Thurston Math ClubWhat we’re aiming for
- Kids enjoy math and feel good about it.When kids think about math, we hope they feel warm, curious, and confident, not scared or stressed. In elementary school, that matters more than any score. Kids who enjoy math choose to spend time on it, and their skills follow; kids pushed through worksheets they don’t care about usually don’t get very far. This goal comes first, and everything else serves it. It’s why we’re a math club, not a test-prep program.
- Kids grow from wherever they start.Nobody likes something they always get wrong, so skills matter. For most kids, growing means going from “I’m not a math person” to “I’m pretty good at math.” For kids who are already strong, it can mean harder puzzles and contests like Math Kangaroo.
- Kids do math together.We meet in person. Sitting at a table with friends, working on something worthwhile, is part of the point.
What keeps kids interested
“I can do this.”
Problems start easy and climb slowly. We want most kids to succeed most of the time and see themselves getting better.
“This is about my world.”
Kids work side by side with friends. The Question of the Day comes from their own world: school, Ann Arbor, Michigan weather.
“I get to choose.”
Every problem comes with a few hints. Kids decide whether to look, and which one to read.
How we teach
Discovery, with a guide. We don’t start with “here’s the method, now copy it.” That teaches kids to match problems to recipes, and it isn’t much fun. But we also don’t leave kids to figure everything out alone. We point them in a direction and let them do the discovering. Taking longer is fine.
Hints written ahead of time. The direction comes from hints we write ahead of time for every problem, a little like the clue cards in a board game. One might ask what we already know, another might suggest drawing a picture, another might try smaller numbers. None of them gives the answer.
Basics for every grade. Our warm-ups follow the Michigan K-12 Standards for Mathematics for each grade, the same standards behind what kids learn in class, so everyone can keep up.
Homework: the Question of the Day
Every day there’s a new Question of the Day for each grade, with the same kind of hints. The questions are basic and concrete, and a little every day builds fluency with the basics. It’s optional. Some families do it together, some older kids do it on their own, and some skip it. All of that is fine.