“How in the world do you make math fun?”
“Where do you find teachers that love kids and love math?”
We are asked these questions on a regular basis. In fact, these were the same questions I asked MathTree when I first heard about it! As a math teacher who really does love making learning fun, I wondered how an organization could really do what the advertisement stated. Fun? Interactive? Hands-on learning?
So, I emailed MathTree from their website link and just asked, “How do you really do what you say you do?” Dr. Lynn Salvo, the founder of MathTree, was kind enough to email me back. After a few electronic exchanges we decided we should meet and talk math. That first conversation resulted in me teaching some camps and working as the Educational Advisor for MathTree.
It was an honor to work alongside Dr. Salvo. Her passion for teaching math is contagious! The more I worked for MathTree the more I respected it and saw the value in the curriculum. The curriculum itself allowed for children to explore topics with the freedom of making mistakes and the time to learn from them. It is flexible enough to challenge math enthusiasts and encourage the camper who struggles. It’s built to help each child climb the “math tree” at their own pace. There are beans, test tubes, games, stories….all designed to learn math, build number sense, and of course … to make learning fun!
We personally interview in a train each teacher and assistant. Our desire is to instill the passion we have for helping and encouraging children into each of our instructors so that they can pass it along to each and every camper.
When Dr. Salvo decided to retire, it was really a no-brainer for me and Ken to become the next leaders of MathTree. Every summer we are excited to see the returning MathTree families and to welcome new families. This is MathTree’s 19th summer!!! It’s our third summer at the helm….And, it’s starting in just 2 months!!! ~ Joni Whitaker