Norman V. Alston founder of Moving Beyond Arithmetic™
"Quite simply, I believe students in the inner city must have access to uninterrupted, year long, sustained, skilled and inspired instruction in arithmetic and mathematics. The public school system desperately needs the support and intervention from community based resources to insure that all children really do in fact recieve a world class education. MBA offers a solution for teaching inner city elementary school students mathematics. As our name implies, the idea is to move students beyond simply completing worksheets, crunching numbers and struggling with algorithms. Children in the elementary school grades must learn, in fact, that mathematics is about thinking and solving problems, and is often simply done for pleasure and enjoyment.
"As a young African-American male, and the product of Seattle Public Schools I know first hand what it means to struggle with numbers. I was humiliated, and treated harshly by the system and was labled as "slow" and incapable of doing mathematics as early as third grade. In high school I was told that I was not able to do algebra. In college I was told I would never graduate because I was not good enough in algebra/trigonometry. Thankfully, however, I never believed any of those teachers, or the system that could not help me. Certainly, I know the problem, but more importantly, offer a solution. I wonder, sadly, how many children who look like me will believe the negative messages that they are unable to do serious mathematics?"
My Solution:
"FEAR NO NUMBER,"
Norman V. Alston
