It has been about two months since we tried Mathnasium – The Math Learning Center in Laguna Niguel. My son who has special needs is in Gen Ed this year for 5th Grade and although I know he may or may never catch up, Math is his strength. What is holding him back is reading and comprehension so he struggles with word problems. It is hard for me to gauge how he is doing and where he needs to be, but as long as he is learning that is all that matters to me. I wanted to try Mathnasium to see if they can help close some of those learning gaps because they teach Math in a way to help make sense for the children, and they’re building confidence while they strengthen their math skills.

The Mathnasium Difference

• It is instructor-taught not student.
• Their instructors are experienced.
• Customized Learning Plan for each individual.
• All the materials are included.
• Walk-ins, no appointment needed.
• It is a drop off for 60 minute sessions with unlimited one hour sessions.
• It is 50% Mathnasium curriculum and 50% homework assistance.
• They provide homework help, but do not assign homework.
• It’s interactive and they will answer every question except during assessments.

They provide two one hour sessions after school with a trained professional. Unlimited plans are also available. Each Learning Plan is individualized to the needs of each child. They work on three different topics each time to help with burnout, and it also helps their long term memory. It will vary how much time they spend on homework at each center but it is recommended that they attempt homework before coming so the time at the center can be spent focusing on areas that are challenging for the student. For High Schoolers, they have options where they spend the full hour on homework help.

Using the Points for Prizes

There is a prize case upon entering the learning center. Each prize has a number of cards the children must complete to trade for the prizes. I know my kid is always looking inside them, making note of things he likes. He really doesn’t know exactly how but he knows he has to work hard each time to earn points for them. I know this because he is burning through the pages as fast as he can. Sometimes the center will get special requests for the prizes because the children has a favorite and the center will gladly order it for them. The prizes all have different numbers on them for every level. Most of the kids will save their cards to redeem for bigger prizes.

 

The kids get one stamp for every one page correctly completed. There are 20 stamps per card in Level 1. They level up after a certain amount of cards. At the end of the hour, the children can spin the wheel for extra stamps if the instructor felt they did a great job with a 4-5 Mathlete score. Scale is 1 (poor) to 5 (best). For example, they will get a 4 or 5 for showing effort, not being distracted or being disruptive.

Two Months Update

After two months, they do a partial assessment to check the child’s progress. (The full assessment is at the end of the year.) Results will vary per child. With just two months, my son went from 18% to 47%! (He should be between 30-50% and he is right on target for the year. Goal is 100% by end of the year). He worked on so many topics over the course and have already mastered some of it – adding multiple digits, subtracting multiple digits, multi-digit multiplication, division, skip counting, adding and subtracting decimal, inequality symbols, factors and multiples, order of operations, elapsed time, facts and equivalence, half/quarter of a number, naming fractions, comparing/ordering fractions, adding and subtracting like denominators, continuing patterns, value of digits, and expanded/standard form. WOW! That is only to name a few. I need to talk to my husband about it because I would like to continue for the rest of the year.

Thank you, Mathnasium, for sponsoring this post! To help you decide if Mathnasium is a good fit for your child, please call to schedule a Free Trial session. For more information, please visit their website at www.mathnasium.com.

MA+HNASIUM South County Locations:

• 27281 La Paz Rd, Laguna Niguel, CA (949) 360-6284
• 32932 Pacific Coast Hwy Suite 22, Dana Point, CA (949) 240-6284
• 1001 Avenida Pico E, San Clemente, CA (949) 481-6284