Child Down with Math-itis? Bring Them in for a Diagnosis!

Did you know Mathnasium has centers all over the world?

North America? Yep

South America? Yep

Asia? Yep

Europe? Yep

The Middle East? Yep

Despite having over 1,000 brick-and-mortar buildings, the core of each Mathnasium center is the same. Every center uses "the Mathnasium Method,” our patented process for teaching, and the secret to Mathnasium's great success.

Larry Martinek, the creator of the Mathnasium Method, says this: "Children don't hate math. What they hate is being confused, intimidated, and embarrassed by math. With understanding comes passion, and with passion comes growth - a treasure is unlocked."

So let's break down the Mathnasium Method. Today we'll learn about the first step:

Comprehensive Assessments

Mathnasium gets students thinking independently with our socratic questioning.  Asking students to explain how they get to an answer and talking through the process lets them expand their thinking. We work hard to exporate what they learn at Mathnasium in the real world.  Working on problem solving skills helps students to understand that one method may work with certain math concepts but sometimes students need to work through problems using different methods to solve problems in different ways.  This helps them come to the conclusion and work with the method that works best for them.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics explains assessments as, “the process of gathering evidence about a student's knowledge of, ability to use, and disposition toward mathematics." (You can read more here.)

In essence, an assessment is designed to reveal any gaps in the student's understanding of math. And most students have serious gaps. (Read more about learning gaps here.)

Mathnasium of Stillwater knows the value of a good assessment. That's why.....

• We give assessments to our students right when they start at Mathnasium. Our math tutors then use the data the assessment provides to create a custom curriculum for each of our students. (Yep, you read that right. Individual learning plans for each student. Wow!)
• Our assessments are great at discovering where the student's understanding starts and where it stops. (This ensures that we never waste any time re-teaching math concepts that a student doesn't need) Rather, we focus on concepts where the student needs help. 
• We continue with assessments throughout your child's time at Mathnasium. This shows our Mathnasium instructors two main things: first, how your student is retaining their lessons and second, when mastery of a concept happens.                     

And that's just the beginning!  We'll be learning more about the Mathnasium Method in upcoming posts.