PEDAGOGICAL VALUES

SUCCESS THROUGH FAILURE

We encourage our students to fail. That sounds funny, but it’s true. No, we don’t want them to fail their entire course in school, but we do encourage them to fail at single problems they are working on. This simply means we encourage them to try even if they feel they will get it wrong. If and when they do get a problem wrong we are there for them. We ensure them that it’s OK and we explore why it’s wrong. That’s when real learning happens.

GROWTH
​MINDSET

You don't have to be a "math person" to succeed in math, says Stanford professor Carol Dweck. Her research on "Growth Mindset" reveals that if you change your perspective on math from a fixed position to a growth mindset, then you increase your chance of success. We encourage our students to drop the words "I can't do math" from their vocabulary and say instead "in the past I haven’t been good at math” or “I’ll try” or “I can learn from my mistakes“. That’s a growth mindset.

PATTERN
RECOGNITION

We design many of our own supplementary materials to encourage students to see and learn from the patterns in math. Instead of doing one problem after another, your student will, with our help, see patterns between problems. The light bulb will go on.

INTEREST
​CONNECTIVITY

Textbooks try to connect algebra to a teenager's life, but let's face it - it's a stretch. 
The missing link?
The connections need to be made personal.  That's why we learn about your child's interests, so we can connect the subject material to those areas whenever possible.

DISCOVERY
​LEARNING

Could the Quadratic Formula be any more painful to learn? Yes, we know it is unpleasant to most students. But we make even the most distasteful topics interesting by advancing students through a discovery process of new concepts that makes learning less painful - and even fun!

SOCRATIC
​QUESTIONING

While we value the Discovery Learning approach for advancing our students through new material, we also use Socratic Questioning in retreating to a student’s foundational understanding so we can then rebuild them back up stronger. This is especially helpful in reviewing homework and going over tests they’ve taken. Socratic-style questions lead students to a deeper understanding of math and help them develop self-confidence too.

STUDENT
​INITIATION

We tutor high school students and know that they must learn independence in order to succeed in the real-world after they leave our homes in just a few years.  We push our students to take the initiative in their own learning.  We expect them to bring their own materials and questions to every session.