Why math tutoring is so popular in DC?

[Anonymous]

As noted educator/nurse/astronaut/president Barbie said, "Math class is tough!"

Lots of different groups:

Kids that are a generally weaker than the average math kids in class, who need additional support.

Kids who are stronger than the average in the class, whose parents want them to be stronger yet, in the same way that sports dads take their already-good-at-softball daughters to batting clinics.

Kids who are at schools that teach math in a way that doesn't match well with the kid. I love Singapore Math, I think it is an excellent methodology, but there are some kids who are better off with mastery programs that are less theoretical and have more repetition. Other kids, often dyslexic, are better off with spiral programs (Saxon, Schooltime, etc). But there aren't *that* many schools out there, and a school that legit serves well for most subjects for a child, but is subpar for math, through no fault of its own.

Kids who are at schools, often fancy expensive ones, which teach math poorly, because the math curriculum used is terrible, yet aligns with the school's philosophy or marketing approaches.

[Anonymous]

DD had a great math teacher in late elementary at her private school who really pushed her and encouraged her to do math afterschool. She also had special instruction time with a few other peers who were ready for additional material or more in-depth material in class. Despite what some say, some private schools may differentiate earlier on but are not in-your-face about it as parents can and do get competitive about it.

[Anonymous]

Who are the best math tutors for early elementary school in the NW area of DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who are the best math tutors for early elementary school in the NW area of DC?

RSM

[Anonymous]

Math tutoring is popular EVERYWHERE in the world, OP. It's by far and away the most tutored and supplemented subject.

It makes sense: elementary school teachers are rarely math-oriented (they're usually humanities-oriented), and kids don't tend to get quality mathematical reasoning training when they're young. When they get to secondary school, it all starts to unravel for some kids who don't have a natural aptitude for mathematical reasoning. And since every year of math builds onto the last, weaknesses show up very quickly, unlike in other subjects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who are the best math tutors for early elementary school in the NW area of DC?

RSM

Thank you! Has anyone heard of Georgetown Forest STEAM? It teaches Russian math and is located in Georgetown. The reviews appear to be good but sparse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who are the best math tutors for early elementary school in the NW area of DC?

RSM

Thank you! Has anyone heard of Georgetown Forest STEAM? It teaches Russian math and is located in Georgetown. The reviews appear to be good but sparse.

Just looked this up! Thanks for including this, never had heard of it but it looks really interesting. would love to hear more.

[Anonymous]

To pipe up - ours goes to RSM, as an immigrant, what i noticed at school is that they don't teach at all logic and mathematic reasoning. All the problems are quite simplistic. Additionally, abstract math is introduced so much later, like in 8th grade? in RSM they start doing equations like in 2nd grade. Because x+2=3 can be done by a kindergartener, and it teaches abstract and logical thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math tutoring is popular EVERYWHERE in the world, OP. It's by far and away the most tutored and supplemented subject.

It makes sense: elementary school teachers are rarely math-oriented (they're usually humanities-oriented), and kids don't tend to get quality mathematical reasoning training when they're young. When they get to secondary school, it all starts to unravel for some kids who don't have a natural aptitude for mathematical reasoning. And since every year of math builds onto the last, weaknesses show up very quickly, unlike in other subjects.

Agree 1000%! I also don’t think there is enough time in math! My 4th grader often reports they have 30 minutes of math, and spend much more time reading and writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math tutoring is popular EVERYWHERE in the world, OP. It's by far and away the most tutored and supplemented subject.

It makes sense: elementary school teachers are rarely math-oriented (they're usually humanities-oriented), and kids don't tend to get quality mathematical reasoning training when they're young. When they get to secondary school, it all starts to unravel for some kids who don't have a natural aptitude for mathematical reasoning. And since every year of math builds onto the last, weaknesses show up very quickly, unlike in other subjects.

Yes, but it’s true that math at scho is way better in Asia and Europe according to the Pisa scores. So math tutoring might be popular across the world, but in the us becomes a necessity because the poor math education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math tutoring is popular EVERYWHERE in the world, OP. It's by far and away the most tutored and supplemented subject.

It makes sense: elementary school teachers are rarely math-oriented (they're usually humanities-oriented), and kids don't tend to get quality mathematical reasoning training when they're young. When they get to secondary school, it all starts to unravel for some kids who don't have a natural aptitude for mathematical reasoning. And since every year of math builds onto the last, weaknesses show up very quickly, unlike in other subjects.

I don’t think most elementary teachers are humanities oriented, just Education oriented. Most can teach phonics and reading along with the 4 major mathematical functions, and then it’s a mixed bag after that. Plenty of elementary teachers are horrible writers and spellers, and struggle with applying math in even simple ways (fractions, coming up with word problems for algorithmic problem etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math tutoring is popular EVERYWHERE in the world, OP. It's by far and away the most tutored and supplemented subject.

It makes sense: elementary school teachers are rarely math-oriented (they're usually humanities-oriented), and kids don't tend to get quality mathematical reasoning training when they're young. When they get to secondary school, it all starts to unravel for some kids who don't have a natural aptitude for mathematical reasoning. And since every year of math builds onto the last, weaknesses show up very quickly, unlike in other subjects.

I don’t think most elementary teachers are humanities oriented, just Education oriented. Most can teach phonics and reading along with the 4 major mathematical functions, and then it’s a mixed bag after that. Plenty of elementary teachers are horrible writers and spellers, and struggle with applying math in even simple ways (fractions, coming up with word problems for algorithmic problem etc).

In other words, they're too dumb to be effective teachers. I agree with you on that, for a large portion of the elementary teachers in the US. Part of the reason for this is that educators are not respected in this country. No one who is actually smart wants to toil away for years on a mediocre salary and be yelled at by parents, when they could be making a lot more in other careers. Non-western countries have a lot more respect for teachers. Even in Europe, there's still a modicum of respect left. In the US, it's zero.

[Anonymous]

Math in the us got stuck in the 80s. Just very basic. There is no way to learn math properly without tutoring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math tutoring is popular EVERYWHERE in the world, OP. It's by far and away the most tutored and supplemented subject.

It makes sense: elementary school teachers are rarely math-oriented (they're usually humanities-oriented), and kids don't tend to get quality mathematical reasoning training when they're young. When they get to secondary school, it all starts to unravel for some kids who don't have a natural aptitude for mathematical reasoning. And since every year of math builds onto the last, weaknesses show up very quickly, unlike in other subjects.

I don’t think most elementary teachers are humanities oriented, just Education oriented. Most can teach phonics and reading along with the 4 major mathematical functions, and then it’s a mixed bag after that. Plenty of elementary teachers are horrible writers and spellers, and struggle with applying math in even simple ways (fractions, coming up with word problems for algorithmic problem etc).

In other words, they're too dumb to be effective teachers. I agree with you on that, for a large portion of the elementary teachers in the US. Part of the reason for this is that educators are not respected in this country. No one who is actually smart wants to toil away for years on a mediocre salary and be yelled at by parents, when they could be making a lot more in other careers. Non-western countries have a lot more respect for teachers. Even in Europe, there's still a modicum of respect left. In the US, it's zero.

Dumb is quite harsh. My DC school has some accomplished teachers who went to universities better than my own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math tutoring is popular EVERYWHERE in the world, OP. It's by far and away the most tutored and supplemented subject.

It makes sense: elementary school teachers are rarely math-oriented (they're usually humanities-oriented), and kids don't tend to get quality mathematical reasoning training when they're young. When they get to secondary school, it all starts to unravel for some kids who don't have a natural aptitude for mathematical reasoning. And since every year of math builds onto the last, weaknesses show up very quickly, unlike in other subjects.

I don’t think most elementary teachers are humanities oriented, just Education oriented. Most can teach phonics and reading along with the 4 major mathematical functions, and then it’s a mixed bag after that. Plenty of elementary teachers are horrible writers and spellers, and struggle with applying math in even simple ways (fractions, coming up with word problems for algorithmic problem etc).

In other words, they're too dumb to be effective teachers. I agree with you on that, for a large portion of the elementary teachers in the US. Part of the reason for this is that educators are not respected in this country. No one who is actually smart wants to toil away for years on a mediocre salary and be yelled at by parents, when they could be making a lot more in other careers. Non-western countries have a lot more respect for teachers. Even in Europe, there's still a modicum of respect left. In the US, it's zero.

Yes, we all knows this. How to change it? How to change the fact GDS pay teachter 60K and you all are willing spend 60K a year on tuition per child.