How Mathnasium of Spokane South helps MOTIVATE students!

Glad you asked! Let’s take a sneak peak inside your local Mathnasium of Spokane South and ask their instructors!

Q: What helps students in your center stay motivated?

A: Math can be a tough subject for many students, but at Mathnasium, we know how to make it a little bit sweeter! At Mathnasium, we believe in rewarding our students for their hard work and dedication. That's why we have a variety of ways for our students to earn rewards. From completing customized work to doing well on a test or quiz in school, there are many opportunities for students to earn Star Cards. These cards are like currency at Mathnasium, and students can use them to buy prizes, candy and drinks, enter drawings, and even cash them in for gift cards.

But wait, there's more! At Mathnasium, we believe in making learning fun, and our reward system is no exception. Our Prize Wheel, Plinko Machine, and Mystery Box offer exciting opportunities for students to win prizes. And, with fun weekly themes, there's always something new and exciting to look forward to. With motivation comes success, and we ALWAYS celebrate our students' achievements, both big and small. That's why we have monthly celebrations for hard work, as well as a Student of the Month program. And, of course, there's always our Brag Board, where students can show off their accomplishments and be recognized for their efforts.

Q: Tell us about the reward cabinet!

A: Our rewards cabinet has something for everyone! We feature whatever special toys and gadgets the kids seem to be buzzing about... They often offer suggestions on prizes that would motivate them through our Suggestion Box at the front of the center. Lately, we've been in high-demand for Squishmallows and Pokémon cards! Some of our students are spenders with Star Cards, but we have a couple savers, too - they're currently working toward our biggest prizes, like an Oculus and a Nintendo Switch!

Q: How do students earn prizes from the reward cabinet?

A: Work hard! It really is as simple as that. Our Star Cards are our currency, and they can be earned in a bunch of different ways, and then cashed in like a dollar.

Every student has a custom binder full of personalized work, and we offer stars for completed pages. Some pages are worth only one star, others are worth more, and mastering a topic earns them a turn with our Prize Wheel, where they can earn a variety of rewards! If students opt to bring in homework or test prep, we also offer stars for time spent and EFFORT on these assignments.

Working hard in school also warrants rewards! If students bring in a test or quiz with a 90% or above, we give them a scratch ticket. These scratch tickets reveal special prizes and more stars to spend on our rewards.

In addition, we have weekly themes for our center - some of these themes involve dressing up, helping us decorate for an upcoming holiday, or completing a challenge. Students have the opportunity to earn stars just for participating! Even better, we offer stars for longevity - the longer you are a student with us, the more stars we offer just for your loyalty.

Q: How does your center celebrate student success?

A: Our students and instructors work so hard, it's impossible to ignore the success that comes from Mathnasium! We have many ways to honor and recognize their accomplishments, but here are a few of my favorites...

The Mastery Check Marble Jar One of our favorite ways to celebrate student success is through our Mastery Check Marble Jar. We set a goal for the month, and when students master that many skills, we reward them with treats like root beer floats, fresh-baked cookies, or popcorn. It's a fun and sweet way to acknowledge their hard work as a TEAM and encourage them to keep it up!

Student of the Month Every month, we nominate a special student to be our Student of the Month. This student embodies the Mathnasium spirit and represents the best of what we're all about. It's a great honor, and we celebrate their achievements in a big way.

The Brag Board And, of course, there's always our brag board! If students do something brag-worthy, they earn a spot on the brag board and get to show off their accomplishments to everyone. It's a great way to recognize their hard work and let them know that we're proud of them.

Q: What is your favorite student success story?

A: Aziel joined us in June 2019 - he had just finished up his 1st grade year and struggled deeply with adding and subtracting numbers under 20. His parents were very dedicated to getting him the help he needed over the summer and bought him in nearly every day for sessions. Aziel worked incredibly hard and was thrilled to get prizes and other rewards for our summer games! By the time school started again, Aziel had completely mastered all of his 1st grade skills and was ready to start his 2nd grade Learning Plan as he entered 2nd grade. He continued to attend sessions nearly every day in the 2019-20 school year and had mastered everything in his 2nd grade Learning Plan in March 2020. Aziel was able to take a 3rd grade skills pre-assessment as a 2nd grader in March 2020 right before school went online. Despite all of the challenges of online, Aziel continued to show us such impressive growth during his online sessions as well for the rest of the 19-20 school year - he mastered all of his multiplication skills with our online program, and worked on the rest of his 3rd grade skills in-center for summer 2020. We were so thrilled to start him on a 4th grade skills Learning Plan at the start of his 3rd grade year in fall 2020! In a surprise twist, Aziel's family had to move to Japan in October 2020. His parents wanted him to keep as many connections as they could with his previous home in Spokane, so we worked with them to get Aziel scheduled for online sessions with us again. The time difference between Spokane and Japan allows Aziel to log on for online sessions at 7am local time for him. It seemed like a crazy proposal for a 4th grade boy, but Aziel accepted and has been online with us ever since!! Aziel continues to work nearly one grade ahead - he's nearly done with his 5th grade skills as a 5th grader and is on track to start his 6th grade skills before the end of this school year. He still earns gift cards for all of his hard work and his parents are as dedicated as ever to keeping him enrolled. We are endlessly proud of Aziel's hard work and we love bragging about our student that loved us so much, not even the ocean stopped him from learning math with us!