"Make them do math"

One of the more controversial books in recent days is called The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua.  In January, an excerpt from the book appeared in the Wall Street Journal under the headline,  "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior."  Amy Chua didn't write the headline, but in the book she does describe forcing her daughters to practice the piano and work on their math problems.

Monica Hesse from the Washington Post in an article titled "'Tiger Mother' author faces a tough crowd at Politics and Prose" writes, "Maybe the way to help children do better in math is to make them do math, rather than make them talk about how math makes them feel."

If that's what being a Tiger Mother is all about, then sign me up. Especially if it also includes forcing my daughters to play the piano.