Math Can Be Fun

Math can be a challenging subject for many people. The staff at Mathnasium knows this and wants to help take the fear away and make learning it a pleasant and rewarding experience.

Located at 715 East 12300 South, Unit E in Draper, Mathnasium is a learning center where students from 2nd grade through 12th grade can go and improve their math skills. The method of instruction used by the staff has been in place since Los Angeles math teaching consultant Larry Martinek developed it more than 30 years ago.

“We teach kids how to understand math,” says Mark Munson, director and owner of Mathnasium. “Our intent is to get kids confident and familiar with math. One of our goals is to eliminate the ‘I’m not a math person’ fear.”

Mark says the learning center opportunities available to students at Mathnasium are different than having a tutor. A tutor, Mark says, reinforces what has already been learned. With the Mathnasium method, teachers try to get the students to confirm a concept by themselves. “The students learn they can do stuff on their own,” he says.

Mathnasium instruction is done one and one, not in groups. Instructors teach a concept and make sure the student understands it completely before moving on to another concept. The teachers use “manipulatives” -- dice, cards and cubes -- to help students visualize and better understand solutions to problems. Mathnasium also uses a reward system, where students can earn prizes for their successes.

“We try to make it fun,” Mark says. “We have games. We have an open environment. The environment is important.”

Most students spend an hour to an hour and a half at each visit to the center. Mathnasium has developed its own workbooks and has more than 8,000 pages of worksheets to assign to the students. Teachers are equipped to instruct from basic 2nd-grade-level math up to AP calculus. There are three qualified instructors that can handle more than 100 students.

Results have been very positive for Mathnasium students. Elementary and junior high school students have shown a 42 percent improvement in their math classes, while high school students are improving at a 24 percent rate.

“Parents call to thank us, saying their kids have said, ‘Mom, that was the first time math has ever been fun,’” Mark says. “We evaluate, educate and validate.”

Mathnasium is open Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and from 9 to noon on Saturday. Mark says Friday appointments for evaluations can be made at any time.  Mark says Mathnasium is “a very low-cost alternative to other tutors and learning centers.”

For more information, call 572-6284.

Highlight provided courtesy of The Valley Journals; written by Josh McFadden.

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