Firecracker Math
Community SubscriberAfter-school Math enrichment program
Have you also looked into Firecracker math? We had very good experience with their program. Small groups, great teaching with lots of discussion and input from the students, making it into a unique group learning experience. Specifically, my son (in 6th grade at that time) enjoyed the upper division classes taught by Dr. Eli Lebow. These classes were transformative and opened up his eyes to a world of math and math concepts not taught in schools. There was no homework, so no stress and all fun. Later, my son joined BMC which is great in many different ways, but my son still talks about those Firecracker math classes as the best learning experience ever.
Check out Firecracker Math. They are a wonderful place for math enrichment. Our child who is advanced in math has enjoyed camps and instructions there.
My kiddo HATED math and I have a graveyard full of broken pencils to show for it! The stress of it just exacerbated the problem. Then we found Ali Mansour at Firecracker Math and everything changed! Ali helped my child develop so much math confidence and an actual appreciation for math! We hired Ali last summer for one weekly private session, and my child, who was a full year behind in math prior to the summer, got 100% caught up and ended up being one of the strongest math students in their class last year. Everytime we had a challenge in math class during the past school year, we did a session with Ali and magically, all the stress and anxiety of not understanding a new math skill would evaporate. If you can get a few sessions with Ali, it could be a gamechanger.
We were in your shoes eight years ago, and BMC was not a great fit for our kid, for all the reasons you name. However, we found an *excellent* substitute for our math kid— FIrecracker math classes. They are small (in our experience, 4-10 kids in various classes over the years), interactive, collaborate, and the skilled teacher was able to consistently challenge our son by extending and individualizing the group lesson when he needed it something more advanced. Most of all, they’re fun! I can’t recommend them highly enough. They work with kids’ natural energy and curiosity, rather than trying to suppress it.
Our first grader is advanced in math as well. A year ago when our kid was your kids age, our kid was doing what your kid was doing. We're in OUSD and the school curriculum falls very short and we've been told by the teacher that the school can't do much for the kid. We send our kid to Firecracker Math camps during school breaks and after school class. They do fun math games. We also supplement at home by doing fun everyday math games while we cook, eat, clean, play shopping games, etc. We ask the kid to measure ingredients (Ex. We need a half cup of flour but I only have 1/4 cups. Can you help? We have only 3 carrots but we are 5 people. What should we do? How many plates and cups are on the table? How many should we each grab to clear the table that will be fair for us all?)
Highly recommend Quantum Camp if you can get him out of school once/week (or do the summer program or homeschool). Firecracker math was also helpful as an afterschool supplement. We had little success obtaining differentiation or challenge in Berkeley. The expectation is to seek that outside of school.
Archived Q&A and Reviews
April 2016
If anyone has tried Firecracker Math for their kindergartener or first grader, I would love to hear about your experiences! Debra
Hi, Our daughter has only participated in the higher-grade-level Firecracker classes, so we don't have direct experience of their classes for earlier grades, but I’ve seen some of their work with younger kids at one of their math festival days as well as at an open lesson they had before we started. We've really liked their approach as a complement to regular school math. Their classes really show how mathematicians think and solve problems in a deeper way than kids are typically exposed to in school.
The teacher typically starts the class with something engaging and accessible, like a physical puzzle or simple game, then uses it to illuminate abstract mathematical concepts like parity or the pigeonhole principle. In addition to asking questions for the kids to figure out, the teacher encourages the kids to formulate interesting mathematical/logical questions about the topic themselves, and work with each other to explore them both intuitively and logically. I particularly like that the teachers are good about giving them space to try different paths to solving a problem before giving them guidance towards the solution if they don't figure it out on their own.
Overall, I think they do a great job of showing what real mathematical problem-solving is like, and how fun it can be, beyond the mechanical aspect that tends to get emphasized in schoolwork.
I think they usually have an open house before the start of each term where kids can come for a free lesson and parents can see what it’s like, so you can check it out and see if it’s good for your child before registering. They also do summer camps, and sometimes have math festival days during the year if you want to get a taste of what they’re like without committing to a whole term. nj
March 2016
Have you checked out Firecracker? http://firecrackermath.org/mathcamps/ My son
hasn't tried their summer camp, but their after-school classes *definitely*
foster a love of math and excitement around problem-solving. The groups are small
and work together to solve complex problems in an open-ended way, and my son
prefers it hugely to the large lecture format of the Berkeley Math Circle (which
he attended for several years). I'm just grateful that Firecracker makes math so
joyful, exciting, and interesting-- my son comes home each week thinking and
talking about what he's learned. And their staff is wonderful. I can't recommend
them highly enough.
Mom of a math guy
Oct 2014
RE: Middle School Advice for Advanced Math Kid?
Check out the maths program ''Firecracker'' with both weekly sessions and summer camps: http://firecrackerforum.org/math/
Both Firecracker and the Berkeley Maths Circle build on rich experience from Eastern European Mathematics training. Exciting problem solving that attracts children, teaches them analytical skills and builds their confidence.
An essential difference is that Firecracker runs small groups (about 4-8 kids), while Berkeley Maths Circle operates with larger groups (about 40 in a classroom). Julia
June 2013
RE: Homeschool middle schooler for more rigorous math?
The best thing I came across is a weekly Math Club ''Brain workout'' organised by a parent initiative, the Russian Academy in South Berkeley. I highly recommend it. They also have summer camp and a newspaper, and all info is here: http://firecrackerforum.org/ Best of luck, Julia
May 2013
website: http://firecrackerforum.org/russian/
My eleven year old daughter has attended Firecracker Academy since the beginning of the school year and she absolutely loves the opportunity to go there every Wednesday. She says the teacher makes math fun and interesting and that she explains math so that kids can understand it. She also says the teacher is very kind and patient. I feel that my daughter's understanding of math has improved significantly since she began attending Firecracker Academy. My daughter looks forward to attending the program this summer and next school year. I am very happy to have heard about Firecracker Academy, and I will continue to send my daughter there. It is a great opportunity for her to enhance her math skills. Pleased with Firecracker Academy
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