Motivated to Learn Math
A ten-year-old Jewish boy was failing math. His parents tried everything
from tutors to hypnosis; but to no avail.
Finally, at the insistence of a family friend, they decided to enroll their
son in a private Catholic school.
After the first day, the boy's parents were surprised when he walked in
after school with a stern, focused and very determined expression on his
face.
He went straight past them, right to his room and quietly closed the door.
For nearly two hours he toiled away in his room - with math books strewn
about his desk and the surrounding floor. He emerged long enough to eat, and
after quickly cleaning his plate, went straight back to his room, closed the
door and worked feverishly at his studies until bedtime.
This pattern of behavior continued until it was time for the first quarter's
report card. The boy walked in with it unopened - laid it on the dinner
table and went straight to his room.
Cautiously, his mother opened it and, to her amazement, she saw a large red
'A' under the subject of Math.
Overjoyed, she and her husband rushed into their son's room, thrilled at his
remarkable progress.
"Was it the nuns that did it?" the father asked. The boy shook his head and
said "No."
"Was it the one-to-one tutoring? The peer-mentoring?" "No."
"The textbooks? The teachers? The curriculum?" "No", said the son.
"On that first day, when I walked in the front door and saw that guy nailed
to the plus sign, I KNEW they meant business!"
