Russian School of Mathematics

This enrichment math program is all business. My sophomore son is taking pre calculus currently and will continue with calculus this Sept. For the past several weeks, his pre calculus class has been prepping for the SAT Math 2 subject test. His teacher offered a class this weekend before Memorial Day (the rest of the classes are closed for the holiday) to get an extra day of prep for the subject test which is two weeks later. I really like how professional and business like this program is. They are very flexible and very well managed. They are very good at assessing skill levels. I highly recommend Russian School of Math.

Thinking about it — there is nothing even remotely close to resembling math in California till high school. In addition, teacher’s unions replaced any kind of problems to teach thinking for computer games like JiJi or everyday math… Easy to understand — less work for teachers while children are stuck in front of the screen. This school does not have unionized teachers; they will deal with you child and if you support the process, others will think your offspring is gifted for taking SAT at 12 with a score considerably better than most high school students.

The strong curriculum teaches, in addition to rote calculation skills, problem-​solving skills. That’s what you’re paying for. Individualized attention less so.
Homework takes several hours every week. Often, the point of homework is not just to solve the problem, but to do so in an efficient way, or to go through the correct sequence of steps. So if your kid doesn’t get it, and the parents are bad at math, then expect floundering, or visits to the on-​site homework help sessions (which I’ve never used, and are advertised as «not one-​on-​one tutoring sessions»).
Gets 5 stars because curriculum is so much stronger than competing math schools’ curricula. Competing math schools’ curricula seemed to teach rote calculation skills to the exclusion of more difficult problem-​solving skills that are also taught at RSM.
~$ 2k /​year for ~ 70 hours of classroom math instruction is a bargain for raising your kid’s math skills from average to strong. To get the most bang from your buck, you should put in the few hours a week to guide your kid through difficult spots of homework.

This is one of the best after school program for math if your kids are advanced in math and you are looking for challenging math education. I’d to remove one star because there is too much home work from this school, it’s lot compared to regular school work.

This place is wonderful.
My 3^rd grader takes a class at RSM and I could not be happier. He is being provided with a rich understanding of mathematics. It is really amazing how much he has learned and how he is able to comprehend some of the more advanced topics.

Great math school to receive supplemental instruction that is beyond what is offered in public schools. As the name implies, this location is run largely by a group of Russian women and the majority of the instructors seem to be foreign. All have strong academic backgrounds and are effective and engaging with the students.
Please note that the language of instruction is English and though some instructors/​staff may speak Russian or other languages, the courses will be taught in English.
For many parents who come from outside of the US, the schools here are not on par with the rigor and challenge expected elsewhere and many choose to have their kids take classes here to increase and advance their math skills beyond what is offered in the school classroom.
Starting at first grade and continuing through high school, classes are comprised of an algebra/​computation component and a geometry component, and further specialize as grade level and student skills advance.
Location and classrooms are spartan and relatively bare, which is somewhat unusual to see in a childrens learning environment but serves the purpose of ensuring children focus on the activiies and lessons at hand rather than being distracted by colorful posters and decorations that don’t serve an educational purpose.

Grudgingly did I come to realize that I have no better choice that to drive my kid to and from RSM, spending several hours of my weekend. Although I could have taught math to my kid myself, it would not be the same as sitting with other 12 or so competitive kids. Children tend to compete — at least some do. For such kids it’s important to be able to compare themselves to the rest.
My child goes to a private school, where the level of math is relatively high (they follow Singapore math curriculum) — and yet isn’t challenged enough in math classes. RSM has a thorough curriculum of their own. The teachers not only do a good job with the initial evaluation and placement, but also keep track of each kid’s progress and can intelligently discuss this with a parent. The do know each child! There are the-​same-​grade classes at several difficulty levels; the placement test determines the appropriate level within his/​her grade. The faculty are quite mindful of the right placement as to not discourage the child from studying math. My kid very much likes his teacher and is very much enthusiastic about going back there every week.

Wow, what a zoo. Kids run around uncontrolled half the time (or more); it is noisy, unfocused, and there is clearly not enough supervision for the number of «students» this glorified babysitting outfit takes on at any given time. Awful company, awful people.

I’m mixed here, and can only give a perspective from a parent w/​a young kid (6). We wanted a program that we could supplement math at his school since he was exposed to much more in his Montessori then what they teach in public school. Drill and kill would not work w/​my son, so I specifically wanted one that would be more outside of the box, working on logic and really understanding concepts. I think this school does a pretty decent job with this. We were impressed with their assessment process, and we liked that the minimal homework they sent home was far from a drill and kill approach. I’m taking my son out though since of the extracurricular activities he has, this one is the easiest to replace for now and the 2 hour class per week was just to much. We also had some miscommunication where the teacher told us that we needed to start drilling our kid in multiplication (which was a big part of why we chose this place, to avoid drills) and a difference from the headmaster who said no, this is not the case. Although I’m not happy with the math and math level provided in public schools, for now I will be supplementing my son’s math with Dreambox and Khan Academy (2 online math sites) and some logic/​puzzle books.

Great math school! My (now) 7 year old daughter enjoys this school a lot. They teach core math concepts, logic, reasoning, algebra, multiplication, division, etc. which is a lot more advanced than what my daughter is exposed to in her (rated around 900 in California) elementary school.
If you want your child to learn how to do math, logic, and reasoning, this is a great school. It definitely beats anything being taught in public schools, and for kids that enjoy math, or are gifted, this is a great place for them. As others have said, the curriculum is taught in English.
I highly recommend Russian School of Mathematics and consider it a good investment in my daughters future and money well spent.

At the Russian School of Mathematics, my son is challenged and learns something new during each class. This does not happen in his public school. The Russian School homework level is very reasonable. The Russian School teacher is energetic, has a positive attitude, and keeps a nice control over the classroom of around 13 kids. In his public school located in Saratoga, California, kindergarten through fourth grade, he generally learned and continues to learn the same math concepts over and over leading to boredom for months. Generally he would not learn a new concept until January and the tests and homework were and continue to be extremely simple. At the Russian School, he is challenged, energized and interested constantly. We are thrilled he says he learns a new concept during each and every class. It’s impressive that 40 percent of the Russian School students attend Ivy League Schools, and score 700 – 800 on the SATs at age 14.

I’ve finally found a math program to challenge my child! This is an environment that gets excited when children learn ahead of the curve. Every school year I have really stressed over what they teach in public school. My son is always bored. Now, I don’t have to stress and worry about him getting the excellent math foundation he will so desperately need to compete in a global economy. They have kids in the 7^th and 8^th grade scoring as high on the SATs as high school kids! It’s way cheaper than paying private school tuition:)

First, don’t let the name fool you– all instruction is in English.
But the way they teach math is Russian style– methodical, logical, deep.
See their website– which is very thorough– for more info.
I have been looking for math help for my son for years and I am so grateful to have found RSM!!! Math is no longer a saga in my home. My pre-​teen actually does his math without whining and is happily running to a math class.
This is not a tutoring center, they have their own program that they have developed– no more stupid spiral math! I had my son take a few tutoring sessions on help him at his regular school, and now he is getting 100% on his tests on both schools.
The classes are small and they offer free homework help on Fridays and Sundays.
They are originally from Massachusetts, — where they are very well known, and have opened this Peninsula Branch just a few years ago.
They also have a summer program option and even a sleep away summer camp!
I can’t say enough about this wonderful place.