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Are Your Kids Bored Yet?  Believe it or not, summer is already half over. If your kids are anything like mine, the joy of school being out is wearing off and now they are searching for things to do. As a parent, this is an opportunity to introduce them to games, puzzles and activities that will keep their minds growing instead of atrophying over the summer. Over the last several years, more and more research is showing the long term benefits of puzzles in keeping the brain healthy and growing.

Here are a couple resources to get you going:

1. Try some challenging puzzle games together. One of my favorite resources is ThinkFun. They have online games you can play for free and wonderful games like Chocolate Fix, Square by Square, and Rush Hour that build reasoning, problem solving and spatial thinking skills.

2. Download some new puzzles from Indigo Puzzles. If you're ready to explore puzzles beyond Sudoku, this is a great place to start. Each new puzzle you explore gives you an opportunity to explore problem solving strategies with your child in the context of a fun.

3. Check out the challenges at FigureThis.org. Introduce one of these over dinner each day and work on them together. There are hints and solutions available in case you get stumped.

The strategies and skills your child learns at Math Monkey will make word problems a breeze next year and benefit them in math, science, reading--even life! Believe me, the sooner they master this, the better off they'll be because word problems don't go away--they turn into real life problems.

Our August Summer Camp is full but we are taking names on a waiting list! We are also holding classes Monday – Thursday from 9:30 AM to 11:45 AM and on Saturdays from 9:30 AM – 1:00PM.  Classes are 1 hour each.

Posted: 07-16-10

Posted: 07-06-10

Posted: 07-06-10

Are you doing everything you can to challenge your child academically over the summer?

Most kids just love the idea of forgetting about school during the summer months. But they may be taking that goal too literally. University of Missouri psychologist Harris Cooper finds that children typically forget between one and three months' worth of schooling during the summer. Math and spelling skills suffer the most, while reading is least affected by the break. The likely reason: Most kids read at least occasionally outside of the classroom, but often their spelling and math muscles get a workout only at school.
Tolin, Lisa (May 1, 1997). What I forgot over Summer Vacation (Electronic Version). Psychology Today.

Math Monkey can help break this pattern!

We encourage you to continue with Math Monkey classes throughout the summer. Additionally, we will offer two camps in August that will help make your student's transition from full-time fun to full-time school much easier! Camps will run August 9-13 and again from August 16 -20, 9 a.m. until 12 noon. The focus of these camps will be math, reading and a combination of science and art.   We'll have a group of 5-6 year olds and a group of 7-9 year olds.  Also we are having "math mastery" classes the week of August 9-13 for grades 1 - 6. Space is limited so enroll soon.

Additional information can be found here:

www.mathmonkey.com/Irvine

Posted: 05-15-10

 Three Secrets to Math Success
 ...... by Raj Shah, Ph.D., owner Math Monkey of Powell.
 
Third in a three part series, these suggestions will help you to encourage your child to realize that math is everywhere and a very big part of life!  
 
Secret #3

Make Math Fun!

There are innumerable ways to make math fun for kids. Remember, if it's fun, kids will embrace it and want to do more. If it isn't fun, they will find any number of creative ways to avoid it including pretending they can't do it! Here are a few simple ideas to integrate math into your home and keep it fun:

· Start a family game night. Remember to turn off all distractions, like the TV and cell phones. Use this time to play and teach. Virtually all games require logic, problem solving and basic math.  Even a word game like Scrabble requires math!
 
· Do a few brain teasers each week. Go to the library or surf the web and find some brain teasers. Challenge each other to solve them. Let your child bring some difficult word problems home from school and work on them together.
 
· Integrate math into story time. Use story books about math and integrate math into your reading time. Your local library has some great books about math.

Kids with strong math skills are more confident at school, better problem solvers, and twice as likely to graduate from college. While not every child will become a statistician, an engineer or Ph.D. in mathematics, they will all need the ability to look at a problem, come up with the an approach to solve it, and have the confidence to persist and find the solution. These are crucial skills that are learned through math.

As a long time lover of math and a research physicist, I can't tell you how much of a difference math has made in my life. I want to give our children the math skills and confidence they will need to go out and fight for the jobs they want. At Math Monkey, we teach powerful techniques that build number sense. In just one hour a week, your child will gain a greater understanding of numbers, more self-confidence and the ability to solve problems.

Now, imagine how far your kids will go when they love math...

Posted: 05-15-10

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