My son had a hard time this year with math. His reading is great, though. He's upstairs reading Sherlock Holmes right now.

Math...struggling. Scored low on his 4th grade end of grade tests. I tried to help him as much as possible, but without success. Open communication with his teacher, volunteered during math time to tutor the worse-off kids, went over his homework with him, etc. Little bugger still scored at the bottom.

There is a Mathnasium half a mile from our house. I have him set up for an assessment this Saturday. Does anyone have any experience with them? They are a national franchised math tutoring company that has good reviews. I'd really like him to be prepared--and confident--when he starts into 5th grade this year. They tailor the material based on his assessment and work in small groups with a tutor an hour a day two or more days a week, depending on how much money you want to give them...

It's not all his fault. I had a hard time with math all the way through college. Flunked calculus twice, long ago, and lost a full scholarship because of it. I don't want him to endure that.

Like all tutoring schools, it all depends on the instructor. We have friends that have both used Mathnasium. Both kids definitely improved but one had to change instructors. I would think this is worth a shot but follow his progress as close as you can. If you don't like the results you are seeing ask about a new instructor.

No experience with mathnasium but I have experience in not being good in math. I could not figure out the carries and I literally counted using my toes even. I think your son needs a way to make sense of the math logic the same way he gets the story logic. I bet your son will improve is presented with word math problems. I think math started clicking for me when I started taking algebra in high school doing proofs.

Good luck.

I found this website extraordinary for math.

Khan Academy

If the child is struggling and you’re struggling to help, find a good program and do it.

Ours isn’t a Mathnasium story but it’s related:

During my older daughter’s 5th grade year, she struggled with math. We would often spend two hours at the table at night working problems together (and sometimes as much as three hours). We met with her teacher and sent lots of notes and encouragement back and forth, but neither of us made any progress. It got to the point that my daughter hated me since I was the bad guy making sure she got her homework done, even if she wasn’t learning the work like she should. She was already eligible for additional time on tests due to a learning issue related to a brain hemorrhage when she was a couple of days old (she was VERY premature).

She passed 5th grade with all As except for the C- in math. To be honest, I think the teacher was quite generous with that grade because she knew how hard we worked all year.

It was near the end of the school year when we started looking for outside help. We got good reports on the local Sylvan Academy so we took her in for an interview. They recommended three one hour sessions per week during the summer and a weekly refresher for the first few weeks of the fall semester until we could see how she was doing. The cost was about $2,500 in 2001-2002 dollars.

It was money extremely well spent. Her instructor was able to start her with basic concepts like 2+2= 4 without fingers being involved all the way up to multiplication tables and long division. I have two engineering degrees and was one course short of a math minor, but her instructor knew the fundamentals of education and how to work miracles. My daughter “graduated” from the academy right on schedule and she made As in math from then on. She’s now in her final semester of grad school.

What StarTraveler said makes sense. Maybe he doesn't have a good grasp of the basics.

I struggles in math as well. Hated Algebra. Passed calculus in college by the skin of my teeth with lots and lots of studying. My wife has an undergrad in mathematics and elementary education. I told her she is responsible for teaching math to our two boys (6 & 7).

Good luck!

Both my kids 10/8 went to mathnasium every other week last summer. My oldest improved a full grade at the start of this year. She's in 5th and went to 6th grade math. Both emphatically wanted to go this summer. We paid for the unlimited package(ouch) but both kids love to go, they go every day, and anything that gets them excited about math is worth it. My wife says it's worth it, I work out of town a lot so I don't get to see the progress but I can tell they are both more confident in their math skills. Worth the money if you can swing it.

quote:

He's upstairs reading Sherlock Holmes right now.

Math...struggling. Scored low on his 4th grade end of grade tests.

I never really liked math. I did OK with it in school but never excelled. When I was away at college a math professor told me something that I wish I had been told earlier.

He said that math wasn't taught for the purposes of solving math. Math was taught to teach logic. Applying known facts, figuring out the blanks, and solving a problem.

So he's a fan of Sherlock Holmes? That's a guy who used a lot of logical reasoning to solve problems. Maybe he will relate and that will change the way he views it.

We need to teach toward mastery. You can't have kids going to the next level on a shaky foundation. It's only setting them up to struggle and be frustrated. Mathematics is hard, even for mathematicians, so your son is in good company.

Sal Khan

Andrew Wiles

New math-2+2=5.

quote:

Originally posted by black1970:
New math-2+2=5.

Anyway, back to trying to help the OP with his question. We had very good success with Mathnasium;

They have no real "grade power" over the kid, and you are paying thru the nose, so it is to your benefit to be interactive with the instructor and ensure that your child is following the assignment demands to the letter.

Khan is great as well....both my kids still reference their site from time to time.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
...When I was away at college a math professor told me something that I wish I had been told earlier.

He said that math wasn't taught for the purposes of solving math. Math was taught to teach logic. Applying known facts, figuring out the blanks, and solving a problem...

I found out the same thing in college. Math was never a good subject for me either (so naturally I became an estate tax attorney). In undergrad I avoided math by taking formal logic and statistics courses, both of which, at the time, were under the Philosophy Department. Loved both and did well. The formal logic courses were great.

Thank you for the feedback. We looked at the Kahn site and are going to work with that too. May incentivize it for him.

He has an assessment Saturday. Our limiting factor is scheduling. The hours don’t match up at all with us. We will make it work though.

I’m expecting the pricing to be around $350/month for 2-3 visits a week. Is that about right?

Khan has many free resources available in multiple STEM fields. I have found them to be my go-to when I need clarification on concepts as I'm progressing through my classes. (Calc 1 and 2, and Physics 1 and 2)

One thing we found with our son when he was struggling with his grades was that he wasn't being challenged enough in class. Sometimes the student is beyond the instruction they are receiving and they don't apply themselves.

Make sure when you have the assessment done that your child is interested in succeeding, rather than being frustrated with having to take more tests outside of school.

quote:

Originally posted by StarTraveler
Her instructor was able to start her with basic concepts like 2+2= 4 without fingers being involved all the way up to multiplication tables and long division. I have two engineering degrees and was one course short of a math minor, but her instructor knew the fundamentals of education and how to work miracles.

This really is the key to math...learning the logic, not the rote

That is the strength of Common Core

No experience with Mathnasium but had really great luck with Kumon.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
My son had a hard time this year with math. His reading is great, though.

I'm the complete opposite.

Help him with memorization and step by step processing.
Break things down into easier tasks and then put them back together.

One thing that will help is finding a teacher he can connect with and look up too.
Nothing is worse than sitting in a class being lost when the teacher is teaching.

Good luck!

I suspect that the teacher is more important than which program you chose. Mathnasium, Khan, Kumon, etc. are probably all good if your teacher is good.