Mompreneur, Krista Kamenski Adams, 43, of South Charlotte, began Mathnasium in Charlotte in September of 2006. Krista tutors math to students of all ages and helps prepare them for the EOGs. Keep reading to see if your child can benefit from Mathnasium’s help! Q. How did you get started with Mathnasium?
A. After teaching for 12 years and private tutoring for 4 years, I knew I wanted to stay in education but not necessarily in the classroom. I like owning my own business even though it has challenges too.
Q. What is your teaching background?
A. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from East Carolina University in 1991, spent 2 years teaching at St Thomas the Apostle in Delaware, 10 years teaching 5th and 6th grades in CMS, and became National Board Certified in 2001.
Q. What drew you to teaching and tutoring?
A. I really enjoy working with and teaching children, especially the pre-teen ages.
Q. What exactly does Mathnasium do?
A. We are a year-round math learning and enrichment center. We work with children of all ability levels.
Q. What grades/math do you tutor in?
A. Grades 2-Algebra 1 during school year in our main program. Summer adds a Kindergarten and 1st grade readiness program. We offer private tutoring for High School Students.
Q. What kinds of events do you hold for students?
A. Every year we host the North Carolina Math Competition which holds local competitions all over the state. The top 20 from each grade level are invited to UNC-Chapel Hill for the State finals. This is sponsored by Healthy Communities, a non-profit organization.
Q. What are the signs that you should get your child a tutor?
A. If you start to notice a lack of confidence in your student as well as struggles with homework, you may want to explore the various learning centers in the area and find the one that best fits your child and your family.
Q. What are the most common challenges?
A. Managing multiple children's homework and activities often make it difficult for parents to provide the all the necessary support at home. Coming to a neutral setting like Mathnasium takes the pressure off of parents and allows for more quality family-time in the evenings.
Q. What types of activities do you do to help the child?
A. We offer math homework support, quiz and test prep, EOG prep, grade-level readiness over the summer, and EOC prep. Our program is individual instruction in a small group setting so that students get both one-on-one instruction and independent work-time. That way they demonstrate understanding of the concepts on their own. The last thing we want is a learned-dependency (when they can only perform when we are guiding them.) Our program offers a nice balance.
Q. What is your favorite part about tutoring?
A. As a classroom teacher I was often not able to meet the individual needs of all my students. At Mathnasium, we can customize and tailor instruction to the individual. Students are not coming to us because they are bad at math - they come to us to practice their math, just as they do for soccer, dance or piano. The more they practice, the more confidence they gain, and the better their math skills get! That is then carried in to the classroom, often across the board to all subject areas.
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