When the state changed over to Common Core, my daughter was going into 4th grade. The new standards were applied differently for grades. Ideas that were previously taught in 4th grade, were now going to be taught in 3rd grade. At the time I didn't realize the change and the teachers she had didn't inform me that there would be gaps due to this change. My daughter, who previously had loved math and got A's, went down to C's that year and then started dragging the next years. I thought it was due to her not wanting to do homework. I had no idea that she was working blind because Common Core changed not just when subjects were taught but also how they were taught. Her grades continued to plummet and we were all frustrated as she was barely making D's. It wasn't until mid year in 7th grade talking with her teacher I found out how bad the gaps were. That day, I made my appointment with Mathnasium. Rachel was fantastic and worked with me and a payment schedule to include assessments. We decided on a 6 month contract and reevaluate my daughter's progress at the end.
What I liked:
-My daughter liked going. She was enjoying it and the incentives really had her working towards goals.
-Rachel was terrific! She was very easy to communicate with and open to discussing any issues that came up.
-The schedule was incredibly flexible. I never had a problem getting the time I was looking for
-Half the session could be spent on tutoring her homework. My daughter wasn't exclusively tied to the "plan" her assessment gave. This allowed her to learn as she was filling in gaps.
What could be improved:
-The online scheduling is clunky and awkward. There must be a better system.
What I loved:
-My daughter saw almost immediate improvement in not just her grades but also her attitude toward math. One month into the program and her grades when from nearly failing to high B's/low A's. 2 months and she was achieving A's. At the end of 6 months, she is now succeeding in math again and no longer dreads it. She is all A's in Math so far this year and it is the first homework she gets done now.
I am not going to lie, this is expensive. For us, however, we decided the investment was worth it to get our daughter back on a successful path. If in the future, issues raise their head, we will be back. read more