May brags and events

FAST. STAR. EOC. MAP. Standardized tests. They come in many forms, but all do the same thing-try to gauge what your kids have actually learned and retained over the course of the school year and how they have improved year over year. I see it time and time again...students getting A's or B's in each "quarter" or "semester" throughout the year but consistently underwhelming scores on the standardized tests due to grade inflation. I hear from some kids that they are allowed to turn assignments in late all the way up to the end of the quarter. I wish I had that level of cooperation from my teachers back when I was in school, because life gets busy, but I know that I also would've fallen into the trap of always turning in things late, learning what I needed to learn several weeks too late, thus beginning the vicious cycle of falling behind and struggling all year. Even so, many students don't seem to have enough homework to really help reinforce what they're learning, and how many kids do you know that are going to go home and practice their math on their own if they don't have to? It is no excuse to be rusty in basic algebra concepts because you "haven't worked on it in a few weeks or months"-that just screams lack of mastery to me.

The bar is so low these days, scoring a bare minimum 3/5 on these state tests genuinely only equates to know 30-40% of the class material. Because a 3 is the minimum score needed to pass EOC's like algebra or geometry, so many parents seem to be content, or even thrilled, when their kids get a 4 or 5, but upon closer inspection the score breakdowns could reveal that their student still only knew 50-75% of the material. If students are getting A's and B's in the classroom and getting anything less than 5 on these tests, they have significant gaps and are not being set up for success for future high level math classes like algebra 2 or algebra-based physics or college entrance exams. Even if they are scoring 5's, I promise there are still some stones unturned. Bring your kid into your nearest Mathnasium and take advantage of our free assessments. If your kid can't crush a grade level assessment, especially this time of year, we have a math emergency on our hands and need to get the intervention initiated asap. If you are someone that has been considering getting some extra help or wanting to get a head start for the school year, please reach out sooner than later. If your goal is for your child to become a super Mathlete, chances are you're underestimating how long it is going to take to get them there. If you think you child is falling behind, you're on the right track trusting your gut, but also like underestimating how long it will take to get them caught up. 1-2 years is really not an uncommon time frame for many of these Lakeland kids I'm meeting. It isn't too terribly hard to catch up elementary school kids as long as they can come in a couple times a week with a plucky attitude. By middle school, the clock is ticking, and we are going to have to work really hard, and probably re-evaluate what the realistic academic expectations are for the next school year. By high school...please don't let it get to that point...please don't wait until halfway through algebra 1 to seek help if you know they weren't crushing it all throughout middle school. We might be able to salvage the class before the end of the year, but that is not good enough-we want to make sure we leave no stones unturned in your kid's math education. Come to us. Trust the process. Invest in some supplemental education. Talk to your school about inviting us out for a super fun math night and maybe we can partner with them.

Javier and Amanda are elementary school students from All Saints Academy. They recently crushed some reassessments showing their growth in the time they've been with us. Amanda went from a 23% to an 89%, and Javier went from a 35% up to a 74%, but at the next grade level up! They are much better now relative to their grade level than they were this same time last year, and they still have so much room to grow, so these next few months over the summer will be an exciting time for them leading up to next school year. Their mom shared MAP testing result from their school. We still have some work ahead of us transforming him into the absolute best kid in his class, as shown by his 77th percentile (we'll get there by the end of summer), but what is way more interesting to me is that Javier's rate of growth over the course of the entire school year was better than 99% of his peers! Huh! I wonder what Javier is doing that 99% of his peers at school are not doing...coming to Mathnasium! *All Saints-please invite us our for a Math Night sometime ;) Kevin is a first grader at Lakeland Christian School. If you ever wondered what it takes for your 1st grader to be in the 96th percentile, check out where Kevin is at. He has already demonstrated mastery of our 1st and 2nd grade level programs and is currently working through 3rd grade math with us. If you think your child's school has a little more advanced pace and curriculum, your kid probably needs to be here getting some extra help. If your child's school isn't particularly challenging or fulfilling, they probably need to be here getting them some extra help. If you've been paying for a private tutor, come on in and let us assess you throughout the year so you have some baseline to monitor growth over time. To celebrate teacher appreciation week, we will waive our new family registration fee ($199) for any children of local teachers or school employees that decide to enroll with us in the month of May. If you have a child you suspect is falling behind or a victim or grade inflation, or you just want to get them some fun enrichment this summer, book a free assessment with us asap! Limited time discounted short-term enrollment to try us out over the summer-there's never been a better time to join Mathnasium. Book now! Where you can find us out in the community... We're already planning some community events for the next month. We plan on attending The Homeschool Conference hosted by Wonderhere right here in Lakeland June 6-7th, information about which can be found here and we also plan on making a return to the Early Learning Coalition's Family Fun Day which can be found here. If you've ever had some questions about who we are and how we help students these would be great public events to attend to meet us and let us answer any questions you have about the academic future of your kids. We will be returning to the Early Learning Coalition's Family Fun Day for what will be our 2nd annual trip. Last year we were presented with a certificate of Appreciation!