Many students and their parents regard math as something that requires an innate ability: Either you are good at it, or you’re not.

The research suggests that American teens aren’t that good. According to a 2011 study by Harvard University's Program on Education Policy and Governance, only 32 percent of U.S. students perform at a proficient level on the math exam, falling behind 31 other countries.

But the real reason, most agree, is not any innate deficiency. It’s that math education in the classroom is inadequate in preparing children to compete on the national and global scale.

This is why families are turning to the gyms of the academic world, where kids learn to work out their brains and flex their math muscles. A growing number of after-school tutoring centers around the Bay Area are proving that math ability isn’t dependent on the right genes, but instead on a lot of practice. Kim Garret noticed that after only a couple weeks at Mathnasium Almaden her high school-aged son Nick’s math self-esteem had improved, as did his attitude in class, and eventually his grades. “My only regret”, Kim says, “was not starting his tutoring sooner.”    

Many math tutoring centers use a variety of the techniques listed below:

• An assessment to determine your child’s level of math education “In many cases, students have a lot of gaps from their previous math courses that prevent them from succeeding,” says Alexandra Fomicheva, vice principal of the San Jose branch of The Russian School of Mathematics.
  
  
• A specific curriculum developed to meet your child where they are at in their math education – either to address his or her education gaps or to work at a higher level.
  
  
• Contact with your child’s school or teacher to get input about your kid’s learning style and to put together a plan on how to succeed.
  
  
• A comfortable environment to do math where tutors are always close by when your child needs help with a problem or just some encouragement.

The specifics of the programs can differ. For instance, Mathnasium uses one-on-one tutoring in order to provide the one-on-one attention not possible in public schools.  The Russian School of Mathematics, on the other hand, teaches in small groups. There is one thing that unites these programs, and that is the belief that anyone can do math, it just takes practice. 

If you and your student need after-school math support, here’s where to turn



East Bay

Huntington Learning Center

pleasanton.huntingtonlearning.com

fremont.huntingtonlearning.com

walnut_creek.huntingtonlearning.com

Mathnasium of Dublin

www.mathnasium.com/dublin

Silicon Valley

Huntington Learning Center

cupertino.huntingtonlearning.com

south_san_jose.huntingtonlearning.com

gilroy.huntingtonlearning.com

Mathnasium

www.mathnasium.com/almaden

www.mathnasium.com/mountainviewlosaltos

www.mathnasium.com/cupertino

www.mathnasium.com/campbell

Russian School of Mathematics

www.russianschool.com/sanjose_mathematics.html

San Francisco and Peninsula

Quantum Leap

www.quantumleapschool.com/index.html

San Francisco Math Circle

www.sfmathcircle.org/index.html

India Education Methods

indiaeducationmethods.com

Websites with math games and help:

www.algebrahelp.com/

www.coolmath.com/

www.aaamath.com/

Gwen Hubner is a freelance writer living in Oakland.