I've read all your comments about Maths and kids and I appreciate them all. The thing is my daughter passed the regional stage and got to the nationals again. But the school director re-scheduled a 2-day school trip for the same 2 days when the Math Nationals take place. Apparently that woman has no notion of the concept of agenda. When I told her the dates coincided I SAW IT in her face she didn't take that into account when she re-scheduled. Of course she told me there were no more dates available for the trip and my daughter will have to choose between the two activities. Of course she picked the shool trip.
My son decided (yes christ, it really was his decision) to sit his math GCSE this year which is a year early. He has chosen this even though this year the system changed and he can't resit it next year if it doesn't go well.
I had to buy him the course book that make the bible look like a pamphlet. However, looking through it there was hardly a page he could find that he didn't already fully understand. He ended up hoping that he could refine his knowledge of graphs from it as they sometimes trip him up.
On top of this he has also been cast as Banquo in a production of Macbeth that his drama class is doing with 3 other schools. I had to convince him to take drama as an option as he eats math and physics alive and I suggested it would bring balance to his academic life.
I believe it has.