My daughter struggled with Math in 7th grade, we brought her to Mathnasium in Ravenswood where they did an assessment to determine what her issues were. The assessment tool was comprehensive in breadth but only asked a few questions in each area. However, this tool was spot on. She had many 'holes' in her understanding that greatly impacted her ability to progress in math. Based on the results of her assessment, a plan was developed with a series of activities to address her deficit areas and to allow her to practice math skills following a logical scope and sequence. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on functional math skills. The approach is logical and as my daughter said "it just makes sense".
This is not direct tutoring,instead the students are assigned individual activities to address their areas of need and progress in their understanding of math concepts and principles. Support is available in the form of floating instructors. Based on my observations, and my daughters reports, these instructors are excellent. Depending on the content, my daughter works independently or with an instructor. Assignments are graded for accuracy while she is at Mathnaisum. New work is added when prior sections are finished. Progress reports are emailed monthly and instructors are available for questions or comments. Prizes are available for completing milestones (surprisingly motivating for her). My daughter has occasionally had some assistance with homework at the facility although this doesn't always fit exactly with her individualized plan. This speaks to the ability of the instructors to explain content clearly.
My daughter went from a C/B- to an A/ A+. Her scores are consistently good and she has performed well in standardized tests. This is not a test prep facility, she improved because she now is fluent on the fundamental math skills that she struggled with before. Her confidence with the subject has improved significantly.
The only issue I have with the facility is the hours, I wish they were open later on the weekends and week nights but we make it work. Each visit is only one hour, my daughter needed at least 3 visits per week to start seeing progress. It is costly but we consider it money very well spent. We don't even have to argue to get her to go and do math for an hour on a Saturday- can't complain about that! read more