Reply to Mathnasium worth it? Not working for us..

Forum Index » Tweens and Teens

Reply to "Mathnasium worth it? Not working for us.."

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Both kids are failing math- [b]9th grader, algebra 1[/b] and [b]10th grader, algebra 2[/b]. I sent them to mathnasium a couple of months and it’s not helping.

Mathnasium has a system of sort, steps, which may have helped if we started in 7th grade but it’s not helping now with quizzes and tests. They have both kids in a foundation level (meets 2x a week per our contract) that seems far behind and impossible to catch up to the level of their current class level. Should I just drop it? So expensive but a private tutor would be more. We need a tutor, I feel 3x week.
Recommendation how to move forward. T[b]he kids just don’t get the concepts,[/b] they have short term memory too- coupled with a shitty teen attitude, I’m at a loss.[/quote]

Oh no, oh no! You have started shockingly late.  If they are struggling in Algebra 1 and 2,  there is no way that your kids were ever great at Math in ES or MS -  so you are waking up only now?

Mathnasium cannot help you immediately with the Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 content because your kids are so far behind with Math and pre-algebra.  It will take them the time it will take to bring them up to speed.  I shudder to think what your kid will do junior year.  It is rough.

If your kids work very hard every single day, and you also work very hard with them every single day, and maybe  private tutor works very hard with them a few  day, there is a chance that your kids can catch up in a few months.

Because you mentioned the cost - my low cost but very effective suggestion to you is to buy this course by James Seller 
 - [url]https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/mastering-the-fundamentals-of-mathematics.html[/url]

Do at least two lessons per day. Do the course work too.  Then progress to Algebra 1 and Algebra 2.  These courses may be available in your local library too for free.  In any case, every year there is an annual end of year sale and you can get these courses for cheap.  I bought all the courses for my kids and I  learned the material too.  Do not skip chapters even if they seem very basic.

These courses are for people who are bad in Math and do not have a grasp of concepts. 
[/quote]

Kids are supposed to be taking algebra 1 in ninth grade, geometry as a sophomore, and algebra 2 junior year. Lots of kids in the DMV are on the advanced math track and take algebra in middle school but OP’s kids are not that far behind. [/quote]

No, the first PP is correct. It's not the track that's important, it's the fact they're failing. If they were on a lower track, they wouldn't be doing great either. OP has been a shitty parent so far regarding math (sorry, OP, I'm sure you're a great parent elsewhere!), if he or she didn't wake up in time to prevent two kids failing at math in high school. Math builds on itself. The signs are obvious before it comes to failing. I know I've been criticized for saying this, but in math, if you don't get at least a low A every quarter, you haven't really mastered the concepts, which means that next year's math won't be well understood unless you put in some really hard work instead of continuing to coast slowly downhill. Accumulate a few years like this, and you end up "not being good at math", when in reality, you missed some key concepts early on that were just papered over.

Just a heads up, OP, academics are key to not spending too much on college. UVA and UMD are selective schools now, I know students with a weighted GPA of over 4 (with multiple APs, solid extra-curriculars, etc) who were rejected from UMD, which is less selective than UVA. If you want your kids to not cost you above a state tuition, they need to have a decent GPA, even for state schools other than flagship colleges. And if you're looking at out of state or private institutions, you're not going to get merit aid if your kids are failing at basic math. Strong academics in high school equals cheaper college. Consider that expensive tutors can go up to $250/hr or more. But some private universities are now more than $90K a year, total cost of attendance. UMD is $30K a year. UVA $40K.

Pay the damm tutor.

[/quote]

This comment went way off the rails. You can get low in-state tuition in the Maryland/VA state  and community college systems.
UMD-CP and Charlottesville//Blacksburg aren't the only public colleges. 
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics