Opinions, strategies and ideas based on latest research around Math and Education.
Education
Ten frame addition shows each number as counters in a 2 × 5 grid, so a child sees the total instead of counting from 1. Here's how to add with one frame, how the make a ten strategy works with two, the 10 ways to make 10, and practice that checks your child's answers.
Education
Where each program actually ends, what its maker says comes next, and the one check that tells you where your child stands at that point.
Education
Number bonds are the building block behind almost every addition and subtraction problem your child will solve in elementary school. Here's what they actually are, why schools teach them this way, and how to help at home.
Education
Six questions that tell you more about a math program than its brand name, all askable in one conversation. What each one surfaces, what a good answer sounds like, and why a non-answer is also an answer.
Education
Everyone in Fairfax watches December 15. The timeline starts in August, and two of the dates that matter most land well before December: September 30 for retakes, October 15 for students new to FCPS.
Education
Two districts open their real windows in the dead of winter: SMUHSD enrollment on December 1, Frisco's G/T referral on January 5. The exact dates, what each decides, and the trap inside each one.
Education
The enrollment window moved to December 1. What it buys, the February 5 deadline that punishes a miss, and the transcript-based math placement that follows.
Education
One window a year, closing November 30 at 4:00 pm, no exceptions. Which grades actually have openings, why the waitlist order matters more than the deadline, and the two mistakes that cost families their place.
Education
You do not need to buy anything to see what Math Kangaroo looks like. What the organizer gives away free at every level, and a plain way to use one past paper properly.
Education
A missing building block, fluency that is not there yet, or shaken confidence: three problems that look identical at the kitchen table and need different fixes.
Education
Two programs can charge the same monthly fee and sell very different things. Six questions separate a path from a set of sessions, before you pay.
Education
In 1:1 tutoring, the person is the product. Five questions that show whether a program is built for the coach staying, and what happens if change comes anyway.