Other than the problems on the paper, there is no routine to what we do. Preskenis says that along with the fact that he believes that kids would be turned off by the program if he made it an hour of regimented schooling, he also believes that just as mindlessness can be socially contagious, so can intellectual activity. Of the 150 kids who join the program each year, ten to fifteen percent drop out. But one person's stress is another person's enjoyment. Although he finds great satisfaction in seeing the gratification a child experiences in getting a problem right, Preskenis says that watching a child assert him or herself is just as rewarding.
Problem solving is a universal state of mind .
If I can tap into that problem solving state of mind and force these kids to be inventive when they get lost in problems, in most case it becomes easier for them to learn. At the very least they are learning to communicate in math as a language, but my hope is that they experience the exhilaration that comes with getting lost in a problem, and then solving it. All rights reserved.