but knew that there was a way for Nic’s
What
The Math Man
The building of the most successful Math-only Learning Center
“D
ad, what does half mean?”
Larry deliberated for a moment
in his mind, searching for the best way
to answer his son’s inquisitive question.
It was the day before Nic’s fourth
birthday and he was in the process of
peeling the wrapper off of a birthday
candy bar. Larry knew that it would be
difficult for his son to understand the
concept of halves if he used the
complicated definition found in many
dictionaries. He decided on a simple,
four word phrase.
“Two parts, the same.” He
replied.
“Oh, okay.” Nic said, splitting
the candy bar straight down the
middle.
Lawrence Martinek, better
known as Larry the Math Man, is the
Chief Instructional Officer of
Mathnasium LLC. Martinek graduated
from California State University and
started his career in 1974 as a math
teacher in Los Angeles. After five years
of teaching, Martinek discovered that
all he was accomplishing in his classes
was “repair work.” Many of his students
were working well below
Lawrence Martinek, Chief
Instructional Officer at Mathnasium
“People really don’t hate math.
grade level and it was difficult for them
to understand the complicated
explanations found in the textbook.
Martinek was troubled by the
disconnect that was happening for the
students with the math they were
expected to know and the more
advanced curriculum they would be
introduced to in the coming years. It
was through teaching in schools that
Martinek discovered the great need for
an after-school math learning center:
“because there’s never enough time in
math class to get things done.”
As Martinek’s son, Nic, was
maturing, it became clear to his father
that he had an unusually analytical
mind. Nic became a mathematical
prodigy and Martinek was soon able to
“discuss math ideas [with him] that
were way beyond his years.” During
these discussions, because of the
relatively young age of his son,
Martinek discovered that he had to
change and experiment with the words
that he used to words “that made sense
to [Nic].” He knew the importance of
language in a classroom setting and
that language was a stumbling block
for many of his students and other
children when it came to being taught
“ When confronted with the stark reality that
genuine learning is not taking place, many students,
parents, and school counselors con themselves into
believing that if we can “just get past this test, this
class, everything will be alright.”
any subject. Martinek detailed, “In our
household, we always found ways to be
dealing with education, learning, and
expanding horizons. It was how we
lived. Nic and I talked about math all
the time. It was all very organic and
unscheduled. Our house was a 24-hour
creativity factory.”
These father-son mathematics
discussions eventually led to the
carefully calculated vocabulary of the
Mathnasium Method that is used in all
Mathnasiums throughout the world.
The mission statement of Mathnasium
is to “teach children math in a way that
makes sense to them.” When asked
about the creation of the Mathnasium
pages, Martinek answered, “When Nic
was about ten or eleven years old, we
spent a lot of time on the road taking
trips to Northern California. We
worked through what would eventually
become curriculum content on the
backs of placemats in restaurants along
the way, when our ideas were flowing.”
It was May of 1999 when
Martinek’s son fell asleep at the wheel,
coming home late from a date. His car
spun out and he died in the hospital
the next day from his injuries.
Martinek and his wife were devastated,
presence and genius to live on. A
Buddhist statue of a Buddha releasing a
fish back into the river inspired
Martinek to collect the many math
curriculum pages that he and his son
had created and, a few years later, to
open the first Mathnasium center in
Westwood, California. On the
thirteenth anniversary of the opening
of this center, Martinek stated,
“Through Mathnasium, Nic showed
the world that math is not just a matter
of rote processes. The things that go
under the banner of “rote processes”
can be taught in a much better way,
and the idea of ‘teaching kids math in a
way that makes sense’ all flows from
Nic, because he had this innate sense
of how math worked and how it should
be approached.”
Another part of the
Mathnasium mission promises to
increase the confidence of the students
that they teach: in math and in other
areas of their life. Martinek said,
Tutor vs Instructor
Above, we see a Mathnasium instructor playing a dice game with two
students. Instructors at Mathnasium work face to face with students
and are able to catch and correct any mistakes while children make
them. This is opposed to students making the same mistake on an
entire homework assignment.
they hate is they hate being
intimidated, they hate being frustrated,
they hate being embarrassed by math.”
As students at Mathnasium progress
through the curriculum, many parents
notice increased self confidence and
self worth. Since the opening of the
first center in 2002, Mathnasium now Did you know?
has a presence in sixteen countries
internationally and on March seventh,
2019, they announced the opening of
their 1,000th learning center. Tens of
thousands of children are taught In a recent study
through the Mathnasium Method every reported on by the
day. While attending the opening of
the first international Mathnasium Pew Research
center, Martinek received a gift from Center, the US
his hosts. It was a framed picture of
many fish, tightly packed, swimming in
ranked 37 out of 71
a river. Martinek knew that this gift countries in math
was the universe telling him that the on an international
one fish he had “released” by opening
Mathnasium was coming back in student assessment.
multiplicities.
In 2017, only 40% of
students tested by
the NAEP were at
or above proficient
level in
mathematics.
Math test scores
are significantly
lower for
students of
minority races.