Check out how intense and focused these girls are. Boys better watch out for these inspired young ladies.

Also, special thanks to Chelsea Rapp for her volunteering to share her experiences as a woman in a science field. She was inundated with great questions from these girls.

We have one IGNITE event left this spring — May 11th in New Albany.
View details and Register

One good thing about the Common Core is that is forcing a reevaluation of what math we teach and who we teach it. After reviewing the standards carefully, I believe the Common Core is a move in the right direction. I also see it as an opportunity for to fix what’s been wrong with mathematics education for quite some time. Of course, with that opportunity, there will be numerous challenges.

The Good

The Common Core standards do two very important, positive things (beyond providing consistent standards across the country – with the exception of a five states who have yet to adopt the standards).

In my opinion, the biggest win is the enumeration of the “Standards of Mathematical Practice”. They provide a framework for how mathematics should be learned and the behaviors that we should look for in students independent of their skill in any one particular content area. Honestly, if teachers simply focus on these, I believe mathematics education can improve by leaps and bounds. My only minor quibble is I think it could have been simplified to just the first three:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively
3. Model with mathematics (apply math to solve problems arising in daily life)

Secondly, the standards cover fewer mathematical concepts in each grade and they require students to demonstrate a much deeper understanding of each concept. The biggest problem with the old standards was that they were a “mile wide and an inch deep”. Common Core is an excellent first step in fixing that issue. With the old standards, many teachers were forced to rush through topics and many students survived by just memorizing facts and algorithms without making the connections needed to truly be successful in mathematics. Now, our children will have the opportunity to develop much better number sense and understanding of how math works.

The Challenge that Lies Ahead

Implementation of the standards will be the key. How will we train teachers to implement these new standards? In elementary school, especially, this will require teachers to develop a much deeper understanding of mathematics. The unfortunate truth is an alarming number of elementary teachers lack a deep enough understanding of math to pull off teaching to the new standards. Teachers also need to allow students to have their own mathematical discussions which can sometimes be scary when you aren’t confident in your own math knowledge.

For gifted students, it remains to be seen how teachers and schools will support their need to be challenged.

The Impact on Math Plus Academy’s Curriculum

For Math Plus Academy, the Common Core Standards serve as an affirmation of our philosophy from day one to focus on core mathematical content and help students develop and understanding of math and not just teach them to memorize facts and algorithms. I believe the Standards for Mathematical Practice are very well aligned with the mathematical culture that we’ve always tried to foster.

At the end of each year, our teachers and curriculum development team sit down to review each and every lesson. We replace the least effective lessons, re-order the lessons in the most meaningful way, and incorporate new ideas and techniques. We are always on the lookout for better ways to teach math, better ways to explain how things work, and more effective ways to ensure each student learns to think. This year will be no different as we make any adjustments needed to stay at least one step ahead.

Unfortunately, no one tells us to do the same for numeracy because getting a head start on numeracy skills has also been shown to pay long-term dividends. Instead of finding ways to immerse kids in hands-on mathematical experiences, parents often get workbooks or flashcards and use them to make kids memorize “math facts”. This would be like trading in nightly “reading time”, for studying the dictionary. Our children would hate that! And yet, that’s exactly what we do to math — reduce it to textbooks and drills.

Games are to Math as Books are to Reading

The one thing you should be doing as a pro-active parent is to play games with your children. This is as much true for pre-schoolers as it is for middle schoolers.

By playing games, you help children develop mathematical thinking skills naturally without turning math into a chore.

Games provide tons of benefits
* They are fun for the whole family
* They are interactive and collaborative
* They involve problem solving, critical thinking, and estimation, and arithmetic skills
* They take the pressure out of math

Which Games are the Best?

Almost any game you can think of requires strategy, spatial reasoning, and pattern recognition — all skills that are vital to excellence in mathematics.

Even a “word game” like Scrabble involves tons of mathematical thinking like where to place the tiles to maximize your score or placing tiles to prevent your opponent from high scores.

Some favorites include: Blokus, Qwirkle, SET, Swish, and Chocolate Fix.

Simple games your kids will love.

1. Shut the Box (for ages 3 – 7)

This is a simple game, but it is a lot of fun and can be played anywhere. All you need are some dice and a pencil and paper. It also allows for numerous variations as your child’s math skills develop. Download Shut The Box rules (PDF)

2. Break the Code (for ages 5 – 12)

A numerical version of the classic, Mastermind that develops logic and reasoning skills. One player makes a secret numerical code and the other tries to break the code. Download Break the Code Game Board and Rules (PDF).

3. Math War (for ages 4 – 12)

Take the card game war and adapt it to math. This develops mathematical fluency without flashcards are worksheets.

Two players divide a deck of cards in half. On each turn, each player flips two cards performs a math operation on them, highest scores wins all four cards. Repeat until one player has all the cards.
Addition war: add the two cards
Subtraction war: subtract smaller card from larger
Multiplication war: multiply the two cards together
Fraction war: smaller card is the numerator and larger card is the denominator. Largest fraction wins.

Need Help to Build Your Child’s Love of Math?

Schedule a complimentary assessment today. We’ll assess your child and tell you which of our enrichment classes or summer camps will suit your child best. (Assessments are no cost and no obligation).

Schedule a Complimentary Assessment Today!

With today’s technology, everyone has access to the same information. So, what will make you stand out from the crowd isn’t what you know, but whether or not you can apply it. Can you use facts to create logical arguments? Can you connect ideas together to form new solutions? Can you analyze complex data to develop new understandings?

As educators, it’s our responsibility to change what we’ve been doing and give kids opportunities to practice applying what they know. At Math Plus Academy, that’s exactly what our “Brain Builder” programs are designed to do.

Our Brain Builder Courses Develop Real-World Skills

In our Brain Builder programs, students create their own computer programs, build and experiment with LEGO robots that accomplish real-world tasks, and develop students’ critical thinking skills through chess and Math Olympiads.

All of our Brain Builder courses offer hands-on, minds-on experiences that go beyond just learning facts and allow kids to apply what they know to the world around them.
Brain Builders include LEGO engineering, LEGO robotics, Computer Programming, Chess, and Math Olympiads.
Each of these courses have several benefits including:

• Improving real world problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Developing teamwork and social skills as kids work in groups to solve problems.
• Building confidence when kids see their ideas come to life.

Not to mention, they are just plain fun!

Check out our Brain Builder Offerings this Spring

This spring we are offering introductory LEGO robotics and computer programming classes as well as chess club. You can see the details here

Give us a call at 614-792-6284 and we will be happy to help you find the best experiences for your child’s interests and long-term success.

Afterwards, the girls attended three one-hour sessions engaged in robotics, programming and math activities. As she was leaving, Dhriti Gada, a Math Plus Academy student who attended the event said, “It wasn’t just fun, it was LOTS of fun!”. That sentiment was shared by all in attendance.

Dr. Michelle Corridi kicked off the event with an inspirational talk to show young girls that they can achieve anything they set their minds to, even in fields where men tend to dominate. Dr. Corridi’s message — Work hard, Do What You Love, and Be Yourself.

After the talk, the 30 girls in attendance got a taste of math, robotics and computer programming. Many girls had never explored robotics or computer programming before and they absolutely loved it. You can see these young girls totally engrossed in learning about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

This is just the first step in showing girls that math and science aren’t just for boys. We will be hosting another sold-out IGNITE event in New Albany on Saturday Jan 12. We will be announcing more events like this very soon. Join our mailing list to get up to date information.

If you have a daughter that would love to learn computer programming and LEGO robotics, you can sign up for our 12 week courses which start February 2nd. Check Schedule and Enroll Online

NBC4 showed up to document the event.

There is an excellent article in USA Today on women in engineering that is a must-read for parents of young girls.

On thing is very clear, we need to get girls interested in math, science, technology and engineering in elementary and middle school. If they start later, they can suffer from negative peer pressure, lack of role models, and stress from competing with boys that have a head start.

“The field’s stunted growth, especially for women, is rooted in education. There just aren’t enough kids weaned on the topic in high school and, before that, elementary school, says Gary May, dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech.”

“We’ve got to get kids interested in math (in grade school), and think about how we teach math to girls,” says Dorothy Nicholls, vice president of Kindle for Amazon.com.

One of the challenges girls can face if they start later in life is that many boys have a big head start.

“Many boys start programming at a young age, and for a variety of reasons, girls do not,” says Elizabeth Stark, a lecturer on Internet issues at Stanford Law School. “If they start at 18, it can be discouraging to be around people that have done it for years.”

And finally, there is a lot of value in providing girls with role models. They need to see that someone, just like them, has been through this before and come out successfully. It makes all the challenges much easier to face.

“Having role models is important,” Dorothy Nicholls says.”The problem is there aren’t enough, as there are in entertainment and sports.”

Math Plus Academy is Part of the Solution

We are doing our part to meet this challenge. Our first step was to create the IGNITE program, a girls-only event to help inspire girls in STEM. The event features a guest speaker who can serve as a role model for any girls interested in pursuing STEM fields. Following the speaker, girls get a chance to explore robotics, computer programming and math. It’s a fun event designed to help jump start an interest in STEM fields.

Following IGNITE, we will be offering Girls Only tech classes to help build a strong foundation in engineering and math at a young age.

Our goal is to get girls inspired at a young age and provide support along the way so they can fill the void and bring their unique perspective to engineering in the future.

No. 1: Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration (42%)

No. 2: Information Sciences (26%)

No. 3: Chemical Engineering (23%)
No. 4: Computer Science (22%)
No. 5: Electrical Engineering (7%)

No. 6: Mechanical Engineering (7%)
No. 7: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (17%)

No. 8: Computer Engineering (14%)
No. 9: Business Economics (30%)

No. 10: Civil Engineering (13%)

The Power of the Statistics

The power of statistical analysis that allows the news outlets to “call” states in favor of one candidate or another well before all of the votes have been counted. NBC News showed some excellent graphics of Ohio, county by county. Statisticians use all the available information to predict the outcome as soon as possible. And it is amazing to see how accurate they are.

Speaking of statisticians, Nate Silver of the New York Times, has become a star based on his predictions of the presidential election. He combined numerous polls from each state and created a predictive model that gave the odds of Obama winning prior to the election at 91%, despite the fact that most people thought the election would be a toss-up. The main reason his model could be so confident is that with the electoral college, all a candidate needs is a small lead in the battleground states to tilt the scales in their favor. In this case, Obama seemed to have a small lead in most of the states that mattered. Read more about Nate Silver here.

The Obama Team’s Superior Data Crunching Ability

The news media mentioned several times how Obama’s team had done an excellent job getting out the vote amongst the voters that would be more likely to vote for him. Turns out, they have a team of data crunchers that analyzes every bit of information they have to optimize everything from campaign fundraisers to advertising.

It’s clear that the ability to analyze and draw conclusions from large datasets is becoming more and more valuable. These are precisely the skills one gets from the study of mathematics. In fact, Money magazine just compiled a list of the best new jobs in America. Not surprisingly, most of them require expertise in math.

One of the jobs they listed is IT Data Scientist. “Tech firms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are at the heart of the big data movement. Their users are generating loads of information by the second. Turning those heaps of data into business value falls to data scientists, who apply various tools and methods to find meaningful patterns and insights in large data sets.”

“An affinity for numbers is key, as well as a command of computing, statistics, math and analytics. One can’t underestimate the importance of soft skills either. Data scientists work closely with management and need to express themselves clearly.”

This election year, it’s clear that the biggest winner of all is… mathematics.

In a subject like math it is the child’s opinion and attitude that matters most. Their words tend to have much deeper meaning too since kids will always tell you exactly what they’re thinking – good or bad. Take a look at what some of our students have said about Math Plus Academy.

• “I could stay at Math Plus forever…I love it here. I wish they taught math like this at school.” – A. B.
• “I rocked subtraction tonight! I’m a human calculator!” – N. M. on mental subtraction
• “That’s not the way I learned it in school, but I like this WAY better! It’s a lot easier!” – J. F. said this when being taught mental double digit multiplication and comparing it to the traditional algorithm
• “I love this! It’s like a workout for my brain!” – A. S. said this when completing challenge problems in class.
• “I don’t want to stop! I need to reach my goal!” – D. S. said this when his mom told him he would be stopping our classes. When she realized how important it was for him to reach his goal she made the smart decision to continue.

Can you imagine hearing your child say these things after a math class? We must be doing something right Children and parents are both thrilled with the results!

So, what are you waiting for?

Will you be the parent that hopes your child reaches their potential, hoping you can make it on your own with schoolwork and occasional worksheets and flashcards?
Or will you take action and let our experienced teachers, powerful curriculum, and fun atmosphere help your child gain confidence, increase focus and excel at math?
The choice is yours.

Request a Free Trial Today

Fall sports are over and your kids are into the school routine, there’s no more excuses not to try a class. You have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain.
Request a Free Trial Today!

The Columbus Children’s Theater presents No Dogs Allowed!

November 1st – 11th. With a cast of unique, charming and wonderfully funny characters, No Dogs Allowed is a brilliant new musical adapted from Sonia Manzano’s best-selling Children’s book of the same name.
Tickets: $11 – 21

Columbus Childrens Theatre

Kids Movie Night at Math Plus Academy in New Albany

Drop your kids off on Friday November 16th from 6:30 to 9:00pm. We will watch the movie Hugo and play games. Your kids will have a fun evening and you’ll have two and a half free hours on a Friday night (you can thank us later)! Hugo is directed by Martin Scorcese. Nominated for Best Picture in 2011 and winner of several Academy Awards. Hugo is set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. Rated PG. Popcorn, juice and water will be provided.
Tickets: $20
Learn more

Storm the castle!

Now through January 6th, builders of all ages are invited to explore, build and play in LEGO® Castle Adventure! In this exhibit, kids and their families are transported to a LEGO® kingdom where they can become master castle builders.
In LEGO Castle Adventure, visitors can build brick castles, learn about real-world castles and their building secrets, and plan their ideal castle’s defenses.
Younger visitors can dress up in costume, joust on “horseback” and explore the castle grounds. Older kids can build a virtual catapult-proof wall, then test it with our giant LEGO catapult.
Cost: $12 – 17 + $5 for parking
Free with membership
Visit COSI site

Gamesapalooza – Play games and find great gifts

Gamesapalooza only happens twice a year at each Math Plus Academy location! Children and parents can come together to learn and have fun playing new games with your favorite MPA Team Members!  You can even throw yourself into a game of Human Rush Hour! You will also have be able to purchase your favorite games just in time for the holiday season. You won’t want to miss it!

December 8th – Powell Location
December 15th – New Albany Location
Time: 1 – 3pm
Cost to attend: Free
Games range from $5.99 – $39.99
Learn more