Mathnasium offers a new way to get kids to understand math

Towhid Islam came into his new career by chance. He was looking for a place to get his daughter some help with math when during an internet search up popped Mathnasium.

The business, which offers instruction in math for schoolchildren, helped his child, then a third –grader, from struggling to comprehend the subject into a straight-A sixth-grader. That impressed him so much he wanted to open his own Mathnasium.

Mathnasium of Dexter is owned and operated by Towhid Islam who is seen here with tutors Wendy Russell of Dexter and Karen Uhlenbrauck of Grass Lake. The business opened in mid-November in the Dexter Crossing shopping center.
Photo: Heritage Newspapers 

Islam had been in the IT field for many years, but the industry was turning south in the region and he began to look for other opportunities. From seeing the success he had with Mathnasium, he looked into joining the company.

He achieved that goal last month when the Ann Arbor man opened his business at 7061 Dexter-Ann Arbor Road in the Dexter Crossing Shopping Center. The business is now looking to help area children from grades 4 through 12 with their math issues.

Mathnasium is the outgrowth of California resident Larry Martinek’s work with his own son and helping him understand math better. Martinek, himself a high school math teacher began taking notes on what approaches worked with his son.

Those notes became a training manual for parents and eventually Mathnasium. Martinek partnered with two other businessmen and began to franchise the stores. The company has more than 500 stores worldwide, but mostly in the United States.

Islam described Mathnasium as a gymnasium for the mind. The centers, as the store is called, hires tutors who work with children using systems Martinek developed.

The system shows students how to use different approaches to solve math problems. There are tests and games that help the kids succeed at math and learning. As the children complete the various levels, they earn rewards for their efforts.

“They play math games,” Islam said. “They do warm-up and wind down activities.”

Islam’s daughter was hesitant at first, but soon turned around due the fun she had at the Ann Arbor location.

Students are assessed to see where the problem is and then a program is developed to correct the situation. Most of the problems students have are they did not comprehend math lessons given when they were younger.
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Additional resources

Photo: Mathnasium: Math Tutoring & Learning Centers

Mathnasium: Math Tutoring & Learning Centers
Mathnasium (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Source: Heritage Newspapers