Back to school notes from Mathnasium of Maple Grove

Three weeks in, and here's what I keep hearing from Maple Grove parents. They want this year to go better than last year, and they want to catch problems early instead of playing catch up. More than a few have told me they wish they'd brought their kid in sooner, before the gaps had time to grow.

Right now I'm seeing two different struggles depending on the age. My younger students lost some of their fluency with basic addition and multiplication facts over the summer. Nothing unusual, it just needs rebuilding. My older students heading into middle school math or Algebra are running into trouble with fractions and integers, which makes the new, higher level material feel harder than it needs to.

My advice to Maple Grove families this month is don't wait until the first parent teacher conference or a rough report card to ask for help. If your student is getting frustrated with math homework now, that's the time to deal with it. And at home, try to keep the conversation about math a positive one. Remind your kids that math is a skill that grows with practice, not something you're either born with or not.

We're planning a movie night for our Maple Grove and Champlin Park families sometime in the coming months, details still coming together. Around town, I'm noticing families squeezing in their math time right after school, getting it done before fall sports and evening activities take over. A good reminder that even a short, consistent session goes a long way once schedules get busy.