by Kristina Whitehurst
When Ricci Polczynski was 8 years old, her struggle with
multiplication seemed like it would never end. Amid the
tears from this normally happy child, her mother, Dawn
Dowdakin, wondered if her daughter would ever get it.
That was until Dowdakin’s husband sat down with Ricci and
showed her a practical purpose for those times tables –
using tangible examples from his own work as a contractor to
help her see the light.
“Somehow at that moment it just clicked,” says Dowdakin.
“It basically boiled down to the method the teacher wasn’t
using.”
Dowdakin’s struggle to give her a solid foundation in
math paid off last year when her daughter graduated with
honors from Chamblee High School – excelling in DeKalb
County’s honors math program.
According to several studies, Dowdakin is lucky. Many of
America’s kids just aren’t doing well in math. In this
highly competitive world, parents and educators face the
task of getting children interested in a subject sometimes
considered to be the domain of “smart” kids.
Anthony Docal, program director for student enrichment at
the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics
and Computing at Georgia Tech, says that while some kids
have natural aptitudes for math, nearly every child can
master the subject. “Some children are very visual and can
understand engineering concepts more readily than others,”
says Docal. “But with enough training and dedication anyone
can pursue the avocation of their choice.”
All that growing minds need, Docal says, is for the
subject to be engaging enough to capture their attention. In
Georgia Tech’s community outreach program, educators often
see children who are taught to “read the chapter and answer
the questions at the end of each section.” Rarely, he says,
are children actually able to make connections to real-world
applications.
Professional tutoring
and enrichment centers can provide a trained educator
who is able to evaluate the skills of each child and
determine the best way to overcome his learning
struggles.
“Hands-on activities and often trial-and-error kinds of
experiments or problem-based activities are the best ways
for students to problem solve,” Docal says. “It gives them a
connection with their world and gives them options on how to
reach a solution. It allows them to use their imagination
grounded in content and begins to build the enthusiasm and
motivation that will carry them through their high school
and college years.”
Debbie Shannon, a long-time educator and director of the
Sylvan Learning Center in Buckhead, agrees. Parents and
educators, she says, just have to figure out how each child
learns to get them excited about learning the “hard” stuff.
“Every child is individual, with different
personalities,” she says. “No two children know the same
exact things.”
Manipulative objects – like coins, blocks, marbles and
teddy bears – are good ways to teach early math. Baking with
your child to learn about fractions, she says, also is
helpful.
Often, with middle and high school students, Shannon
says, tutors at her center will discover that early math –
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division – were
never cemented in a child’s mind. This often can lead to
teens feeling defeated. “Math is like a building block. You
have to have a good foundation because if not that house
comes tumbling down,” she says. “This is when we have to
change the attitude to ‘I can do it.’”
 When an older child is struggling, Shannon highly
discourages parents from using peer tutors because, although
they may be very intelligent, they have been taught one way
and may cause, without ever knowing, more emotional
challenges for the struggling student.
Professional tutoring and enrichment centers can provide
a trained educator who is able to evaluate the skills of
each child and determine the best way to overcome his
learning struggles. Atlanta has a number of options
available to parents. The newest entry to the local math
enrichment scene is E.nopi. The program started in Korea,
where it’s been operating since 1976, says Joe Flanders,
Atlanta area developer for E.nopi. More than 10 million
students have gone through the program, which is offered to
students from Pre-K into high school.
The E.nopi program starts with an evaluation of the
student’s strengths and weaknesses. The results are used to
develop a customized program for each student. E.nopi’s math
program incorporates both basic math and critical-thinking
math, helping each student build on those concepts and
improve their skills. Flanders says the program has more
than 900 levels, which allows for a truly customizable fit
with enrolled students.
“We’re hearing very positive comments from parents, as
far as the performance of their child in school and their
attitude toward math in general,” he says. “(Students) tend
to be more excited about math because they are gaining
confidence in their skills.”
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