equivalent of something like, “You know a great snack for when you’re hungry? Take a little bit of peanut butter and smear it onto a cracker. Then, place another cracker on top. You’ve got a tiny peanut butter sandwich!”

Maybe I’m presenting an idea as something new, but it isn’t new at all. Maybe I’m seeing something that people have already seen, adding nothing.

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The other day, I had the privilege of giving my friend Erin an impromptu tennis lesson.

I think of myself as a beginner in tennis. I lack power and spin, hallmarks of a the 2.5 level.

But compared to Erin, I’m experienced. I was the one feeding her the ball, providing tips and feedback, and making decisions about what to do next.

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For years — literally years! — I wrote each blog post on the day it was to be published.

I wanted to “get ahead” and have more posts in the queue, but I just didn’t quite have the capacity.

The downside to this approach was that I was always in emergency mode. That gets stressful.

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Kids do a lot of work to memorize their times tables, which is important.

Often, though, they get lost in the computation. If they’re not quick at addition yet, they sit there painfully adding sevens in their head until they get six of them. (It’s easier to add seven sixes, but we’ll get into that another time.)

What’s arguably even more important than multiplication when it comes to succeeding in math in school, however, is recognizing multiples and spotting their factors.

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Awhile back, the parent of a student at my school learned some concerning information about another student.

She had this information because her daughter had shared it with her. She sat on it for weeks, hoping that another parent would come forward with it so that she wouldn’t have to.

Eventually, this parent, Amy, got in touch to pass this information along to me. But why was Amy contacting me and not the parent of the other student?

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