Mathematics

Our approach to math values deep, conceptual understanding over rote memorization and analytical/critical thinking over algorithmic thinking. Our program also emphasizes learning through play, hands-on investigations, the use of manipulatives, and math club logic problems. We want our students to experience math as relevant, approachable, and engaging.

Some highlights of our program:

• Subject Expert Teachers: Students will be taught by talented teachers who specialize in teaching math at the elementary and middle school levels, not general education teachers.
• Leveled classes: Students will be taught in small groups split by level (not by age). Levels will cover similar topics but at varying degrees of difficulty. The pacing and depth will vary based on student ability. Stronger classes will supplement the topic with challenging Olympiad-style problems.
• Logic: In addition to 5 periods of math, students in grades K-5 will have an additional period devoted to non-standard problems, logic puzzles and hands-on toys and games. Students will be exposed to: counting principles, Fencepost problems, combinatorics, the pigeonhole principle, Venn diagrams, set theory, spatial reasoning, tiling problems, etc. To enhance learning, students will have access to manipulatives, including: Tangrams, Pentominoes, Geoblocks, Soma Cube (Кубики для всех), and Сложи Узор; games including: SET, Mastermind, Chocolate Fix, Rush Hour, and Blokus; and materials from ReshiPeshi, Mousematics (Zhenya Katz), and other logic/developmental-math sources.
• Middle School Math Offerings: Students in grades 6-8 will also have a total of 6 periods of math/week. This is split into 4 periods of Algebra and 2 periods of: 2D Geometry (first quarter), Combinatorics/Probability (second quarter), 3D Geometry (third quarter), and Statistics (fourth quarter).
• Math Team: We are excited to make math team available as an after-school club for grades 3-8, and as a Period 0 club for grades 6-8. Math team will give interested students an opportunity to delve deeply into the rich mathematical topics found on the Math Kangaroo, Noetic, New England Math League, MOEMS, IMLEM, MathCounts and AMC8 competitions.
• Deep Dives: To show our students that math is much more than what’s found in the textbook, we will regularly make time for deep dives into extra-curricular math topics, such as: fractals, infinity, Fibonacci numbers, cryptography, game theory, graph theory. Teachers can create deep dives based on their own interests and passions, as well as on the interests and requests of the students. Some of these deep-dives may lead to symposiums where middle school students will be allowed to work in small groups or individually to explore a topic of interest to them, and then to present their deep-dives to the class and to the school community.

Grades K – Grade 5

The backbone of our elementary math program will be Singapore Math’s Primary Mathematics curriculum and Art of Problem Solving’s Beast Academy Practice workbooks.

For students who need more practice, we will supplement with materials from Singapore Math’s Extra Practice Workbooks. For students who need an additional challenge, we will supplement with Singapore’s Intensive Practice Workbooks, and Challenging Word Problems, and math competition practice from Math Kangaroo, Noetic and (for upper elementary) NEML and MOEMS. This differentiated approach will allow us to cater to a wide range of abilities in each grade level.

Singapore Math adheres to the CPA (Concrete->Pictorial->Abstract) approach which starts by allowing kids to manipulate concrete objects (counters, ten-blocks), then abstracts into the pictorial, and finally heads to the completely abstract world of mathematical symbols. Some other key features of Singapore Math are number bonds, bar modeling, and mental math.

Beast Academy focuses on developing conceptual understanding, so that students always understand the Why and How of what they’re learning. The workbooks present multiple strategies to inspire lateral thinking and are full of unusual and challenging problems for each topic.

Exceptional fifth and sixth graders who have completed the Primary Mathematics and Beast Academy curriculum will start on Art of Problem Solving’s Prealgebra textbook.