One of the things I love most about being involved in education is that you never stop being a student yourself. Our focus at Mathnasium of 4S Ranch is always on what we can do as instructors to make math make sense to our students.
Last week I had the privilege of spending the day with Larry Martinek, the creator and Chief Educational Officer of Mathnasium. He shared great strategies in working with Common Core and providing that extra something that makes kids feel successful every visit!
Many of his comments tied back to early numerical fluency and the roadblock it presents to further math success. This summer Mathnsium launched a program exclusive to Numerical Fluency and making those numbers come more automatically by using a strategy that slowly becomes effortless.
We also discussed the importance of students being placed in a math class appropriate to their abilities upon middle school - algebra readiness is what it is called in the education world. While we cannot make specific recommendations, much of our data collected through our diagnostic testing is sound evidence if a student is on the right path based on their skill set and if additional progress is necessary to improve classroom grades and understanding.
Larry hasn't let the substantial growth of the Mathnasium brand break his focus on why we do what we do. Every ounce of his being is dedicated to the curriculum that he and his team create for our students. It was a great day for inspiration!
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