Proof Positive

March 1, 2005
By Lani Harac

After figuring out why many kids hate math, longtime educators Bob and Ellen Kaplan created an after-school program in which children as young as 5 formulate equations of their own—and actually enjoy doing it.

For all the talk about “math wars” in this country, most public school classes focus more on rote memorization than on theory. But the Kaplans, after 40-plus years as educators, believe that learning the mathematical process is an end in itself. The approach that they and their Math Circle instructors employ during these after-school sessions, which serve kids ages 5 to 18, is simple: Present an abstract concept as a puzzle, then let the students wrestle with it and come up with their own solutions. Not only is the process fun, the Kaplans believe, but it can be applied to other subjects, as well.

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