Jamie Gass

7 Tools to Keep Your Child Engaged in Math During COVID-19

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by Jamie Gass
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Schools and school districts across Massachusetts are struggling (some more than others) to adjust to online learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Below are some proven resources (in no particular order) that every parent can and should make use of now and well beyond COVID-19.

Kumon

Japan-based Kumon currently serves 4.2 million students at nearly 25,000 learning centers in 50 countries and regions.  The company has 45 Massachusetts locations, 19 of which are within route 128. Kumon students start as early as age three and can continue until they complete the program, which means mastering high school-level math, including differential equations.  Students master a series of sequential worksheets, each one slightly more challenging than its predecessor. Independent learning and building self-confidence are priorities.  After completing a placement test, each student begins at a level at which she or he would have little difficulty.  They proceed through the worksheets at their own pace, going to the Kumon Center twice a week and completing other work at home.

Russian School of Math

Newton, Massachusetts-based Russian School of Math (RSM) serves 25,000 students in 40 locations across 11 states and Canada, including 15 Massachusetts municipalities. RSM believes in starting students young.  RSM students attend weekly classroom sessions that range between 90 minutes and 2.5 hours, depending on the student’s grade level.

See Pioneer’s report and video (below) on these two programs for more information. 

 

Singapore Math, Inc.

The Singapore math method was originally developed for Singapore public schools, and introduced in the U.S. in 1998. The method, adopted around the world over the past twenty years, focuses on mastery through intentional sequencing of concepts. Some of the key features of the approach include the CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) progression, number bonds, and bar modeling.

 

Book: Russian math puzzles

A popular puzzle book published in Russia in 1956, this book offers a wide assortment of brainteasers. The Amazon description notes, “Lavishly illustrated with over 400 clear diagrams and amusing sketches, this inexpensive edition of the first English translation will offer weeks or even months of stimulating entertainment.”

 

 

Book: My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles

A selection of 70 top brain teasers for those seeking to challenge their problem-solving skills, by Martin Gardner, author for over two decades of the Mathematical Games column for Scientific American on short math problems or puzzles.

 

 

Dover Recreational Math series

This series uses recreational mathematics — problems, puzzles and games — to teach students how to think critically.

 

 

Khan Academy math

Khan Academy is a rich resource for students to learn at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. Their math exercises offer guidance from kindergarten to calculus using adaptive technology that identifies strengths and learning gaps.

 

 

Do YOU have suggestions for keeping children engaged while they’re at home? Share them in the comments section below. 

Get Our COVID-19 News, Tips & Resources!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Related content:

Supply Chains Understood: Covid’s Global Demand Stress Test

https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/chtbl.com/track/G45992/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/1148317750-pioneerinstitute-hubwonk-ep-78-supply-chains-understood-covids-global-demand-stress-test.mp3 This…

CRPE’s Robin Lake on COVID School Closures & Learning Loss

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), a non-partisan research and policy analysis organization developing transformative, evidence-based solutions for K-12 public education.

Prof. Raymond Arsenault on the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides & Civil Rights

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Gerard Robinson and Cara Candal talk with Raymond Arsenault, the John Hope Franklin Professor of Southern History at the University of South Florida, and author of several acclaimed and prize-winning books on civil rights, including Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. He shares how he became interested in researching, writing, and teaching about the Civil Rights Movement.

Study: After Years of Steady Increases, Homeschooling Enrollment Rose Dramatically During COVID

After steadily increasing for years, the number of parents choosing to homeschool their children skyrocketed during the pandemic, and policy makers should do more to acknowledge homeschooling as a viable option, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

ASU’s Julie Young, Virtual Schooling Pioneer, on Digital Learning during COVID-19

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-host Cara Candal talks with Julie Young, ASU Vice President of Education Outreach and Student Services, and Managing Director of ASU Prep Academy and ASU Prep Digital. They discuss the implications of COVID-19’s disruption of American K-12 education and the future of digital learning.

UChicago’s Dr. Leon Kass on Genesis, Exodus, & Reading Great Books

This week on “The Learning Curve," guest co-host Jason Bedrick and co-host Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Leon Kass, MD, the Addie Clark Harding Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kass describes the important pieces of wisdom and humanity people today can still learn from reading the Book of Genesis, the topic of his 2003 work, The Beginning of Wisdom.

“America Today is on Bended Knee” – 20th Anniversary of 9/11 – 20 Resources for Parents & Students

The heroic stories of 9/11 are part of our national consciousness and memory. It’s the duty and obligation of the living and those who survived to pass along this history to the next generation. As Americans mourn the events of 20 years ago, while in the midst of another national crisis during COVID-19, let’s recommit ourselves to teaching students and the younger generation about seminal events like 9/11 that still shape our world today. To support this effort, we’re offering a variety of resources to help parents, teachers, and high school students.

NYT Best Seller Dr. Kate Clifford Larson on Fannie Lou Hamer & the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Kate Clifford Larson, a New York Times best-selling biographer of Harriet Tubman and Fannie Lou Hamer. Kate shares why she has written about these historical African-American figures, and how she thinks parents, teachers, and schools can draw on their lives to talk about race.