Mathnasium?

[Anonymous]

I looked into Mathnasium in South Riding, VA last year. They charge $75 for the initial assessment. The cost / month was about on par with hiring a private FCPS teacher if you are able to go to the center at least once per week. Their program looked good, but DC can get distracted and the kids at this center sit with their tutor in a shared space. It is also not near our home and would take us 30 minutes to drive there after school due to traffic. We chose to find a private tutor during the school year and meet at a local library instead. Private tutor worked better for one-one help.
No issue with the program, really - it was just location and DC specific needs.

[Anonymous]

Your mileage varies in accordance to the instructors at the center (this goes for the rockville and clarksville centers, which is also owned by the same person). The worksheets, although they claim that to be the 'magic sauce', becomes diluted and similar to other worksheets you could purchase at a regular bookstore (without the $180/month price tag and annual contract).

Not worth the hefty fees when a concerned parent could do much better at a much lower cost, IMHO...

[Anonymous]

Sorry, not clarksville, meant the ellicott city center....

[Anonymous]

OP done feel like you are a tiger mom because you want to help your kid with math. If you can give hi a little extra support right now when he's struggling, I can make a huge difference.

I'd probably look into Mathnaseum or something similar. But you might also be interested in a math app. Splash Math is a great app that reinforces grade appropriate concepts.

[Anonymous]

OP, I looked into both Mathnasium and Kumon and Mathnasium would be my choice, but it is just too far away.

For some reason I don't think a lot of elementary school teachers who tutor, tutor in math. There are a lot more options for reading tutors from what I can see.

The most important thing I think it just to get started with your kid. Don't look for the perfect, just do a mix of extra support. Maybe start with a few months at at Mathnasium center and see how it goes.

I also like some of the Singapore Math workbooks. You could get some at a lower level than your child is supposed to be working at for some review.

I think collapsing when he is asked to multiply 23x45 is a sign that the individual steps are still too hard for him. If he hasn't mastered his times tables yet and is weak on adding with regrouping, too, that's a hard computation to do!

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm the OP- I wrote this post a year ago, not sure why it just got bumped. But we wound up hiring a tutor, an elementary teacher from another school who was recommended by our son's 3rd grade teacher. It has worked very well, his grades rebounded, his confidence is now good, and he is doing well in math now. I will say that one of the key things we did was to keep the tutor coming all summer- she actually came 2x a week, and I think it helped keep his skills up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I'm the OP- I wrote this post a year ago, not sure why it just got bumped. But we wound up hiring a tutor, an elementary teacher from another school who was recommended by our son's 3rd grade teacher. It has worked very well, his grades rebounded, his confidence is now good, and he is doing well in math now. I will say that one of the key things we did was to keep the tutor coming all summer- she actually came 2x a week, and I think it helped keep his skills up.

Great to hear!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP - I don't think my son has dyslexia, although it's entirely possible that he has some other learning disability. He is an advanced reader and madly interested in other issues (mostly science/nature/animals). But when we sit down to do math, it just doesn't work. Subtraction with "regrouping" as they call it totally does him in. He always assumes the smaller number is being subtracted from the larger. He knows some of his multiplication tables (they don't seem to hand those out for memorization anymore, but he seems to have the hang of the lower numbers.) Still if he has to do multi-digit mutliplication (365x24) he just collapses. Is this indicative of a LD? Or just a kid who is not grasping basic math? Either way, I want to find a support system that will buttress his skills and boost his confidence. Thanks for any advice!

Pardon my ignorance. I used to teach third grade years ago and multi-digit multiplication wasn't a third grade expectation. Is this part of Common Core, is this just the way your school handles it, am I just forgetful? I thought that was more of a fourth or fifth grade expectation.

[Anonymous]

one in Arlington is new and they don't know what they are doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi. My name is Barry Fausnaugh and I am the owner and center director of Mathnasium of Bethesda. Our program is designed to meet students where they are and help them catch up, keep up and get ahead in math.

At Mathnasium, we only teach math allowing us to specialize in the subject and really focus our energies and attention towards helping the kids who attend our program. With over 330 centers throughout the country, the Mathnasium Method has a proven track record of helping students increase their math skills, understanding of math concepts, and overall school performance while building self-confidence and forging a positive attitude toward math.

We don't believe that children hate math, we believe that they hate being confused and intimidated by math! We do our very best to make coming to Mathnasium a fun learning environment. The center is well lit and decorated in a way that most kids (and many adults) find fun. We use a variety of techniques to help kids understand and improve their math and math related skills.

Our approach uses sophisticated techniques to identify, with great accuracy, what a student knows and does not know. Next, we create a tailor made learning program which each student follows. Students work specially trained Mathnasium math tutors who provide instruction and lots of encouragement. All work is done in center and we never send homework home.

We begin by evaluating your child's knowledge using a two part (oral and written) diagnostic evaluation. These evaluations allow to assess your child's strengths and weaknesses with respect to grade-level material and assess the depth of your child's understanding of key mathematical concepts and skills. We recognize that it is difficult for some kids to sit still during an assessment and will work with your child to accommodate that if it is the case.

Based on the above assessments, we will develop a learning plan and provide curriculum materials that cater to the unique needs of your child. Your child would typically attend our center two or three times a week for about an hour each visit. Your child would guidance from a qualified Mathnasium math tutor. The curriculum focuses primarily on written materials and mental math while using manipulatives and other teaching tools when appropriate. As part of working with your child, we will continuously monitor their progress against the learning plan and make adjustment where needed when identified instead of waiting until a predetermined amount of time has passed.

We will reassess each student every two to three months unless there is a good reason (such as noticeable improvement in a shorter timeframe) to allow both us and you to gain factual insight in to the progress your child has made. However, we believe the best measure of your child's progress is to rely on third party proofs of progress such as report cards and standardized assessments which are provided by your child's school.

The assessment is no risk and no cost to you.

I'd be happy to discuss the program with you in more detail. The best way to do this is to come in and see the center. Our regular hours are 3pm - 7pm Sunday through Thursday. Other times are available by appointment. Please call us at 301-652-MATH (6284) to schedule an appointment (we also take appointments during our regular hours) or just come by when we are open. You can also email us at [e-mail] either with questions or to schedule an appointment that way.

When you come in, please let me know you are following up from this post.

Sincerely,
Barry

___________________________
Barry Fausnaugh
Center Director
Mathnasium of Bethesda
Ph: (301) 652-MATH (6284)
[e-mail]
www.mathnasium.com/bethesda

Can anyone shed light on how much Mathnasium in Bethesda charges? I am so tired of wasting money on private tutors. I cringe at how much money we've wasted on our tutor....over the past 1.5 years I would say at least $10K. This is for algebra/9th grade.

[Anonymous]

dunno about Kumon, but the Mathnasiums are independently owned and operated. We've been to two, one just o.k., and one quite good. It's about $300 a month so you better be pretty serious about math.

[Anonymous]

PP, did you go to the Bethesda location?

[Anonymous]

Mathnasium of North Bethesda on Nicholson Lane is awesome. Owners Ruben Espejo and Susan Minushkin work alongside other tutors to create a first-class learning environment. My child, age 8, actually begs to go there. After only 6 months, her skills have improved substantially. Whether you want help for your struggling student or a challenge for your little genius, this is the place for you. Periodic student assessments provide guidance in developing each child's lesson plan. Nice atmosphere, friendly teachers. Two thumbs up.