Math Monkey®

Math Monkey and Strawberries

by Maia Emery, CAO, Math Monkey

I am always a careful packer, but found yet again that I had forgotten my toothbrush. Since there is a grocery store near the Math Monkey of Irvine, CA  location, I headed over there to get one. It is also colder here and I forgot a jacket. Off to Kohl’s to pick up a small sweater. It took me 15 minutes with help to find something with long sleeves since all of the summer clothes were out. I then went over to the center to take some outside pictures. What I noticed the most was how very quiet and peaceful everyone seemed to be. There was not the hustle and bustle of life like it is in Las Vegas. Driving back to the hotel I noticed fields of onions and migrant workers picking strawberries on the opposite side of the road from the onions. After drifting into the other lane much to the dismay of the car in that other lane because I was watching the workers, I felt a sense of loss at the way I grew up. There were several men with their arms around each other singing something and they looked happy and proud. Most of us would look at them and thank our lucky stars that we do not have to perform such menial tasks. I felt ashamed of myself looking back at my complaining and whining about the materials things that I could not have.

When I was a child, we almost always had a garden that would inevitably have deer or rabbits eating from just when we were ready to pick the fruits of our spoils. Across the street, Mr. Van Riper had a gigantic garden with every kind of fruit and vegetables—especially berries. He had blackberries, gooseberries, blueberries, currents and of course, strawberries. My mom made so much strawberry jam back then, that I rebelled and bought a jar of grape jelly in high school.  That memory had me realizing that the migrant workers and their children have advantages also. They can watch their labors produce something that benefits everyone.  If we at Math Monkey go back to the reason we do this in its simplest form, it is to help everyone, especially children. To make strawberry jam, you need the main ingredient – strawberries. To make educated children, you need the main ingredient – caring. Without us continuing to strive ahead, who will show the children that there is a simpler and better way to learn math? To make jam, you need pectin, or something to hold everything together. That is what we are as franchise owners, directors and teachers. We are the glue that keeps the caring together. Let’s remember the kids and work together to make this company what we know it can be – a positive contributor to the future of our children here and around the world.

Math Monkey's New Beginning

Mobius Mathematics, LLC lead by Carl and Maia Emery purchased the Math Monkey rights for North America in December 2008. They, along with all the Math Monkey owners will be working very hard to bring this wonderful, fun Vedic math program into the forefront of education in the United States and the rest of North America.

 

 “We do not want to tutor, we want to teach. At Math Monkey our classroom setting is fun and allows children to learn at their own pace and at their own level. This is about exercising their brains, not always the pencil. We want children to think of math as another part of their own bodies and use it to the fullest extent possible. We want to turn children into successful adults and give them all of the tools that we can to help them realize their dreams."  Maia Emery

 

 

Carl and Maia, with the help of all the franchisees are leading the way to position Math Monkey as a superior math program that children and parents both will enjoy.  If your considering our program for your child, be sure to visit a Math Monkey location near you and learn more about this fantastic program.   At Math Monkey, we believe there are two types of children, Those Who Love Math, and Those Who WILL Love Math.

Happy Endings

Every ending brings a new beginning, what we do with that beginning is up to us.  It is bittersweet that I say goodbye to Math Monkey and watch it move on to it's new beginning; a beginning filled with expectation.  A little over three full years after my long visit to India to learn all I could about Vedic math and work with the talented teachers, Vedic math experts, and instructional designers, I am handing over the reins to new owners. Carl and Maia Emery are not new to Math Monkey though.  

The Emerys have been successfully operating Math Monkey of Henderson for two years. Together they have helped create the perfect example of everything Math Monkey stands for: A bright, happy, knowledge center where learning is fun and the math comes easily. Carl has been a leader among the franchise owners in all things related to marketing and communicating the purpose and mission of the program to parents. Maia has worked tirelessly to ensure the Math Monkey curriculum continues to evolve and grow as the kids grow.  They will now take over as the franchisor and no one holds greater potential for strategically growing the system and caring for the existing owners than they do.  

For me it is an ending of a labor of love for the past three years and I am excited to see my "baby" moving on.  There are so many people who deserve thanks for their support and hard work on developing, funding, and executing Math Monkey and since this is a beginning and not an ending, I will leave it at that as I am sure they know who they are. This ending holds a beginning for me and them too.  

Congratulations Carl and Maia!  Congratulations Math Monkey!  I am looking forward to watching as you move on to the next stage of your life.  I will always remain your biggest fan.  

Social Computing - Facebook

I was brought to Facebook, the social networking site, literally kicking and screaming a few weeks ago. Over the past several years I have been invited to become someone's friend on this site on more than one occasion whereby membership would be automatic. In all cases, I avoided it like the plague and ignored the request. So suffice to say that when I found myself staring at a screen with my picture and birthdate staring back at me I was a little shocked.

Well, here I was an official member of Facebook so what did I do? I did what I do in most situations in my life; my perfectionism gene took over and I embraced it whole-heartedly. And the truth is, so far I can't say I'm unhappy that I did. I have reconnected with family that through the years have been a low priority because, well, they're family and I know they are there, and I have had a glimpse into the lives of friends from the past who were an essential part of my growing up and becoming who I am today. I have also been able to network with more recent friends that have significance for me now.

As a student of people, Facebook has become somewhat of an obsession for me in terms of learning how it works and what compels people to broadcast their lives there. On a business level, I have been engaging in an all-out study of what advertisements pop up based on who I add as a friend, what groups I visit and become a member of, what my profile says, what my status states, how many friends I have, my personal information, how many posts to my "wall", and so much more. It is still amazing to me that we live in such a small world.

When I started blogging two and a half years ago, the best advice I read and received was to blog from the heart. In other words, share who I am, tell real stories, and never ever let someone else blog for me. This advice has served me well with over 75,000 visitors to this site over its life since April 2006. So I have taken the same advice and applied it to my social computing at Facebook.

As uncomfortable as it may be, I try to update my status with real-time information; I have added photos to my site for family and friends (mostly family) to view. I accept friend requests from people who are from my past. I actively view my "friend" profiles so I can see what they're up to. All in all I try to do unto others, as I would want them to do unto me. I have even provided an RSS feed from this blog to my personal page.

It's a new world we live in and social computing is only just beginning. Even with 90 million "Active Users", Facebook and other sites are just beginning to see the potential. I am jumping further into my research by opening up my profile to "friends of friends". I may not keep it there for long, but I do want to see what happens from an advertising perspective, friend request perspective and overall exposure perspective.

I have a feeling this isn't my last post about social computing...

First Day of School

Today was finally the first day of school in South Florida and it felt kind of anti-climactic after what were supposed to be the first two days of school were declared "hurricane days". I'm thrilled that this is my third post about the first day of school, which means I have been writing this blog for over two years.

The start of school should always be met with some goal setting. Without goal setting it is impossible to assess your child's, and let's face it, your success. Take a look at the curriculum guide for your child's class or classes; understand where he or she is now in regard to meeting the requirements. Sit down with your child and map out a plan for how you will work together with the school to succeed in those requirements. Then set some long-term and short-term goals that will help keep the motivation up and as those goals are met your child's self-esteem will benefit. Some long-term goals may be to read a chapter book a month in addition to anything assigned in class or set up a family website dedicated to informing grandparents of school achievements. Short-term goals could be learning the times tables for a particular number or group of numbers, mastering all the words on a spelling list or understanding a particular scientific concept.

The first days of school are always so exciting. We have to work at keeping that excitement up throughout the entire year. Have a great 2008-2009 school season.

Time flies when you're busy

Today is the day my son Samuel is supposed to be starting middle school, only Tropical Storm Fay has other plans. I think she must be a mother too, wanting to draw out the innocence of childhood just one more day. Thank you Fay!

I realize this is what happens, children grow up in the blink of an eye and boy does time fly when you're busy. It really does seem like just yesterday when I could soothe away all the pain by bringing my toddler onto my lap to nurse or when he looked at me as if I were the most beautiful girl in the world and my presence alone made him feel safe. Now I watch him, slowly stepping backward because I know the time has come to begin letting go, and I revel in his beauty; that smile, his eyes, the humor, his laugh. I am so proud of him.

I guess Tuesday will be the big day now and somehow I feel like the extra day is giving me the courage to take that first step back. He will go off to middle school where he will change classes, meet new people and learn all kinds of wonderful things. He is so smart, having been among a select few to qualify to participate in the GEMS (Great Explorations in Math) program at his new school. This is an accelerated and rigorous math program that challenges students to excel in math and the reward will be 2 high school credits in the subject before he even gets to high school. The opportunities are endless just like his energy.

I am not sure there are words to describe my emotion at this life cycle change only to express a quote by Elizabeth Stone that I always use when describing what motherhood means to me:

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

I love you Samuel... Have a wonderful time in middle school!

Blogher

Those who know me will attest to the fact that I have my fair share of feminist sensibilities; defending a woman's place in corporate America, standing firm about equal pay for equal work and especially touting the important role mothers play in a child's life. Blogher is a community for women and celebrates women bloggers. I have recently been linked from that site back to our little Math Monkey blog community. Check it out...

Cure for summer brain drain: Noodling or study

Quality Education = Higher GDP

A staggering 9 out of 10 Americans polled by the Associated Press, agreed that the quality of a country's education has a direct impact on the prosperity of that country. Even more staggering is the belief, by nearly half of those polled, that American test scores are the same or better than those from other industrialized nations. Well, think again! The truth is that the U.S. ranks near the bottom of all other industrialized nations in mathematics. This disparity between perception and reality is frightening. Also frightening is the trend for parents to believe that their child's school is fine and that it's the "other schools" that are bringing down the nation.

As a parent myself, I find these Associated Press results eye-opening. Am I among the American parents who believe my child's school is doing a good job; it must be the other schools that are bringing us down? I have to admit, there is a certain egotistical part of me that is among that group. After all, I have put so much effort into picking the right schools for my kids; hours of research, endless interviews with school administrators, staying on top of the curriculum that is being followed, conferences with teachers... the list goes on. Therefore, it MUST be other schools. But I know it is not. We are failing our kids all around.

What my kids have is the best of our community, not the best in the world. On the whole, American schools don't measure up to schools around the globe. There are as many reasons for this as there are theories on what and how we should be teaching our kids. One of the biggest issues I see with the American mentality toward education is the atmosphere of natural ability vs. hard work.

Our educational culture is at odds with our national culture. While it is widely acknowledged that hard work will reap societal benefits here in the U.S., we don't place that same value on the education of our kids. In school kids are rewarded simply for being "smart". So much emphasis is placed on "natural ability" and not enough emphasis on working hard and proving yourself.

My family has experienced this weakness first hand. Last year as we moved from a private school to a new school district and public school, I worked for weeks navigating the system trying to figure out how to get the three of them into the best, most challenging programs available. The most expeditious way of doing this was to have them take an educational psychological test with a private psychologist. Since they are indeed "naturally gifted", according to IQ testing, they were easily admitted into the "Gifted Program". During registration no one asked for past school records to prove they could handle the accelerated programs or to prove they had the work ethic necessary to succeed in the fast-paced environment and no one interviewed them to assess their maturity and attitude toward learning and school. They were admitted. Simple.

I'm not complaining, because I know they received the best, most experienced teachers and were in class with other "gifted" students who are all on a path to higher education. It does cause me to question though, whether there are other kids who work hard and put forth maximum effort who are being left out of the specialized programs offered in American schools simply because they don't test into them. I also question how this is ultimately a disservice to my kids too, who may think they don't really have to try very hard because they are "smart".

It is time for us as a nation to realign our educational system with our national work ethic. After all, 9 out of 10 of us agree that strong education will directly affect our nation's prosperity. Strong education begins with hard work.

Entrepreneur of the Year

Great news from Malaysia!

Ms. Foong and her amazing team have just been awarded Winner of the 7th Asia Pacific International Entrepreneur Excellence Award 2008 under the category of Emerging Entrepreneur. We are so proud of their hard work and dedication to expanding Math Monkey internationally.

Congratulations Math Monkey of Malaysia!

Summer Brain Drain

Summer is a wonderful time to do all the things we seem to get too busy for during the school year. Things like horseback riding, swimming, building that model airplane, experimenting with household items (under the safe supervision of a parent, of course) and so much more. These activities are important and lend themselves to creating the well-rounded kids we all want. However don't let this summer become a brain drain for your child's academic pursuits. There is learning in everything we do, but take a little time to incorporate some formal learning into your child's week. Some of the readers of this blog have asked me what my kids are doing this summer, so here is a sampling:

1. Reading enrichment offered through the University of Miami. This is a great program that keeps kids of all ages reading over the summer. Molly, who is going into fourth grade, is honing her reading fluency and learning how to pace herself when a reading assignment is given. Sam, 2008-2009 sixth grader, is practicing reading for academic purposes and learning the hard to grasp art of taking notes on what you read.

2. Math practice. We are working through part A of the Singapore Math program for grade 4 and grade 6, respectively. We are also practicing mental math techniques EVERYDAY, using what they have learned at Math Monkey.

3. Creative writing exercises. Sam and Molly are each working on a different creative writing activity each week. They can be a lot of fun, but are challenging at the same time. Today Sam started a new prompt that asked, "What could go wrong if a tree had magical powers?" His first draft amazed me with its creativity. I am looking forward to the final version.

4. Horseback riding day camp. 3 or 4 times a week, they spend their day riding horses at a local horse ranch. They come home smelling pretty foul and looking even worse, but the experience is priceless. Between the morning and afternoon rides, they care for the horses, learn about the horses in detail and make new friends. Most people know about Sam's love of animals, but Molly is beginning to rival his passion since spending so much time with the beautiful creatures.

5. Swimming and Guitar. Molly is working her way onto the Weston Swim team with twice weekly practice sessions with the pre-team, while Sam strums away at his guitar. He is learning lots of new songs. It's a little hard sometimes to catch the songs he's playing, but every once in a while a chord sounds familiar.

6. Apple Camp. Next month they will spend a week (formally) learning all the cool things they can do on their Macs. Like most kids, just put them in front of a computer and they will figure it out. But Apple Camp will hopefully provide the guidance they need to really learn how to edit their photos, make movies using mixed media, enhance their presentation skills utilizing Keynote and make music with Garage Band that can be played on different devices.

7. Haylee, my soon to be junior in high school, is enrolled in two online classes in math and English. The format is easy to follow and the courses are really very thorough. Distance education is proving to be a very easy way of learning.

8. Baby sign language is the goal for Haim. Even at barely 8 months old, he is actively included in the atmosphere of learning in our family this summer. We, and I mean WE as in everyone who has any interaction with him, are teaching him baby signs. This has proven to be a successful technique for giving young babies communication skills before they are physically capable of spoken words. I didn't know about baby signs with Haylee, but both Sam and Molly were taught to "talk" using signs and this led to early language acquisition that created intellectually curious toddlers. Haim seems to be following suit and he loves the signs.

All this and I'm working too. Life is busy, but I am not sure I could live it any other way.