Whenever I meet with a potential family or give a child our no risk assessment, I tell them there are three keys to success with our program. If all three components are in place, we can guarantee our program will help your child improve his or her math skills and abilities.
The first leg of the stool is my responsibility as Center Director. It is making certain we have the right curriculum and materials for each child as an individual. This starts with the initial in-depth assessment which gives me a snapshot of a child’s strengths and challenges in math. It doesn’t matter if gaps started in second grade or ninth grade or are in material not yet covered, my objective is to understand how a child thinks about math, what their particular learning style is and where their challenges lie. My job, however, is not finished with that initial assessment. I am constantly adjusting our students’ individually tailored learning plans and curriculum based on feedback from my instructors, work directly with the students themselves, collaboration with the child’s teachers and conversations with the parents. Furthermore, we give a Mastery Check at the end of every packet to gauge understanding and retention and then we reassess each student every time they complete ten packets of work. When they have completed their learning plan, we give a final assessment over all the material they covered with us and expect at least a 30% improvement in their scores over their initial assessment.
The second leg of the stool required for our program to be successful falls on the parents or adults in the child’s life. Their responsibilities include paying the monthly tuition to have their child or children attend learning sessions at Mathnasium of Parker. They also include making sure there is space on the schedule for students to come to the center at least twice per week, ideally 3 or more times if we have identified significant gaps. This means, making supplemental math education a big rock in the agenda - something that other activities fit around, not visa versa. The second leg of the stool may require the parents driving their children to the center if they are unable to drive themselves or strongly encouraging older children to make their math education a big rock on their schedule. Finally, this leg of the stool also includes supporting their children’s math efforts. Praising them for their accomplishments, no matter how small, and limiting negative math-talk. Phrases such as “I’m no good at math so it is no wonder Johnny is not good at math” or similar need to be eliminated from the family conversations!
The last leg of the stool is often the easiest to achieve if the other two legs are in place. Especially for our younger students. It is not always the easiest to achieve with older high school students, however. High schoolers' schedules are super busy these days and motivating kids who hate math or don’t see a need for math if they are not going to go into a STEM field, to make coming in and working on math a priority can sometimes be a challenge. When I ask children in 9th or 10th grade and lower whose job do they think the last leg belongs to, they always answer, sometimes reluctantly or sheepishly, “Mine?” You bet it is! The third leg of the success stool is your responsibility as a student! “What do you think that job is?” I ask them. “Do my work?” they say. Definitely and we try to make it easy for them! Most students really enjoy coming to Mathnasium. They begin to understand concepts and start to see success in math and suddenly they want to come in and practice math. Plus, we have a safe, supportive environment that is fun. Who wouldn’t want to come in and practice math?
There you have it! The three legs of the success stool - right materials, right support and focused work and effort. If all three are firmly in place, there is no stopping what your child can learn in math. Call us today at 303-840-1184 and find out what we can do to help your child in math.
