Back to Basics: The Essence of the Mathnasium Difference

Principles of Math can come across confusing to students, especially when they are bombarded with multiple rules and confusing practices. Mathnasium focuses on introducing new subject matter with a consistent and knowable approach, allowing students to build upon a foundation of knowledge while understanding and adding new principles.

To begin Early in a child’s learning, values are expressed in groups of 10s:

• 10 pennies make a dime.

• 10 dimes make a dollar.

•   10 “one-dollar” bills make 1 ten dollars, and 1 ten–dollar breaks down to 10 “one–dollar” bills

• 100 pennies make a dollar.

• 100 dimes make ten dollars.

• 10 hundreds make a thousand.

• 1,000 thousands make a million.

Some things ”make sense” to cut in half: a candy bar, a piece of wood, numbers... Other things don’t: people, pennies, cars... To diagnose the correct approach, assess the subject matter. Use the examples below as guidance.

• If twice as many people as you expected come on a picnic, then you will need twice as much food.

But, if you are baking bread, twice the regular heat will not get the job done twice as fast.

• When you double the number of pieces, the size of each piece is half as much as it was. (This is the inverse relationship: when one thing goes up, the other goes down.)

Contrary to its reputation, Math is not all numbers, in fact, word prefixes play a large role in setting the numerical value. Take these examples:

• “mono–”means 1: The monorail at Disneyland runs on 1 rail.

• “bi–” means 2: A bicycle has 2 wheels.

• “tri–” means 3: a Triceratops has 3 horns.

• “qua–” means 4: a quartet has 4 players

• “dec–” means 10: a decade is 10 years

• “cent–” means 100: percent means “for each 100”

• “mil–” means 1,000: a millennium is 1,000 years—a mile is “1,000 paces”


Finally, I touch on a few points of knowledge for your student (if this is for parents, “parents have kids… teachers have student) that will assist him or her build the base for understanding the previously dissected, whole and parts method.

• A quarter of an hour is 15 minutes (not 25).

• There are 4 quarts in one gallon. A “quart” is a quarter of a gallon.

• Whole basketball and football games have 4 quarters.

• Four quarters make a whole dollar.

• One half dollar is the same as 2 quarters.

• Half-time in a basketball game comes after 2 quarters.

These basic understandings set the cornerstone for laying the foundation of knowledge to continually build and evolve your student’s mind, the Mathnasium way.

Is your child being left behind in Math?

When students can do these questions (at their grade level and below), mentally — without using pencil and paper — they are likely doing well. For students who can't handle these questions, this is a warning sign. Very often they need help outside of the classroom. Students who can do the questions at and above their grade level may need a more challenging experience. 

See how well your child answers these questions. The results may surprise you!

First Grade:	11 + 12 = ___
Second Grade:	1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 = ___
Third Grade:	How much is 99 plus 99 plus 99?
Fourth Grade:	Count by 1¾ from 0 to 7.
Fifth Grade:	Which is greatest: 17/18, 23/30, or 18/19? Explain how you got your answer.
Sixth Grade:	Halfway through the second quarter, how much of the game is left?
Seventh Grade:	How much is 6½% of 250?
Pre-Algebra:	On a certain map, 6 inches represent 25 miles. How many miles do 15 inches represent?
Algebra:	When you take 3 away from twice a number, the answer is 8. What is the number?
Geometry:	What is the Absolute Value of the point (3, 4)?

For the answers, click here or visit our site!

Larry's Math Mediums

“Once you learn math and continually use it, you forget how you learned it to start with.” -Larry Martinek 

What do your kids want to be when they grow up? A ballerina? Or an astronaut? Or “just like Mike”? Growing up, kids idolize their favorite singers, actors, and athletes, but kids might not understand that their heroes weren’t born gifted. You and I know that they worked incredibly hard. Fortunately, this means that many dream professions can be attained with extensive practice. Practice math every day and that goal to become an astronaut will take your child very far.

Working on math skills outside of the classroom is crucial to developing a well-rounded grasp of how math is used in the real world. Just as basketball players and musicians do drills, practicing math concepts and skills over an extended period of time can be immensely rewarding. When your child sees that math is utilized everywhere in everyday life, the importance of math as a subject worth practicing will be obvious.

Here are a few ways you can practice math with your kids and prove the practical significance of the subject:

1. Have your kids help out in the kitchen – Preparing food or baking offers a great opportunity for kids to practice with fractions by measure dry and liquid ingredients.

2. Let kids figure out the change for a $10 bill and a $20 bill when they go shopping with you

3. Let them help trip planning - Sources like Google maps help children visualize distances and calculate travel times.

4. Watch the game together – Sports like football are full of statistics and calculations. Watch the game and talk about how these math skills are necessary, even in the world of sports.

5. Set up a hot chocolate stand – Allowing your child to handle and count currency in real-life

At Mathnasium, we use our proprietary Mathnasium Method to teach skills and convey the importance of math. It’s a tried, true, and perfected method that uses a variety of mechanisms to cement learning just like we suggested above. Here they are:

Mental

Questions like “99 + 99 + 99” And “3/4 of 20” are best done mentally. Strong mental math skills help students develop confidence which is the heart of the both self-esteem and a willingness to explore math, in addition to being a much more efficient way to handle many situations. Many of our centers host free Multiplication Madness nights, a fun and motivating way to keep your children’s skills sharp.

Verbal

Direct Teaching and the Socratic Question are verbal modes of delivery. Also, asking students to explain how they got their answers is a verbal experience that can convey understanding.

Visual

A significant number of Mathnasium worksheets contain pictures that help students to focus on the critical attribute(s) of the question at hand.

Tactile

When appropriate, our instructors use manipulatives (coins, dice, cards, scales, clocks, fraction circles, etc.) to guide and reinforce students’ thinking.

Written

Mathnasium teaches all of the standard algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, as well as when written procedures are preferable to mental ones, and vice versa.

Mathnasium lessons involve a combination of these methods to provide an integrated math lesson that not only teaches, but builds confidence and self-esteem. In addition, our Brag Boards on Facebook and Twitter allow Mathnasium locations to showcase the hard work and success of their valued students. Thank you for your interest in how we make math make sense to kids, and how you can too.