MATH SUPERSTARS

Email Tracy Peel with any questions

Register Your child for the Math Superstars program

ORIENTATION FOR PARENT VOLUNTEERS SEPT. 30, 7:45 4th Floor

Dear Parent:

We welcome your child and you to MATH SUPERSTARS, a program designed to enhance your child’s journey through mathematics. By expressing an interest in more challenging problem solving, your child has taken the first step toward becoming an independent learner capable of addressing many types of problems.

The program is 7:45-8:15 each Wednesday morning on the 4th floor. This first session of MATH SUPERSTARS runs from Oct.7 through Nov. 18.

Each Wednesday morning, your child will receive a worksheet of problems that he or she may work on throughout the week. Each problem is ranked according to its level of difficulty. The number of stars you see beside a problem indicates the level of difficulty and the number of stars your child can earn for the group by solving it. Students will also earn many stars for the group for arriving on time, attending Math SuperStars and for trying to answer tough questions.

The following Wednesday, your child’s Math Superstars group leader will discuss the most challenging problems of the week. If your child has already correctly solved any of the problems that are discussed, the group leader will initial the problem, and the child will receive an extra star when the sheet is turned in. At the end of the session, the group leader will collect the sheets and hand out the next week’s worksheet.

Your role in MATH SUPERSTARS is to encourage and facilitate your child’s problem solving skills. During the week, allow time for him or her to think about each problem. You may need to read the problem to your child, explaining any new words encountered. Feel free to suggest a strategy for solving the problem, offer “counters” or manipulatives, or listen as your child shares her or his thinking, but please DO NOT GIVE THE ANSWERS. In order for this program to be effective, the students must do their own thinking. It is normal for a child NOT to be able to complete every problem on a work sheet. The process of reading, understanding, and approaching the problems is a valuable step in the solving of many types of problems. Remind your child that she or he is not expected to know the answer to every problem.

Thank you for allowing your child to embark on this mathematical adventure.