About Us
What does it take to succeed in Math? Ask American children, and you’ll hear, “You got to be a genius. You have to be wired for it.” If you ask children in Europe, China, India, Singapore, they will say “You have to work hard at it.” Why the difference?
I’m not sure why the difference. But I can tell you that that difference in attitude is one of the main reasons the U.S. ranks 25th out of 30 developed nations in math literacy and problem solving. (PISA 2007 report)
Hi, I’m Myrtha, and you’ve reached the parent resource blog of our Math Learning Center in Newton Highlands.
I received my math education in Singapore where it’s not an option to say, “I’m not wired for Math”. When I came to the U.S. as a college student, I was surprised that I was able to skip the first 3 semesters of college Math. Turn the clock 20 years, I graduated from MIT, worked in IT consulting for many years, got married, settled in the Garden City of Newton, MA, and now have a 5th and 7th grader in the Newton Public School system.
My desire is that my children develop a Number Sense that will serve them through life. When a child builds Number Sense, there is a deep understanding and lifelong positive attitude about mathematics. But Number Sense does not happen by accident. It is the result of a process of encounter and interaction with a specific set of concepts and skills presented in a way that makes sense to the learner.
That is the ultimate goal of our Math Learning Center: To present Math to kids in a way that makes sense to them. You see, kids don’t really hate math. What they hate is being confused, intimidated, and embarrassed by it. Over time, that turns into a negative attitude about the subject. As you know, attitude is everything. A middle school child with a negative attitude about Math is setting himself up for a painful ride through high school.
Contact us by entering the Contact Information below. We will email you our detailed information packet and send you a free trial offer. See for yourself why kids are crazy about math at our center.
Best,
Myrtha Chang, Director
