Rebecca Zook - Math Tutoring Online

Parents routinely come to me with this situation. Your passionate, creative, unique, visionary kid has been struggling with math for months (or even years), even though they’re already giving it everything they’ve got.

You’re spending hours on Khan Academy every night trying to untangle your kid’s homework, teaching yourself so you can teach them. Instead of having dinner as a family, you’re working on math.

Your kid is so frustrated and stressed about math that they routinely break down and cry. Or maybe they’re just so anxious that you’re starting to pick up their anxiety yourself, and you’re struggling to filter everything you say, just to make sure you don’t snap at them.

You feel drained, burdened, even resentful. You come home from work, and instead of being excited to see your kid and have this precious time with them, you are filled with dread about the math you’ll need to help them with tonight. Again. Night after night. No end in sight.

And the days when they have tests are the worst. When you pick them up after school, you feel this knot in your stomach worrying about how they did.

You’re already worrying about the doors that will be shut to them if they don’t feel comfortable with math. You don’t care whether or not they pursue math as a career – you just really, really don’t want their math phobia to get in the way of their dreams coming true.

You might have even already taken then to a tutoring center and they hated it. Maybe they felt embarrassed that someone they knew might see them. Maybe they were just turned off by having to do worksheet after worksheet. And even though it was supposed to solve the problem, the tutoring center wasn’t able to help your kid either.

And you’re starting to feel extremely guilty, because even though you’re trying everything you can humanly think of, your superhuman efforts are not creating results. Your kid isn’t really understanding, they’re not really learning, and they’re not getting good grades. Sometimes you feel like a failure as a parent.

In a few years, your kid will be in college, out of the house forever, and right now, your precious time together as a family is being completely consumed by struggling with math.

You feel completely stuck.

Does this sound familiar? Is this what you’re facing?

Please know that you are not alone. Nothing is wrong with you. There is just something missing. You aren’t getting the support you need to truly understand, and neither is your kid, but that doesn’t mean that either of you is mathematically incapable. There’s just a gap between what you need and the resources that you have in front of you.

Please know that what you’re facing is not insurmountable. Just because you have been struggling for months or years does not mean that you have to struggle forever.

For example, I personally spent years struggling in silence with math and thinking that I was “not a math person.”

Now I’m on the other side, and I have helped many other families go from being completely consumed about math to feeling happy, relaxed, and confident about math – even in really extreme situations where a kid was so anxious about math they refused to do their homework unless they were sitting next to their mom, or, another example, where a previous tutor had told the family that math was like a foreign language and their daughter only spoke five words.

Please know that you don’t have to stay stuck. It is completely possible to find support that results in lasting math transformation – even if you feel like you’ve already tried everything and nothing has worked.

Please know that you don’t have to keep doing what you’re doing. If it’s not working, doing MORE of what’s not working is not going to create the transformation that you desire.

Please know that you don’t have to do this by yourself. You do not have to reteach yourself all of the math you ever learned. You do not need to be the one trying to ensure that your kid understands. You do not need keep spending hours on Khan Academy every night trying to figure out what they heck your kid is supposed to do. You do not need to continue to feel this dread about your kid’s next math grade.

If you’re ready to invest in world-class, one-on-one math mastery support for your passionate, creative kid, just click here to get started with your special application for my one-on-one math tutoring programs.

Once your application is received, we’ll set up a special phone call to explore whether or not the magical way I work would be a good fit for you and your family! I can’t wait to connect and create this same lasting transformation for YOU!

Related posts:
How to know when it’s time to stop tutoring your own kid
Case study: an 8th grader goes from “math meltdown” to “math touchdown!”
What to do when you get a disappointing math test grade

Is your child consumed by math anxiety, even though they’re “doing everything right?”

These are some of my favorite students to work with, because I used to struggle with the exact same thing.

When this particular Algebra II/Trig student first came to me, she was making decent grades – Cs, Bs and low As – but at enormous psychic cost.

She would spend hours every night perfectionistically slaving over her math homework, but still feel completely unclear about the material and consumed by math anxiety.

Math felt like a collection of shards of broken glass that she was putting massive energy into “keeping together,” but they never actually fit together or added up to a cohesive whole.

How did she shift from perfectionism to mastery?

Let’s break it down!

1. When this student started working with me, one of the things that really stressed her out was her formulas sheet.

A page covered in things she hadn’t yet learned, that she would eventually have to memorize, many involving symbols or terms she’d never heard of yet, all crammed onto one scary page.

OF COURSE this freaked her out!

So we set the formulas sheet aside.

2. And instead, we built the formulas sheet from scratch – one formula at a time.

First, we started with the simplest, most basic formula, and built it from scratch using foundational concepts that this student already knew, like the Pythagorean formula.

And we’d make it super visual, drawing diagrams that explained why it worked.

Then she’d “teach it back to me” and build it from scratch and draw the diagrams herself.

Then the next session, we’d do the same thing again.

And again.

And again.

Until each formula was totally internalized, and she could build almost the entire formulas sheet from scratch, all by herself.

3. This created massive self-trust.

Not only did this student KNOW all the formulas, she knew WHY they worked, AND she could build them on her own.

Also, taking the time to do this so slowly, in the end, created massive speed.

This student became one of the fastest problem-solvers I’ve ever seen at this level …

BECAUSE she had taken the time to understand the fundamental concepts so meticulously.

The end result was that, without trying to be fast, this student breezed through the material, understanding at a deep conceptual level problems that many other students just experience as a random collection of rules or weird answers spit out by their TI-82.

Now this student experienced math as a cohesive whole, where she belonged, instead of a random collection of disconnected shards.

4. So, how did this play out in her classroom?

As a result of our work, this student’s grades hit the roof.

She was awarded the “most improved student” award by her teacher – in front of her whole school.

She was so much less stressed that she stopped binge eating…
…just because the math anxiety was gone.

And she applied for and won a prestigious internship at a European research-based skin care company in Georgetown, DC – being chosen over COLLEGE STUDENTS!!!

(This is an awesome example of how when math is no longer an obstacle, students can really bring their dreams and visions out into the world.)

Do you have a child who is struggling with this kind of math anxiety?

Maybe they’re actually getting good grades, but not really understanding how the pieces fit together.

Or maybe their grades have started to suffer.

Either way, I’d love to connect with you get clear on whether or not my work would be a fit for your child.

Just fill out this application to get started: fill out your application here

I am so excited to connect!

Sending you love,
REBECCA

Related Articles:
Case Study: A 5th grader goes from believing “Math Doesn’t Like Me” to singing and dancing about math while wearing a purple tutu
Afraid Your Math Teacher Will Judge You?
Case Study: A 10th grader goes from feeling like math is a foreign language to becoming the most called-upon student in her class
The Treachery of Invisible Math Anxiety

4. Math-masterful parents are focused on the long-term process of mastery.

Typical parents focus on just getting math over with.

Math is so stressful that they just want to help their kids complete their homework assignments as quickly as possible.

But this never gets below the surface to the actual root problems that are causing the math anxiety and stress.

In contrast, math-masterful parents focus on whether their child is deeply understanding and internalizing the material, not just getting their homework done.

As part of this, math-masterful parents are proactive, not reactive.

Instead of being in crisis mode, waiting to see if they have math issues, scheduling support only around tests, or reacting to the artificial rhythms of the school year, these parents put support in place consistently and let their child’s mastery needs set the pace.

Like athletes or performing artists, math-masterful families train consistently.

They still take breaks and vacations, but use holidays and summer breaks as a powerful secret compartment to catch up, get ahead, and stay connected to math—to enjoy math on their own terms.

This consistent training develops their own inner math sanctuary that supports them, once they’re back from vacation, no matter what is going on in their classroom or curriculum.

And because they invest this time and energy in consistent math mastery training, they end up having a much more relaxed and happy school year, because their child is actually confident and prepared.

As a quick example of this, one family came to me towards the end of 5th grade after years of struggling with math and not getting what they needed from typical tutoring.

We worked together throughout the summer between 5th and 6th grade—still taking some breaks, but making sure that this student was really connecting to math and loving it.

Her first day back of 6th grade, this student was the only kid in the room who knew what the commutative property was, and nailed question after question after question until her teacher just started laughing!

More recently, a student and I used her spring break as an opportunity to get ahead and really understand logarithms.

Just a few days ago she told me that she was the only student in her class who actually understood them.

And her mom now experiences her daughter’s school vacations as much more relaxing, because there’s no more math dread.

Do you wish your child could go through this same transformation?

I would love to talk to you.

Just fill out this application here.

As soon as your application is received and reviewed, I’ll reach out to schedule a special appointment for us to connect on the phone and get clear on how I could best support your family.

I can’t wait to connect!

Sending you love,
REBECCA

Related posts:
What Parents Of Math-Confident Children Secretly Do (That Typical Parents Don’t) – #1
What Parents Of Math-Confident Children Secretly Do (That Typical Parents Don’t) – #2
What Parents Of Math-Confident Children Secretly Do (That Typical Parents Don’t) – #3

When this fifth grade student first came to me, her mom told me, “My daughter is joyful about everything in her life – except for math.” This student was so anxious and uncertain about math that she refused to do her homework unless she was literally sitting next to her mom. She would tell her mom, “math doesn’t like me.”

This put a lot of pressure and stress on her mom, who was doing everything she could to try to help her daughter succeed at math, but she felt like she she was failing her daughter and being a “bad mother” because she couldn’t find a solution. The mom felt anxious picking her daughter up from school because she wasn’t sure whether or not her daughter would have a math temper tantrum. And even though when her daughter would express her feelings of math inadequacy, she was really just asking for help, it was so stressful for the mom that the mom sometimes would react with frustration just because she was so worn down from the seemingly endless math stress.

I started working with this student towards the end of her fifth grade school year. Because this student loves to dance and sing and has a great passion for musical theater, I started teaching her math songs to help her remember different concepts and formulas. We also really focused on filling in the gaps and building a strong foundation.

Midway through the summer, this student started spontaneously singing her math problems! She would make up these little operas about all the different math operations she was doing – as well as songs just about math concepts in general, with sophisticated lyrics that showed she really got the concepts. She would even come to some of her sessions wearing her purple tutu. I was overjoyed to see her expressing herself so confidently and creatively with math, even with her outfits. At the same time, her mom and I also weren’t yet sure how this would transfer to the classroom.

Her first day back at school, her first middle school math class of 6th grade, the teacher asked a question, and my student just couldn’t help herself – she shouted out, “It’s because of the commutative property!” It turned out that no one else in her class – even the students she thought of as being very strong mathematicians – had even heard of the commutative property before! This was a huge boost to my student’s confidence and enjoyment!

Since her first day back at school as a sixth grader, she has consistently made 90s or 100s on every single math test and quiz she’s taken – except for one! On this test, she got an 88%, and what is so interesting is that this absolutely didn’t defeat her.

When she talked about it with her mom, the focus was just about making sure to get the test back from the teacher, so we could go over what she didn’t understand in our tutoring sessions and learn from it. In some ways this was an even bigger victory than the tests where she scored higher, because it showed how much her mindset had shifted. We could see her resilience in how she dealt with a lower grade, and how her attitude had shifted to “I’ll get it, because I know I can get it.”

Just as important, the mom’s experience has shifted dramatically now that she isn’t the one who is helping her daughter with math. She shared with me that when she comes home from work, it’s easy for her energy to be fully engaged with her daughter because it isn’t sapped by worrying about helping her with her math homework right away. She can just decompress and regroup and be energized and be a good parent. And her daughter has become so much more independent that the mom can be reading a book in another room while her daughter is doing her homework on her own!

How did we create this totally awesome math transformation? Let me tell you all about it!

1. Positive, relaxed environment. We fostered an environment of trust and camaraderie. Our work together is committed and also relaxed; this student is totally free to make mistakes, ask questions, or go over whatever it is she needs to go over, no matter what.

2. Dealing with math feelings. When this student is overjoyed, anxious, or heartbroken, we deal with it together head-on. There was one session very early on where she (quite understandably) cried because she was so disappointed and frustrated with a recent grade. Instead of squelching this or ending the session, we just talked it out, making a safe space for her to feel, express, and release her frustration and disappointment. Other times she was so happy with what she was learning and accomplishing that she would dance and sing with glee and pride!

3. Consciously fostering a “growth mindset” with math. This student has an awesome “growth mindset” when it comes to her work in musical theater. She will audition over and over again for the same Broadway show, and instead of getting discouraged if she hasn’t gotten a part yet, she is just really excited about the process and the experience.

At the same time, there have been periods where she has really expressed more of a “fixed mindset” about math – “you have it or you don’t,” and being worried that she wasn’t one of the ones who “had it.” We deliberately take time to talk about this together and draw parallels with her work in the theater so that she can pull that already-existing growth mindset into her math.

For example, just this week, this student expressed both concern and hope about a state-wide test she was taking the next day. She wanted to score high enough to be selected for state and national math events, and she was also worried that there would be stuff on the test that she didn’t know because she wasn’t in the “honors level class.”

We discussed at length how it’s like if she went to an audition and they asked her to play the bagpipes and do a Scottish accent, she wouldn’t beat herself up for not already knowing how to do those things – after the audition, she would just ask her teachers and coaches to help her learn, if that’s something she was interested in being able to do. Then she shared her philosophy of auditioning, which is that “it’s not just about the part, it’s about the experience, and if you’re not focused on the part, it will just naturally happen.” We drew direct parallels with what she tells herself during her auditions and what she can tell herself during her math tests.

4. Self-expression. In the context of a supportive environment of trust where all of our work is super individualized, this student started to express herself more and more, whether it was singing the math songs she’d learned, making up her own original math songs, singing herself through the math problem she was working on, wearing her purple tutu, or decorating her problems with hot pink drawings (some of which are included in this very blog post)! Seeing her experience math as a vehicle of self-expression is absolutely encouraged, because it’s a huge sign that the student is getting way more comfortable and also really internalizing the material at a deeper level.

5. Support is normalized. Just like this student didn’t stop taking voice lessons or going to dance class once she started getting parts in musicals, math support that fosters her autonomy is now just part of her normal routine. Instead of saying, “Well, now her grades are higher, she’s done with math mentoring,” this student and her parents have recommitted to receiving support so that she can just continue to grow her math abilities and confidence more and more, and that her family can experience an even deeper experience of harmony around math.

I am so, so proud of this student, and how her persistence, vulnerability, and commitment has created such true mastery, confidence, and JOY with her math!

Are you tired of feeling like a bad parent because even though you’re doing everything you can to help your kid with math, it isn’t working?

Does it break your heart to see your own purple-tutu-wearing kid have meltdowns about math?

Are you ready to invest in high-level support?

Just click here to get started with your special application for my one-on-one math tutoring programs.

Once your application is received, we’ll set up a special phone call to get clear if my approach would be a good fit for your child.

I can’t wait to hear from you!

Sending you love,
REBECCA

Related Posts:
Case Study: A Rising 8th grader masters her summer math packet
Case study: A seventh grader goes from “I don’t get it” to getting 100 percents
Case Study: an ADHD student goes from a D to an A
I just can’t keep this a secret any longer

You are invited to join me for:

Making Math Magical: How to End the Math Freak-out and Raise a Math-Confident Child
on Saturday 8/5
at the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton, Long Island!

For Parents & Guardians

Math can be a big source of parental anxiety, where even math-confident parents can find themselves stuck when it comes to supporting their child.

In this workshop, math mastery mentor and joyful learning expert Rebecca Zook will provide you with groundbreaking tools to build and nurture your child’s math confidence.

Learn how to support your child to achieve mastery, rise to the top of their class, and in time experience math as a source of joy and self-expression.

Walk away with clear steps, case studies, and tools you can use to ensure math confidence.

This talk is for: parents and guardians of kids from 4th-12th grade
Talk title: Making Math Magical: Raising a Math Confident Child
Date: Saturday, August 05, 2017
Time: 3:00pm
Location: Hampton Library
2478 Main St,
Bridgehampton, NY 11932

Come and join me! Tell your friends!

And YES, my cello will be coming to help with the presentation!

#Bridgehampton #HamptonLibrary #LI #LongIsland #makingmathmagical #mathmastery #backtoschool #mathforparents #mathworkshopforparents #mathjoy #mathanxiety #endthemathfreakout #raiseamathconfidentchild

PS. This will be my *last* presentation until I return from recording and performing with my cello in Iceland in mid-September!

This Monday, 7/24, I’ll be speaking to parents at the Bernardsville, NJ public library about How to Make Math Magical this Summer!

While summer is the perfect time to catch up on math or get ahead, students typically lose 2.6 months of grade level learning in math each summer.

Come learn how you can use the summer so your child can catch up or get ahead with math without having it be a boring, stressful chore.

Presented by Rebecca Zook, a math mastery mentor and joyful learning expert with over 13 years of experience as a thought leader on the cutting edge of math education.

This program is for parents of students in 4th grade through high school.

Talk title: How to Make Math Magical this Summer
This talk is for: parents of students in 4th grade through high school

Date: Mon 7/24
Time: 7 pm
Location: Bernardsville Public Library
1 Anderson Hill Road
Bernardsville, NJ 07924

Cost: Free and open to the public!

And in case you were wondering, there WILL be cello!

Come and join me – and please share with friends who might need help making math magical this summer!

#Bernardsville #NJ #BernardsvillePublicLibrary #makingmathmagical #summermath #mathforparents #mathworkshop #mathconfidence #mathmastery #mathanxiety #mathjoy

Tonight,

Tues 7/11 @ 6.30-8 pm,

I will be presenting

Making Math Magical: Summer Edition:
How to use the summer to catch up or get ahead
(without burning out or going crazy)
for parents (of students 4th-12th grade)

While summer is the perfect time to catch up on math or get ahead, students typically lose 2.6 months of grade level learning in math each summer. Many families, even those who enthusiastically embrace summer reading, feel overwhelmed or completely lost when it comes to getting started with doing summer math.

Come learn how you can use the summer so your child can catch up or get ahead with math without having it be a boring, stressful chore, but actually magical, meaningful, fun, and effective, so your child is competent and confident.

You will learn how to:
-create achievable and meaningful summer math goals
-find summer materials that really work for you
-plan, pace and schedule yourself and your child
-fun ways to learn math on the go or on vacation
-access the magic that comes from true math mastery

Everyone will leave with specific tools and strategies to take home and use immediately.

I will be sharing the three big practices that completely transformed my life as a mathematician and performing artist.
Come and bring your friends!

Talk title: Making Math Magical: Summer Edition:
How to use the summer to catch up or get ahead (without burning out or going crazy)
Audience: for parents (of students 4th-12th grade)
Date: Tonight, Tues 7/11
Time: 6:30-8 pm
Location: Park Slope branch of the Brooklyn Public Library
431 6th Ave,
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Cost: Free and open to the public

#ParkSlope #Brooklyn #BKLYN #BrooklynPublicLibrary #MathMastery #MakingMathMagical #MathJoy #mathanxiety #mathworkshopforparents

Make Math Magical This Summer:
How to use the summer to catch up or get ahead
(without burning out or going crazy)
for parents
(of students 3rd grade through high school)

Tues 6/13
6.30-8 pm
New Canaan Public Library
151 Main Street
New Canaan, CT 06840

While summer is the perfect time to catch up on math or get ahead, students typically lose 2.6 months of grade level learning in math each summer.

Many families, even those who enthusiastically embrace summer reading, feel overwhelmed or completely lost when it comes to getting started with doing summer math.

Come learn how you can use the summer so your child can catch up or get ahead with math without having it be a boring, stressful chore, but actually magical, meaningful, fun, and effective, so your child is competent and confident.

You will learn how to:
-create achievable and meaningful summer math goals
-find summer materials that really work for you
-plan, pace and schedule yourself and your child
-fun ways to learn math on the go or on vacation
-access the magic that comes from true math mastery

Everyone will leave with specific tools and strategies to take home and use immediately.

For parents of kids from 3rd-12th grade.

Free and open to the public.

#NewCanaan #CT #NewCanaanPublicLibrary #mathforparents #makingmathmagical #preventsummermathslide #preventsummerlearningloss #mathworkshopforparents #mathanxiety #mathmastery

Making Math Magical: Summer Edition:
How to use the summer to catch up or get ahead (without burning out or going crazy)
for parents (of students 3rd grade through high school)

While summer is the perfect time to catch up on math or get ahead, students typically lose 2.6 months of grade level learning in math each summer.

Many families, even those who enthusiastically embrace summer reading, feel overwhelmed or completely lost when it comes to getting started with doing summer math.

Come learn how you can use the summer so your child can catch up or get ahead with math without having it be a boring, stressful chore, but actually magical, meaningful, fun, and effective, so your child is competent and confident.

You will learn how to:
-create achievable and meaningful summer math goals
-find summer materials that really work for you
-plan, pace and schedule yourself and your child
-fun ways to learn math on the go or on vacation
-access the magic that comes from true math mastery

Everyone will leave with specific tools and strategies to take home and use immediately.

Wednesday 6/14
6-7.30 pm
Brooklyn Heights Interim Branch
109 Remsen St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
(inside Our Lady of Lebanon Church)

For parents of kids from 3rd-12th grade.

Free and open to the public.

I’m super excited to announce:

Making Math Magical, SUMMER EDITION:
How to use the summer to catch up or get ahead
(without burning out or going crazy)
for parents (of students 4th grade through high school)

While summer is the perfect time to catch up on math or get ahead, students typically lose 2.6 months of grade level learning in math each summer. Many families, even those who enthusiastically embrace summer reading, feel overwhelmed or completely lost when it comes to getting started with doing summer math.

Come learn how you can use the summer so your child can catch up or get ahead with math without having it be a boring, stressful chore, but actually magical, meaningful, fun, and effective, so your child is competent and confident.

You will learn how to:
-create achievable and meaningful summer math goals
-find summer materials that really work for you
-plan, pace and schedule yourself and your child
-fun ways to learn math on the go or on vacation
-access the magic that comes from true math mastery

Everyone will leave with specific tools and strategies to take home and use immediately.

This talk is for: Parents of kids from 3rd through 12th grade.

Where: Millburn Free Public Library
Meeting Room A (auditorium)
200 Glen Avenue
Millburn, NJ 07041
Date: Thurs 6/8/2017
Time: 7:00-8:30 PM

#Millburn #NJ #NewJersey #MillburnFreePublicLibrary #MakingMathMagical #SummerEdition #summermath #mathforparents #stopsummermathloss #mathworkshopforparents