Math Essentials Tutoring: Marvelous Math

When I don’t know all of the core vocabulary of a subject or how to use the facts and information that I do know skillfully and fluently, I can become discouraged and think there must be a problem with me as a learner. If I am rushed into applying imperatives the teacher gives, before I have had a chance to explore, play with, and discover the marvelous beauty of math and its consistent patterns, then I quickly loose interest in trying.

However, when I get to explore, play with, and discover the marvels of math, in addition to receiving explicit and incremental instruction in the facts and am able to use them consistently to practice the skills, I become confident that mastery can be achieved.

My goal for each Math Essentials “graduate” is for the student to leave knowing that they have grasped the foundational facts, have mastered the essential skills, and have internalized math’s discoverable patterns through playing, building, and recording with rods and other engaging manipulatives. This knowledge and experience leads to a new mindset about math: one of excitement, wonder, and confidence.

LOCATION, SCHEDULE, AND COST:

I teach Math Essentials: Marvelous Math in the learning space in my home in the Beverly Hills area of Huntington, WV. (Please note, we have indoor cats.)

Marvelous Math classes are provided in 90-minute sessions. Each session is $60 (plus state and local taxes). I require parents to sign up their student and pay for 10 sessions initially. After that, additional sessions can be purchased (if desired). The next group of 10 sessions of Math Essentials will begin the middle of March and run through the end of May.

HOW TO REGISTER:

Before signing up for Math Essentials tutoring, I require a Meet and Greet. This is a free, no obligation chance for you and your child to meet me, the learning space, and the curriculum.

If we both decide that Math Essentials is the right next step for your child, I’ll ask you to fill in a Registration Form and sign a Parent Agreement.

Payment for the first 10 tutoring sessions is due 1 week before tutoring begins. (NOTE: I am an approved Hope Scholarship Educational Service Provider. You can find me in the Marketplace by searching “Amy’s Learning Nest.”)

I’m accepting inquires for new Math Essentials tutoring students starting in January 2025. Contact me today to set up a Meet and Greet and discuss scheduling options.

“Independence and a mental curiosity…powerfully fostered from the very beginning.”

“Nor is there the least fear that your child will become dependent upon the rods. The very opposite is the case, for they enable him to gain independence and a mental curiosity that are the marks of the truly mathematical mind—and this is powerfully fostered from the very beginning.”

—Caleb Gattegno in Now Johnny Can Do Arithmetic: A Handbook on the Use of Colored Rods

“Some students construct ideas quite well with little guidance…other students need more direct guidance.”

“To genuinely understand mathematical ideas, students must construct these ideas for themselves as they intentionally try to make sense of situations; their success in constructing the meaning of new mathematical ideas is determined by their preexisting knowledge and types of reasoning and by their commitment to making personal sense of those ideas….Some students construct ideas quite well with little guidance other than well-chosen sequences of problems; other students need more direct guidance, sometimes in the form of explicit description.”

— Michael Battista in Reasoning and Sense Making in the Mathematics Classroom