Necessity is the Mother of Invention and with students struggling in math, and a desire for improvement, these kits were born. We educators began by examining the National Conference for the Teaching of Mathematics (NCTM) standards, and then coupled the national guidelines with our own Texas state standards to create each kit. Mainstay Math kits were developed to promote motivation and mastery of the essential knowledge and skills taught on each grade level. We wanted to accomplish these goals without diminishing the joy of learning!
Each lesson is packaged in a well-designed, easily storable box. Students can’t wait to see what is coming "out of the box" each time the opportunity arises to use the kits! The boxes are even color-coded to the major curriculum strands: green for numeration; yellow for algebraic relationships/patterning; red for geometry; purple for measurement; turquoise for probability and statistics, and finally orange for problem solving. Of course problem solving was embedded in many of the other kits as well. We used color for easy identification, and again as an organizational tool.
These kits are teacher friendly because they are so well organized and “all-inclusive” which means if the lesson calls for a pair of scissors, the scissors are in the box. Each kit is guaranteed to contain at least two pieces of literature, activities, and “hands-on” manipulatives, mixed with technology integration, art activities, and/or often times games. It’s all in one convenient package, and ready to be implemented.
These conceptually based kits provide opportunities for students to delve deeper into the learning experience. Designed for small group reinforcement, the kits are not meant to replace the core curriculum or the teacher. Each kit is designed around the 6E process (© Mainstay Math, 2006) which is the procedural backbone that establishes a routine to quickly enhance the understanding of each math concept.
Our kits are student centered to accelerate the learning through peer interactions; excellent for academic tutoring; and distributed practice. These kits provide a rich instructional, integrated experience that provides choices. Each kit contains a brief assessment as the last step in the process. As we know, aligning assessment with curriculum is an effective tool for infusing instructional quality into classrooms and thereby promoting student achievement. (Borman, 2005).
Our Mainstay Math kits are research-based, and emphasize a “hands-on”, problem solving approach to math that encourages thinking through active engagement. A bibliography of researched references can be furnished upon request.
