Math and I are longtime enemies.

Especially math homework. As a student, I (usually) understood the day’s concept while sitting in class, yet by evening I inevitably became baffled by the page full of numbers.

I much preferred English class, and yearbook, which explains my current profession.

For years I went through life without much thought about math problems, other than calculating my discount while shopping a sale.

Then I had kids.

Fortunately, my children have mastered math concepts with more ease than I ever did, and by later elementary school they stopped asking for my help.

I usually wasn’t much help, anyway, beyond the simple basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

My son, an eighth grader, is in algebra. When he has a question, he usually turns to his sister, who is a senior and taking calculus.

But the other night she was at volleyball practice and I could hear his exclamations of frustration as he worked through his homework.

I read over the question and had no idea how to help, so I suggested we try BrainFuse Help Now!, a service the Baker County Library District subscribes to and offers for free to patrons.

Once logged in, you choose your grade level (kindergarten through college) and subject, then are connected to a live tutor. Max sent a photo of the confounding question, and the tutor walked him through the steps, asking questions along the way until he solved the problem and understood the process.

I think this is a great resource for our students when teachers aren’t available for help. All you need is a library card. Go to bakerlib.org and click on “Kids and Teens.”

Click on the BrainFuse icon, then enter your library card number and password.

Tutors are available every day from 1-10 p.m. Available subjects vary by grade.

For grade 8, tutors are available to assist with math, English language arts, science, social studies and writing.