Summer Math League (2010)

Message to students and parents

Pioneer 5th grade GATE math students and parents,

I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with you all this year. We covered a lot of challenging topics. I hope you had as much fun attending the after school sessions as I had delivering them. You are a talented, energetic, and well-behaved group.

I thought the sessions were valuable for the students that attended. So much so, that I would like to continue Math League in some form this summer. If this goes forward, it will not have any association with Pioneer elementary. I am still trying to work out the details and determine if there is sufficient interest. If you have thoughts you would like to share, my email is BarryBecker4<@>yahoo.com (<> inserted to throw off bots).

Vision

I would like to hold Math League meetings every Friday at my house through the summer months. The format will be similar in some ways to the current math league sessions, but there will be some differences.

The first 45 minutes or so will be similar to the weekly sessions during the school year. We will have teams and discuss topics, and have occasional tests that I prepare.
The time after that will consist mostly of free play in which we engage in math oriented games (such as Monopoly, MindTrap, Risk, Go, Chess, Poker, Paraos, Blockade, and others) as well as other fun activities. Parents can pick up their children any time during this second hour or let them stay the full time.
I invite the parents to get involved by actively participating or through a yahoo group (email list). I was not allowed to have an email group while associated with Pioneer, but hopefully after graduation, it will not be an issue.
I will have to charge some nominal fee to cover copies, materials, food, and my time. Whatever dues I ultimately decide on, I’m sure it will be much less than similar alternatives.