Frequently Asked Questions

Top Banana after-school math program offers young people a dynamic way to embrace math and develop reasoning skills that last a lifetime. Our students learn to solve problems quickly and accurately without computers or calculators. With what students learn at Top Banana, they are cruising through their schoolwork. And it's fun! Students gain confidence and problem solving skills so crucial for life success. Enroll today and give your child the tools to succeed in the increasingly competitive environment!

Why some children are NOT very fond of math?

Let's be honest. Who likes to do what he's not really good at? On the other hand, to get better at anything, one must understand and practice it rather frequently. Therefore, it becomes a Catch Twenty-Two: no understanding, no practice, no success, no desire to learn.

I'm not good at it, now what?

We all can be divided into two categories - those who love math and those who can love math. The good news is that everyone, including kids, has natural talents. Some of us have good memory. Some can vividly describe things using language. Yet, others would rather draw pictures. Some learn by watching and some by listening. Often a talent can be dormant until it is woken up. We learn and understand in a variety of ways. Success comes from learning to utilize all your different talents and abilities, make them cooperate and enhance each other.

Why many children's math skills are weaker than English?

There is a couple of reasons. On one hand, research shows that an average school curriculum has significantly less time allocated to math than English and other language-based disciplines. On the other hand, language skills are much easier to practice. Children talk, listen to spoken language, read and write. Math is a different story. There may not be enough opportunities outside of school to practice math and thus developing these skills into "second nature". In addition, technological progress has lessened the need for people to exercise math skills in a wide variety of day-to-day activities.

How can we facilitate more math practice?

Well, reading and speaking do not require pencil and paper, but math learning is heavily pencil and paper based. When the math class is over and the workbook is put away, math practice is over. What if children were taught to do math mentally? Then their "pencil and paper" would be with them all the time, practice would rarely stop and results could be much more impressive.

Is mental math even possible?

Absolutely! A sightly different approach is needed however. People speak languages to communicate. Mathematics is a very special "language" to communicate structured information about things and actions. It is a language "spoken" by more people in the world than any other. If we look at math this way, the same fluency in math can be achieved as in spoken language. At the same time, it can actually be easy and fun!

Does one have to be a genius to do math mentally?

Actually, since the methods suitable for mental math are better aligned with the way human brain processes information, it is more logical and easier to comprehend and train on. Everyone can learn to do it. People who excel at mathematics use better strategies than the rest of us; they are not necessarily more intelligent.

Are there any additional benefits of mental math?

No doubts! All calculations involve pattern-recognition and are rule-based, in other words they make sense, there is less room for careless mistakes while speed and accuracy are much higher. Most importantly, students learn to solve the same problem using different methods, adopt the ones that best suit their learning style and thinking, and often develop their own strategies.

My child used to be so good at math in lower grades, but not anymore. How can your program help?

You are not alone. Math is a human activity and should be learned as such. Solving a problem requires following multiple steps, and each step could be a sequence of even more granular steps. The more complex the problem, the more steps are involved. As children progress to higher level math, it is assumed that they already became proficient in all those little processes so the larger problems can be solved quickly. Unfortunately, learning math in lower grades tend to be memorization, or fact, based. With math concepts being based on other concepts being based on other concepts and so on, this approach has obvious limitations. It is dry and boring for most students. What is even worse is that if memorized facts "fade away", there is no practical way to "restore" them other than to memorize them all over. Our curriculum is designed to reduce fact memorization to a bare minimum and concentrate on the process, logic and reasoning instead. This approach produces solid results and teaches skills that are practical, reliably repeatable and highly scalable.

Is there homework?

Yes. Each student gets a workbook that includes summaries of each topic learned in class accompanied by examples and problems. Homework is based on the problems in the workbook and consists of problems pertaining to the material currently studied along with review problems. We firmly believe that "practice makes it perfect".

Which class should my child be in?

Learning and, most importantly, retaining solid knowledge in mathematics requires incremental skill building. First and foremost element in this process is good foundation. Children have different amount and quality of knowledge and skills. This is our number one criteria when it comes to placement. We recommend that every prospective student undergo a quick assessment test to determine the most appropriate class.

How often are classes? How long is the program?

Students attend our program once a week. Class duration varies from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the grade (please see Class Schedule). The program is aligned with a school year, September through mid-June.