THINK! SHARE! GROW!
Active Learning is a general term for learning methods where students take initiative and engage directly with their education. Rather than simply listening to lectures, they think critically, participate actively, and drive their own learning process—leading to deeper understanding and stronger academic outcomes.
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At Japanese Math Academy, we use this approach to help students learn how to think, engage, evolve, and excel. By developing these skills in math, they build a foundation that empowers them to apply the same strategies across subjects—and adapt with confidence to today’s rapidly changing world.​
What sets JMA apart
Deep Learning
By promoting “deep understanding” by encouraging students to think, learners make judgments, and express themselves based on perspectives and ways of thinking unique to each subject, within a framework that anticipates acquisition, application, and exploration.
Interactive Learning
By prioritizing depth over breadth, learners can thoroughly explore select subjects, grasping their intricacies and nuances. This approach fosters critical thinking, enhances problem-solving skills, and encourages the ability to make meaningful connections between ideas.
Independent Learning
“Independent learning,” helps students become curious and interested, work hard with a sense of purpose for their future, and think about what they’ve learned so they can keep growing and learning more.
My daughter took 5th grade math at JMA last year and we saw the results in weeks. Her math solving skills improved greatly and she now feels super confident about 6th grade math. The Japanese math method is based on breaking problems into smaller, logical pieces, which helped my daughter “navigate and digest” complex mathematical concepts with ease. Hiroko is a great teacher, thoughtful, respectful, and patient, who can adapt to the different learning styles of the students. Because of the COVID pandemic, classes had to be moved from in-person to video conference, and Hiroko quickly adapted to the virtual environment and classes where held with the same schedule, format, and attention to detail. Last year my younger daughter in 1st grade participated in a pilot program and actually enjoyed it! She’s now enrolled for the fall term, so she can build a solid math foundation early on.
I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I was when my two grandkids, ages 6 and 9, started math tutoring with Hiroko. COVID hit, schools were closed, and I scrambled to help my daughter and son-in-law put together a home schooling plan. Knowing that math would be professionally taught took away some of the pressure we were feeling. We had enough to cover with reading, writing, science and social studies, not to mention extra curricular activities. I asked my fourth grader granddaughter what she thought of the tutoring with Hiroko: “It helped me understand math better.” My first grader grandson said: “I liked it better than math in school. I liked doing the mazes; sometimes there was a giant monster, if I did the wrong answer!”
Hiroko is a calm, patient, personable teacher. My grandkids felt very relaxed and engaged throughout the lessons. Thank you Hiroko.
Our son has been working with Hiroko at the JMA for almost three years. The overall experience has been fantastic. Hiroko has a deep understanding and appreciation for math curricula and how the JMA approach fits into what a child is learning in school. She also is an incredibly kind person with a clear passion for education. Her differentiated system adjusts to a child’s abilities and endeavors to instill a true understanding of math. While JMA is rigorous, it does not inundate a student with an unreasonable workload. We are so thankful for having found JMA as it has been such an important part of our son’s growth in mathematics.
JMA has been instrumental in building confidence in math for my 5th grade son (we started when he was in 3rd grade).
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Hiroko is very patient, calm and encouraging in teaching math concepts in a way that he can digest and at his level. I have seen significant improvement in my son's comfort level when faced with math problems and we are grateful for the support that JMA has been throughout his learning process.
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We have been enthusiastic regular students at JMA for the past 3 year, and will continue throughout next year. My children (now 13 and 15 year old) have different challenges with math. In both cases, those strengths and weaknesses were assessed at the beginning of the program and both students were assigned to the most suited class for them. Although my son is easily distractible, Hiroko has been able to keep his attention and have him complete his classwork and homework weekly, keeping him engaged and challenged. My older daughter is now in high school and in several instances she shared with me that freshman year math for her has been easier thanks to what she learned in middle school with Hiroko. We like Hiroko's teaching philosophy and flexibility and we highly recommend JMA.
Pilar Botana Martinez
Deane Coady
Parent, Lincoln School/Brookline High School
Parent, Ridley School