What is your most memorable math lesson? For me, it was when Mrs. Kaylor helped us visualize and understand place value by building straw men as we counted straws by units of one, ten, and a hundred.

You may draw examples from Miguel Secillano, Terence Tao, or even from Shakuntala Devi, all you want – but if getting your kid to sit with their math homework is nothing short of a challenge for you, ...