HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED HOW YOUR KIDS ARE LEARNING MATH DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU WERE IN SCHOOL?
WELL, IT'S DEFINITELY A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME.
LEADING EDUCATORS SAY OUR KIDS NEED A BETTER FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF HOW MATH REALLY
WORKS.
AND BETTER OVERALL MATH SKILLS.
WHAT IF YOUR KIDS COULD HELP TEACH THEMSELVES SOME OF THESE SKILLS WITH OUT GETTING BORED?
THAT WOULD BE A BIG PLUS.
AND GET AN EXTRA EDGE TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CLASS.
WELL, NOW THEY CAN.
MARTHA SANDOVAL AND ANDREA MANOTTI ARE HERE FROM GO MATH ACADEMY TO TELL US ALL ABOUT
IT.
WELCOME LADIES.
IT'S SO GREAT TO HAVE YOU HERE.
THANK YOU.
YOU KNOW, MARTHA I WANT TO START WITH YOU.
THERE ARE SOME NEW EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS BEING SET ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT FOR US?
YES, OF COURSE.
THE STANDARDS ARE CALLED THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS.
AND THEY ARE BEING USED BY MOST OF THE U.S. THE IDEA IS TO HAVE SET OF CONSISTENT STANDARDS
WHICH DEFINE RIGOROUS SKILLS IN MATHEMATICS AND THE STUDENTS ARE NOT JUST GETTING THE
RIGHT ANSWER ANYMORE, THEY ARE LEARNING HOW IS IT THAT THEY ARE GETTING TO THE ANSWER.
AND ANDREA, WHAT IS GO MATH ACADEMY?
WELL, GO MATH ACADEMY IS A BRAND NEW ONLINE MATH PROGRAM DESIGNED TO HELP KIDS GET A LITTLE
EXTRA PRACTICE AT HOME.
IT'S GOT LOTS OF MATH PRACTICE PROBLEMS.
MATH HELP VIDEOS, SOME OF WHICH FEATURE MARTHA AND ALSO GAMES AND REWARDS TO KEEP THEM MOTIVATED
AND ENGAGED.
AND THE IDEA IS THAT THEY CAN PRACTICE AT HOME, ON THEIR OWN, AT THEIR OWN PACE WITHOUT
WORRYING ABOUT BEING GRADED.
AND IT'S REAL MATH WORK.
IT'S BASED ON THE METHODS TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS.
IT'S SOLID PRACTICE.
BUT IT DOESN'T FEEL SERIOUS.
IT FEELS FUN AND FUN IS KEY AS WE KNOW AS MOMS BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GOING TO COME BACK
AND KEEP DOING IT IF IT'S NOT FUN.
NO.
FUN IS KEY.
AND MARTHA WHAT DO YOU TELL PARENTS WHO WANT REASSURANCE ABOUT THE GO MATH ACADEMY CURRICULUM?
I WAS HONORED TO BE ON THE AUTHORS OF THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM WHICH GO MATH ACADEMY IS
BASED ON AND I CAN TELL YOU IT'S FROM THE EXPERTS.
YEAH, ACTUALLY HOUGHTON MIFLIN HARCOURT HAS A LONG STANDING REPUTATION AS A LEARNING COMPANY.
THE CONTENT IS RESEARCHED BASED AND THIS PARTICULAR CURRICULUM IS USED BY
ABOUT 7 MILLION STUDENTS AROUND THE WORLD MARTHA, YOU ARE ONE OF THE GO MATH ACADEMY
INSTRUCTORS.
BUT YOU'RE ALSO ONE OF THE STARS SO THE KIDS GET TO SEE YOU ON CAMERA.
AND MATH IS REALLY YOUR FORTE.
I MEAN WE'VE GOT YOU HERE IN THE STUDIO TODAY BUT YOU LOVE TEACHING MATH.
YES.
TELL US WHAT MAKES IT ENTERTAINING AND FUN FOR THE KIDS?
FIRST, JULIE, I WOULDN'T SAY I'M THE STAR.
MY TWO PUPPET STUDENTS, THEY ARE THE STARS.
THEIR NAMES ARE JEANIE AND JOEY.
AND THEY ARE THESE FUN ADORABLE PUPPETS WHO LOVE TO PLAY TRICKS ON ME.
SO, THE STUDENTS HAVE FUN WATCHING THE VIDEOS AND EVEN THOUGH THE PUPPETS ARE ONLY USED
FOR THE YOUNGER GRADES, WE HAVE GRADE VIDEOS FOR ALL OF THE GRADES.
GO MATH ACADEMY VIDEOS ARE A GREAT TOOL THAT THE STUDENTS CAN USE WHEN THEY GET STUCK ON
THEIR HOMEWORK AND THEY METHODS THAT WE USE IN THE VIDEOS ARE METHODS THAT MIRROR THE
CLASSROOM SO IT'S SOMETHING VERY FAMILIAR TO THEM AND ALSO WE USE IN-GRADE BASED LEARNING
SO THAT BY TEACHING, ASKING QUESTIONS AND TEACHING THIS WAY THE STUDENTS CAN PAUSE THE
VIDEOS, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.
THEY ARE ACTIVELY LEARNING AND THEY ARE GAINING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS.
AND ACTUALLY WE'VE ALSO HEARD FROM TEACHERS THAT THEY ARE SUGGESTING THAT PARENTS WATCH
THE VIDEOS RIGHT ALONG SIDE THEIR KIDS.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE SOMETIMES PARENT AREN'T SO SURE ABOUT HOW MATH IS TAUGHT IN SCHOOL
TODAY.
THEY ARE WORRIED THAT IT'S REALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE WAY THAT THEY LEARNED IT SO WHEN
IT COMES TIME TO HELP OUT AT HOMEWORK TIME OR TO PREPARE FOR A TEST, THEY DON'T WANT
TO SAY SOMETHING THAT WOULD CONFUSE THEIR CHILD MORE.
SO, IF THEY CAN WATCH A VIDEO THAT ECHOS THE LANGUAGE USED IN THE CLASSROOM AND THE METHODS
USED IN THE CLASSROOM THEY CAN HELP OUT WITHOUT FEELING WORRIED OR CLUELESS.
OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
EVEN THOUGH IT'S A BRAND NEW PROGRAM I UNDERSTAND THE RESULTS ARE REALLY STARTING TO SHOW.
OH DEFINITELY.
WE'VE HAD MOMS TELL US THAT THEY'RE KIDS ARE ASKING TO DO A LITTLE GO MATH ACADEMY BEFORE
DINNER.
WE HAD ONE MOM, A MOMMY BLOGGER, TALK ABOUT HER SON WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, HOW GO MATH ACADEMY
WAS THE FIRST TIME HE REALLY GOT ENGAGED WITH MATH.
WOW.
AND WE'VE ALSO HEARD FROM SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT ONE PARTICULAR SCHOOL DISTRICT SAID THAT
THEY'D NEVER SEEN ANYTHING ELSE LIKE IT ON THE MARKET.
SO, IT'S DEFINITELY GETTING SOME TRACTION AND WE ARE EXCITED.
THAT IS EXCITING.
AND I KNOW YOU BOTH HAVE YOUNG CHILDREN.
ARE THEY USING GO MATH ACADEMY?
WELL, I HAVE A ONE YEAR OLD AND THREE YEAR OLD.
SO, THEY ARE NOT SCHOOL AGE YET BUT MY THREE YEAR OLD HE'S ALREADY WATCHING THE VIDEOS
AND HE'S DOING THE LESSONS AND HE LOVES IT.
AND I HAVE A KINDERGARTNER AND I HAVE HER DOING GO MATH ACADEMY AND ANYTHING SHE WOULD
DO ON THE COMPUTER WOULD BE A HIT.
PRETTY MUCH.
BUT THIS ONE IS A PARTICULAR HIT BECAUSE I THINK SHE REALLY ENJOYS THE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
SHE GETS WHEN SHE GETS A QUESTION RIGHT.
THERE'S A LITTLE VOICE THAT SAYS, YAY, AWESOME!
I LOVE SEEING HER LIGHT UP WHEN SHE GETS CONGRATULATED.
WELL, I THINK GO MATH ACADEMY SOUNDS LIKE AN A+
I'VE GOT TO TURN MY GIRLS ON TO IT.
DEFINITELY.
THANKS FOR JOINING US.
IT WAS GREAT HAVING YOU HERE.
THANK YOU.
AND NOW FOR ALL THE INFO ON HOW TO GET YOUR LITTLE MATH-LETE UP TO SPEED AT GO MATH ACADEMY
HEAD OVER THEBALANCINGACT.COM
AND DON'T FORGET TO JOIN US ON FACEBOOK AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER.