COWDEN - Lona Nelson is convinced anyone can do math.

"Math is the scariest subject," said Nelson, 55, a math teacher at Cowden-Herrick High School and author of "A Parents Guide to Pre-Algebra." "It's just that a lot of times people think they don't know it, and they really do."

During parent-teacher conferences, Nelson kept hearing parents say they were stumped by their children's math homework. When the kids asked for help, the parents said, they didn't even know where to begin.

Jeff Kirk of Pana was in that position. When daughter Ashley, 16, was a sophomore, he realized he couldn't be much help with algebra homework.

"I knew the principles," Kirk said. "I just couldn't remember formulas."

Kirk and Nelson's husband, Ed, are friends. Ed Nelson told Kirk about his wife's book.

The book's easy-to-follow directions helped Kirk get back up to speed on math so he could help Ashley, he said.

"It's very simple and explains in detail," Kirk said. "It's not overbearing, and it doesn't make you feel like your kids are smarter than you are."

Lona Nelson began the book with fractions. Building on basic skills and using clear direction, the book takes the reader through various math skills, including algebra and the dreaded word problems, to give out-of-practice adults a chance to get back into the swing of math. It took her six years to write the book, she said: two to think about it, two to decide to go ahead and two to actually write it, while her husband urged her to publish it. Originally, she intended it only for parents of her students.

People she knows have used the book to refresh their skills when going back to school as adults, something Nelson herself did at age 42 to become a teacher.

Her method of teaching math is to start, like the book does, with basic skills, she said.

"What I do is assume they know nothing," she said. "I think a big problem is (teachers say to themselves) 'They're in ninth grade, so I'll start at that level.' But I don't. I go back a little. If you start back before what they already know, you're either reviewing for them or giving them something easy they can feel good about mastering, so the hard things don't seem quite so hard."

Even when students get something wrong, she said, she finds a way to say something positive about their work so she won't discourage them.

"I never tell a student they're wrong," she said. "I always find something good to say about the answer they gave me. I always say 'That would have been right if this had been a negative' or something like that.

"They'll come in and say 'I can't take advanced math,' and I say, 'You can do it. Give it a try and I'll help you and we'll get through it together.' "

Valerie Wells can be reached at vwells@;herald-review.com or 421-7982.