Our daughter loves going to Mathnasium and is always excited to attend. This is a huge reversal…read morefrom her prior experience at a prior after-school math program, which left her uninterested and feeling ignored. She loves the tutors at the Laurelwood center and frequently tells us all about how much fun she has had with them. We also appreciate the relative similarity between Mathnasium's curriculum and that of the local public schools. This helps the kids either practice what they're learning at school, or if they get ahead of their grade level, use their school work as a reinforcement for things learned at Mathnasium.

Before my daughter started at Mathnasium, she did not like math. There were gaps with her math…read moreskill and understand that I just don't know how to fill them. When my daughter started with Mathnasium, Angie knows exactly how and what area to focus on. A detail plan was given and surly my daughter progress beautifully. With just two hours a week for the past year, my daughter is all caught up and started to enjoy math. The best part is there is no homework and I no longer need to figure out which and why a particular area in math is troublesome for my daughter. My daughter tells me that she "needs" to go to Mathnsaium otherwise, math does not make sense for her. I highly recommend it and could not be happier.

My Child went RSM San Mateo for more than 5 years and the experience was great…read more One of the greatest benefits of Russian math schools is their emphasis on problem-solving skills. They teach students how to think logically and critically, which helps them not only in math but overall in all aspects of life. The curriculum is challenging and rigorous, but students are provided with all the support they need to succeed. Teachers go above and beyond to help students understand difficult concepts and provide individualized attention when needed. The atmosphere of San Mateo RSM is also a positive aspect. Students are encouraged to collaborate with one another, and teachers foster a sense of community in the classroom. Any student can take homework help . This creates a supportive environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and sharing their ideas. San Mateo Russian math schools are an excellent choice for students who want to excel in mathematics. Ms. Armine and Ms. Kseniya were excellent and my child enjoyed both of their classes very much ! We recommend this Math curriculum , to students from all math background.

I'm a little bit torn about this place. Our daughter started here in first grade and just entered…read morefourth. RSM attempts to provide kids with a thorough understanding of mathematical concepts (much more than our kids' public school) and challenges them with advanced topics. In the third grade honors class, material included full on algebra, systems of equations, early geometry, and multi-step word problems. Each topic is viewed from multiple lenses. There are graphical and symbolic representations, traditional step-by-step problem solving, and derivations / proofs / logic -- but delivered in a relatively age appropriate way. Every week, there are 1-2 homework problems meant to conceptually challenge the kids. It is not uncommon for me (and my multiple engineering degrees) to have to pause and really think before attempting to guide our child on how to approach something. I've also gotten some problems straight up wrong and had to rethink them. :) Our eldest is a perfectionist and hates not knowing the answer. She prefers having a rote method (e.g. PEMDAS) and answer attached to every problem. RSM is a huge challenge for her personality type, but I think it's also built a lot of resilience in her over time. Our younger child is more carefree and loves puzzles. Although he just started in the first grade class, we can already tell that it's going to be an easier fit. There is a good amount of homework, which I know some educators and researchers do not approve of. The homework is also hard, and parent support is likely necessary. Alternatively, the San Mateo center offers hours when kids can drop in for homework help. We've also had mixed experiences with the instructors. Our daughter has had three different instructors so far which have garnered the following ratings: love, like, and I-have-no-idea-what-she's-talking-about. During the few months when we had the poor instructor, our daughter was not learning, couldn't do her homework, and cried. It was tough. Luckily, it didn't last for long (but note that this instructor is still there!). Overall, I don't regret enrolling our kids in RSM and will continue to do so. They learn a ton and develop a much more well-rounded understanding of numbers than public school provides. The work is hard, though.

We are incredibly happy with our experience at Huntington Learning Center. Our first grader was…read morestruggling with reading and I felt lost in terms of how best to support her. She just couldn't seem to focus and was falling behind. In the 4 months since we started, I have seen great improvement in reading skills, but most importantly, an increase in her confidence and reading is less of a battle with us. She is happy to be there, loves her tutor, and most importantly, enjoys reading. More recently we have had to switch to online tutoring given the Shelter-in-place order. I was very worried that our successes would come to a halt. It took some adjusting but the tutors and center have been creative in finding ways to keep her engaged and focused during our video sessions. We have our good days and our not so good days when my daughter is less engaged, but the best is when she tells her sister about how fun Huntington is.

Our granddaughter has been going to Huntington since second grade. She is currently in third grade…read moreand we have seen how she has improved and gained confidence in her math studies. The way schools are teaching math today differs from how we learned many years ago. It can be frustrating for parents and grandparents to help with this new math. Our granddaughter likes her tutor and doesn't complain about going to tutoring and having someone else explain concepts (even though we wish the school that we pay for did a better job at this). A tutor can take the frustration away from us and our granddaughter which helps her to be more open to learning. Huntington has been flexible when a schedule change is necessary. Additionally, it is nice to see how our granddaughter has improved when we meet with Huntington for her progress reports. Admittedly, it is not inexpensive, but our hope is that it will give her the confidence and foundation to be successful in math in the future. Thank you to Geetanjali and Casey.

Updated review for the third time - I know that there are parents out there that are as concerned…read morefor their children's education as I was. I was so concerned I pulled them out to homeschool them and I'm sure many parents today also want to give the best opportunities for their kids to learn and master academic subjects. The last time I wrote, it was two years ago and I'm happy to report that both my kids continue to do well. My son finished his sophomore year with a 4.7 GPA, and starts honors trig next year. Because he does athletics in the WCAL, he has had interest from the Ivy League schools including Yale and Cornell, and most recently some interest from Stanford. He currently has four college offers - obviously for athletics, but without a strong GPA and honors classes, the Ivies and schools like Stanford will not look twice. My daughter also has maintained her 4.0 as she's still in middle school and balances that with her athletics. I can't say that SAM math is responsible for all of it, but they did play a pivotal role in the early years of my kids, and in giving them the confidence they needed to understand fundamentals of math. You cannot go wrong with the way Singapore math is taught. Do your research! Rather than having math be a stumbling block for my kids, it was interesting and fun. And when something is fun, kids don't mind doing it. Part of that fun is that they would have a lot of time to questions and the program was tailored to their development. When I asked my kids if they remember their SAM math days, of course, they remembered all the folks instrumental in making it fun for them. The first name they mentioned was Toro who was their last instructor, and they recalled his name the minute I mentioned SAM math. And this was years ago now. As a homeschooler, my children never did homework above and beyond what their school time was. This permitted us to have time with our family that was uninterrupted and unburdened by additional homework. Conversely, if my kids had a field trip during the day or if they had Other opportunities or events their schooling could wait until the evening, and it wasn't stressful and overwhelming. When my son was in kindergarten, it would be so hard to get him to do his homework because he was absolutely mentally done by 3pm. So with the Singapore math in their early years, followed by Beast Academy from the Art of problem solving, it was definitely enough to prepare them for algebra one in eighth grade. Once again, best wishes to all you parents on this journey to educate your kids. I wish you the same peace of mind and empowerment on your journey to create some mathematical animals!

We brought our elder son here over 6 years ago so to reading and math and Fran and staff were…read morewonderful on helping him get up to speed in both subjects. Fast forward to today and we were so excited to see Fran again and enroll our youngest here in both reading and math. We are very appreciative of the one on one and tailored tutoring the kids received and the family atmosphere the staff creates. Highly recommend

I can honestly say that my kids have grown so much in math because of Fran and this Kumon San Mateo…read moreteam. I have 2 kids who have gone up to higher level math and both can honestly say they wanted to continue because it was helping them so much. Fran is patient and so great with each student. She knows how to teach different levels and does so well reading each students learning style. My kids confidence in math was so important during this tender age of other pressures. I had recommended to friends who are also so happy there. They say in their own words "Ms. Fran is great". I highly recommend Kumon San Mateo

I have 2 kids attending UP Academy and they love the school!…read more My older son used to struggle in a public school with math and writing. 3 years ago, at 2nd grade, we transferred him to UP Academy, and, within a few months, he has become a lil writer. He fell in love with writing. He wrote one full-page of very a fun story. I can't thank you enough to all the educators there. Since then until now, he always happy every morning that he gets to go to school. He loves the community there and the small-sized class makes him feel like a part of the community. My younger one started last year as a kindergartner. He loves his teachers and his friends. He learned a lot academically and socially. We love how UP academy teaches kids by their own paces. Thus, our kids get challenged throughout the year. If you are looking for a project-based learning, a place where you child can build confidence and empathy, small class sized, great community, and personalized learning, UP Academy is the place for your kids.

We love UP Academy!…read more My older one went to the school since 2nd grade (now 3rd grader), and my younger one since TK (K now). The school is relatively new (2.5 years old) but our kids attended since 2 years ago. We are happy with the school in the full two years. ***Strength** We love the super low teacher-student ratio, the differentiation of learning. We also love the mixed-age classes, that allow kids to grow and thrive not limited by grade but by the their own levels. The school focused on growth mindset and recognize the efforts and progress. We also love the focus on project-based learning and social-emotion learning. The school also offers foreign languages classes, Chinese/Mandarin and Spanish. This might be a good plus for some families. We love that. We also appreciate the schools offer afterschool extension to 6pm as well. This is very helpful for parents who are both working. The school builds a great community. Teachers that we experienced - which means all teachers since we have two kids there for two years - are all very caring. Kids love each of them. The founder has an amazing vision inspired by a strong why. We love the philosophy, the vision & mission of the school. ***Potential concerns some families may have*** - Small school space: As a micro school, the school space is small - basically an office building only. But with various field trips and outdoor learning opportunities, especially during the pre-pandemic era, we don't have any concern at all. There's indoor facility for exercise, and kids love it. - Small class size For some parents, the small class size might be another concern for social issues. However, I appreciate this a lot since it also means great individual attention from teachers. Every kid can develop his/her own learning plan, academically and socially. We particularly appreciate the small size of the school during the pandemic time. A small class makes us feel safe to send kids to school in person during pandemic, knowing that the school is small and our kids could still learn and socialize safely in person with the COVID precautions that bigger schools may not be able to offer. The school remains open in 2020-2021 school year with the waiver. I believe it's heathier for kids to interact in person than virtually on Zoom anyways. - New school This is a progressive lab elementary school, and yes it's pretty new. We've seen the school evolving in the past two years, and overall towards a even better direction. I do encourage families to experience the school themselves during the trial-out days. We did so before we transferred our kids from a good public school in the following school year. Kids loved Up Academy so much that we made the decision right after they experienced the school. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we've ever made. Overall, we love the school and highly recommend the school to other families.

Overall, we've had a positive experience with Kumon Foster City. The staff is friendly and…read moresupportive, and we appreciate the structured learning environment and consistent approach to building students' skills and independence. One concern, however, is accessibility. The center is located on the second floor, and the staircase appears to be the only way to access it. This setup does not seem to adequately accommodate individuals with families (e.g., a younger sibling) or others who may have difficulty using stairs. I hope the center will consider ways to improve accessibility so the program is more inclusive and welcoming to all families.

We love this Kumon center. We have been attending for two years and the program has really helped…read moreour boys become master readers. Mr. Kwok was a fabulous teacher and owner. When he retired, Ms. Melitta took over as the new owner and is equally wonderful. We saw marked improvement even within the first 4 months of our signing up and have continued to see huge strides. Even the boys' school teachers have commented positively at their abilities thanks to the extra "schooling". This particular center has the best hours, they are open multiple days a week and on Saturdays!!! The latter was what made the program do-able for us. This center also has a very fun rewards program that seems to incent our boys in just the right way. We are grateful to Kumon of Foster City for helping our family in such an amazing way. We highly recommend Kumon of Foster City and Ms. Melitta, the owner and main teacher.

My son attended 3-5th grade and my daughter is finishing up kindergarten at Stepping Stone. We…read morehighly recommend the program and appreciate the additional enrichment activities offered (eg, art, chess, abacus) and responsiveness of the staff. They also coordinate with Heart Beat Dance Academy to get kids to dance classes.

My son just started Kindergarten this fall. We needed afterschool care arrangements and preferred…read moreMandarin enrichment as part of that equation. We feel very fortunate to find Stepping Stone as the solution. I attended mandarin weekend school as a child and they taught in the very traditional methods (rote memory, writing pages of characters, etc). I detested going to chinese school. Fortunately, this is not the case at all at SSEA. The teachers are kind, encouraging, motivating and age appropriate. They sing songs, play games, the teachers and children are happy, smiling. The students are well behaved and enjoying their days and LEARNING! SSEA provides pick up from various schools in Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood Shores. They also offer enrichment classes for abacus, art, chess, and piano (keyboard). This solves so many things for us so we don't have to fill up our weekends with these things. While I appreciate that the elementary schools offer Spanish as part of their standard curriculum, I felt it was important to provide the mandarin language learning to my ABC son. I'm sure at this rate his Mandarin will exceed my skills soon. I'm excited to have a "secret" language to share with him. My son LOVES going to chinese school, he's interested in learning more mandarin, and we're all grateful for a caring and effective chinese school in our area. Thank you Stepping Stone!