The more I talk to parents of middle schoolers, the more I am convinced that it is really important for Math foundation concepts to be really strong. The first grade teacher is doing a great job. However, the curriculum does not seem challenging enough. We have tried teaching our six year old more than what's covered in school. But, given that we are two working parents, it is hard to maintain regularity. So, I looked into a couple of Math tutoring options. One was Math Sqaured in Saratoga. It is very reasonably priced - around 100$ a month. They test the student initially, and place the kid at some grade level. Kids go the center once or twice a week. At each meeting, they do seven pages of a workbook at the center, and then seven more at home. The workbook presents Math concepts in visually appealing ways. The other place I checked out was Mathnasium in Campbell. It is run by a person who has a doctorate in engineering. This place charges twice as much as the Math Squared place. However, the teacher-student ratio seemed much better - as far as I could see, barely 1-3 students per instructor. Here again, the kid is tested to see his or her grasp of concepts. After our son's test, we got a detailed report of his performance on specific concepts. For instance, we realized this multiplication concepts needed some reinforcing. I was very impressed with this place. Just have to make a decision of whether it is necessary given that we are capable of teaching the same concepts, and when we have so many free resources on the Web. However, children do sometimes take things more seriously when it is an external authority to whom they are answerable. :) Maybe, we will use them over the summer.
Mathnasium in Campbell -
http://www.mathnasium.com/campbell
Math Squared in Saratoga -
http://www.m2math.com/
