Kids Adding Math Study to their Summer Activities at Mathnasium of Bethesda

Summer is all about outdoor activities like swimming and sports. Yet, about 40 Bethesda students have added math to their lineup of summertime fun.

These kids are participating in the summer math program at Mathnasium of Bethesda, a learning center focused solely on math for children grades K-12.
 
“Math skills are like muscles. You have to work them out all year long or you lose them,” says Barry Fausnaugh, owner of the Mathnasium of Bethesda franchise. The children who attend the summer math program, he explains, are looking to avoid the “summer slide,” when students start to lose the math skills they worked on so diligently during the school year.

Children can actually lose up to 2½ months of computational math skills during the summer, Fausnaugh says. These are skills they’ll have to make up once school begins again.

Kids at the Mathnasium of Bethesda center participate in activities that include math games and math workouts designed to be both fun and keep their math muscles strong. For 2-3 hours a week, these students work on a curriculum customized for their personal needs.

“One of our core principles is that math can be fun, and we go out of our way to make this a reality. If the children are enjoying math, they focus better on the material. We don’t send them out with a pile of homework, but work with them on developing their math skills while they’re right here at the center. It’s really a great way to learn,” Fausnaugh says.

Summer math isn’t just taking place in Bethesda. Mathnasium is the nation’s leading math-only learning center franchise and its summer math program is expected to enroll a record 18,000 children across the country this year.
 
Mathnasium has successfully worked with many children who were having trouble with math and seen them improve to become “A” students. Importantly, though, the summer program doesn’t only cater to kids who need extra help. Mathnasium also works with students already at the top of their class, providing them with advanced lessons to remain engaged and help them achieve their academic goals.

Of course, math is always in season at the Mathnasium of Bethesda center. So, once school starts, summer students can continue working their math muscles to make sure they don’t lose the edge they gained during their summer vacation.