12 year old needing Conceptual Math Program
My 12 year-old child is struggling to enjoy math. She took Kumon for 3 years (we ended it a few months ago) and it taught her how to memorize but not really understand concepts. We looked at RSM and Berkeley Math Circle and they are more for children who are doing well in math and want a challenge. What classes are out there that can teach conceptual learning and to enjoy math? Thanks.
Mar 11, 2022
Parent Replies
If you are able to hire a tutor, we found Leba Morimoto very helpful for our son. This was a couple of years ago, but her 1:1 work with him was quite successful. She has a gentle manner and really loves math, which is contagious. 510.528.8224.
We homeschooled, and so I was linked into a lot of people who teach outside the regular zones. I know a mom who is a math person, who specializes in teaching the kind of math you are looking for: skills for problem solving. I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but I'm passing this along just in case. Whether or not you engage her personally, this is what she said to me when I sent her an email after seeing your post:
Well, you are asking a homeschooler here, so my advice won't be for classes. One thing she can do is work through old MOEMS problems in this book [MOEMS Contest problems Volume 3]. This will keep her skills fresh and use what she's learned in novel situations. And it's just the right level for a student how has not yet started prealgebra and algebra. If she is studying algebra, she might want to do some more challenging problems. She can also do the AoPS Beast Academy books and Beast Academy online. But it is cartoon/comic based, and I'm not sure if a 12 year old will think it's too young for her. I used Singapore Math + MOEMS for an elementary math curriculum with my kids and it was a solid preparation.
Here is info on my friend:
Vida John specializes in math curriculum published by Art of Problem Solving at all levels from Beast Academy through calculus. She prepares students for math contests, including MOEMS, Math Kangaroo, MathCounts and AMC.
Vida has coached homeschooled math teams for over 10 years, and now has both daughters attending Stanford. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and runs workshops on using math contests to build problem solving skills and prepare for college level work.
Website: https://www.vidajohntutoring.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vidajohn/
I would highly recommend Tilden Preparatory School for middle school math support and classes. My son, now a freshman, started Tilden Prep at the start of Middle School. Due to learning differences that impacted math the most, he experienced extreme anxiety about math and math classes in general. His former school had him in resource classes for math. Tilden’s learning specialist and teachers understood my son from the start and used multiple modalities of instruction to support his distinct learning style and make math understandable and even enjoyable. He’s now doing sophomore math as a freshman! I would recommend having a conversation with Dr. Hawley (Director of Special Education and enrollment) to see if Tilden would be a good fit. They offer a range of options.