Math - It Still Will Not Go Away

Along with our daily math lessons, we also have weekly math skills checks. Ian has to get online and go to some remote site, probably in Azerbaijan, and take a "skills check." I'm a confused by these because they usually have nothing to do with what we (or I should say, Ian and his math tutor) are currently working on.

This week's math skills check was about complementary angles- which apparently are not about angles who give each other compliments. I always ask Ian if I can help him and yesterday he said yes. So we printed off the student guide, which, in the email, I was told would help us with the skills check.

It did not help us. We (or Ian) still only got 70%. I spent most of the time looking up online what the math terms meant. Ian spent his time figuring out answers. He probably would have gotten a better score if he hadn't listened to me when I thought certain answers should be different.

Fortunately he meets with his tutor and has now figured out to try and get as much of the math for the week figured out with him; he can no longer depend on me. Poor kid.

I thought I might be a better help in English. After all, I'm over-educated in the English department. But I'm pretty sure I missed sentence diagramming, which looks too much like math, with angles (probably complementary) everywhere.

So here's my questions to all three of my followers...what is the point of diagramming sentences?

Does it help you read better?
Does it help you understand something better?
Does it help you get a job?
Do you put on your resume that you can diagram a sentence in 14 seconds?
Do you care if it is a progressive or perfect tense? Does anyone care?

There are a few instances in life where the ability to diagram a sentence might come in handy - if you had to take your GED - if you were on Jeopardy-if you dated a grammarian.

Which leads me the question I was often asked as a high school English teacher....do we need to know this?
Usually they were asking in reference to an upcoming test, but seriously, for life, do we need to know this?