Math scares me. Always has. But the living nightmare was when my son brought home his Grade two math workbook and I couldn’t figure out one of the problems. I spent 15 minutes bending my brain until the answer finally popped out. But this is Grade Two work!! What happens when my kids are in Grade Five? I panicked like I did before a high school math exam.
A the time I was contemplating my math illiteracy, I received an invite from a tutoring facility called Light in the Attic who were hosting a seminar on improving how kids learn math. The lecture was being given by the highly respected mathematician and author of “The End of Ignorance”, Dr. John Mighton, who is developing groundbreaking methods for teaching math.
The class room was filled with parents and teachers who hung on John’s every word as he explained his JUMP Math program. His passion for teaching and numbers made the topic come alive for us.
John shared research which shows we learn by creating new neural pathways. The only way to build these is through repetition. In other words, practice, practice and more practice - is the only method to absolutely drive a concept home so it becomes part of your memory. This practice subtly rewires your brain to create new abilities – even in seniors - and is one of the basic principles of the JUMP Math philosophy.
In each of the workbooks Mighton creates, he starts a chapter by going back to what the student has been taught in the previous one. By doing this, he consolidates what the student has already learned and builds confidence.
Next, John headed to the chalkboard to quiz us on Grade Three fractions. Initially we were yelling out answers to the first few questions, but soon, many of us were out of our depth. John slowed down and showed us different ways to see the problem and was able to move on to more difficult examples.
But I got lost along the way, and that’s when I had my epiphany – I needed math tutoring! So after the lecture I signed up for a series of weekly hour long JUMP math training sessions with Light in the Attic Learning.
David and Dinah Laredo, both public school teachers by day, are the owners of this innovative tutoring facility. When I approached them for some lessons, they loved the novel idea of teaching a mom.
My first session with David was spent plowing through an hour long standardized test. It ended with a head throbbing headache from the mental heavy lifting. After correcting my test, to my great surprise, David tells me I’m at a Tenth Grade math level. I could have fainted. Did I really have all that math knowledge? And if so, why did I suck?
Following the JUMP program method, David began our lessons focusing on the basics of fractions. My homework for the week entailed coloring in variety of pies and pizzas into pieces. My seven year old son was clearly amused by my choice of night time activity.
The next week was more challenging. With my confidence building, David helped wipe the cobwebs out of this old brain to remind me how to add, subtract and find common denominators with mixed fractions. Slowly, it started coming back to me. With a rush of adrenaline, I started to feel in control of the numbers, rather than the other way around. Again I was sent home with work – 20 pages to be exact.
Session three - David felt I was ready to dive into algebra. I started to sweat. X’s and Y’s danced on the page, making no sense to me. David patiently tried to apply these algebraic puzzles to real life. And then something clicked, and I was able to decipher this mathematical language. Suddenly, these problems became brain teasers and I wanted to play! Once again I was sent home with my workbooks, to reinforce what I learned in class.
And then we broke for summer holiday.
But it’s not over. I’m committed to upping my math skills at Light in the Attic. And in doing so, I’m showing my kids that math can be a blast if you “JUMP” in with both feet.
To learn more about Jump Math visit
http://jumpmath.org/parents.
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