Mood:  sad

When we last left our poor father and his knowledge yearning son they were ecstatic after finding a great website to help with the son's study of United States History.

But, alas, lately the father has noticed that his son is not so happy anymore. Oh, the boy does his school work diligently. He still loves to learn all things. But, like all brilliant children there are always some subjects that are harder to grasp than others. The subject of math just happened to be this lads nemesis. He hid it well. He didn't want the father that he adored to know of his weakness. But, try as he did, he could not hide his sadness for too long from his discerning father.

"What's wrong my son?" asked Father one rainy day as his son gazed out the window. "You've been so down lately."

"Oh...nothing...dear Father" the boy answered hesitantly. "It's just that..."

"It's just what my son?" responded the patient and kind father.

Suddenly large tears began to roll down the boys cheeks. "Oh Father...I didn't want to tell you. I was afraid that you would be disappointed in me. But...but I'm having difficulty in math." sobbed the boy. "I just can't seem to understand all of my basic math facts. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division all seem to get jumbled together in my mind. I don't know what to do."

"Oh my son," the father said as he held his boy close. "Why didn't you tell me sooner." 

"I am so ashamed of myself." answered the boy. "I don't know what to do. I keep dreaming that someday, somehow, that wonderful lady named Brenda and her kind boss Heidi would visit us again. I know they could help us. They were an answer from God when they visited us twelve fortnights ago."

Suddenly the father interrupted his son. "That's it, my boy!" he exclaimed, "We must pray. We must pray that God would send someone to us to help. Perhaps our kind friends. Perhaps someone else, but we will pray!"

And that they did! That night, before they went to bed they prayed earnestly for God to send someone to their aid. As the boy lay in his bed he mulled over the days events. For the first time in weeks he slept peacefully. He knew that an answer was near.

And near it was. As the boy slept he had a dream and, yes, it was of his friend Brenda. She was standing at the foot of his bed with a white box in her hand. As he watched she placed it carefully on the nightstand beside his bed. She did not stay long for soon the lad heard the soft voice of Brenda's companion Heidi. She was beckoning to Brenda.

"Come, Brenda we must go" she said. "We must go to others that are on the TOS Homeschool Crew and deliver packages to them as well. But, don't forget, my lad, to tell them. Tell them all, far and near, over hill and over dale, about the contents of this box. For it is truly amazing."

And they were gone.

The next morning the boy had almost forgotten about his dream until he noticed the wondrous white package on the table next to him. Excitedly he called to his father and told him about his dream and showed him the gift. Carefully they opened it together but as the boy saw the contents his face fell.

Angrily he said, "Cards! We've been given cards? They are supposed to help me with my problems?" He threw down the package and turned his head before his father noticed his face. Tears were flowing again, but this time they were bitter tears of disappointment.

"My son!" chastised the father. "We must never look a gift horse in the mouth! We have not even looked the cards over to see what they are all about. Why look! There is a note along with it. It says to ask 'Penny' and it has an email."

Quickly they went to their computer, emailed this "Penny" and asked her how this set of cards, called "Pyramath" cards, were supposed to help. Within minutes there was an answer. It read in part:

"My dearest boy. I am the TOS Homeschool Crew First Mate in charge of this wonderful review product. Brenda and Heidi warned me of the scepticism that you might have toward these cards. But, you are not to worry. All you have to do is try them. They are very simple to use. First lay seven of them out in a row, side by side. You will notice that the cards have numbers on them from one to nine. What you must do is think about the four math processes and look at two cards laying side by side, turn over the first card of the remaining deck, and see if it is the answer to any one of the four processes. If the two cards are 3 and 6 then the four possible answers are 3 (6-3=3), 2 (6 divided by 3 is 2), 9 (6+3=9) or 8 (6x3=18 and if the number is over ten, you use the last digit). When you find a card that fits, you place it between the 3 and 6. You do that with all of the cards so that the next row has six cards in it, then the next row has five cards on down to a row with only a single card in it. When you have answered the last problem you will have what looks like an upside down pyramid such as this:"

Kind Penny went on to tell the boy that there was a way to play it by himself, and a way to play against someone else. There was even a way to play an online version if you clicked here.

Soon the boy was playing with the cards and found that he loved it! It was so much fun that he didn't even realize that he was practicing math facts. He played solitaire with his deck of cards and played the online version on the computer. But, alas, he longed to play the two player version but his nearest neighbor lived miles away and his father was just to set in his ways to understand how to play. Until the boy found this:

Soon the boy's father was playing as well. They played night and day. They played the two player game and solitaire - only the boy now had to fight his father over the computer! The father even had the best online score one month and won a free deck of Pyramath cards of his own!

How wonderful this simple card game called "Pyramath" was. It solved the boys basic math fact difficulties in a very fun way. The boy and his father were so grateful to Heidi, Brenda and Penny and they didn't forget to tell their friends and neighbors, far and near, about this wonderful math tool and how they could buy a deck of Pyramath cards for themselves for only $6.95 by clicking here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above. And, as members of the TOS Homeschool Crew, they added their praises to the Crew blog along with the reviews of other crew mates. You can find all of them by clicking here. And, the boy and his father lived happily ever after.

The End

The story you have just read is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Oh, all right, you've caught me once more! There were no dreams, no tears, and no wondrous white packages on the nightstand (it came in the mail) ! The rest is true however...at least most of it . Happy Homeschooling!

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was sent a free deck of Pyramath cards to try out and review on my blog.

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