I had a picture of Larry up in the centre this week after filming a video in which it was a prop.   In the last couple days, a lot of the kids have been asking, "Who is that?!"   We as Mathnasium franchisees, Centre Directors/Managers, and staff generally take this for granted and assume that everyone knows who Larry is because to us, he embodies Mathnasium.  We came to know him early on in our training with the company.  However, I came to realize that many of our parents and kids do not know who this iconic Mathnasium figure is.  So, I felt that introductions were in order.....

Larry Martinek, the Man Behind the Method

More than thirty-five years ago, Larry Martinek was inspired to find a better way to teach children math. As a teacher-trainer and consultant in public and top private schools, and father to a mathematically gifted son, Larry possessed an incredibly comprehensive view of education.

In his work with both stellar and struggling math programs, he clearly identified a common theme in mathematics instruction: a “serious disconnect between students’ basic skills training and the curriculum they are expected to master in the years to come.”

Spurred by the challenges in math education, Larry Martinek decided to find an approach that would provide grade-school children with the strong mathematical foundation they need to succeed.

Over the next three decades, Larry painstakingly developed and assembled a blend of methods and materials that proved highly effective for students of all ages. Instead of relying on traditional rote memorization and repetitive exercises, Larry’s work focused on helping children build deep mathematical understanding—number sense—by honing their math instincts and getting them to think like Mathematicians.

As Larry’s innovative materials gained increasingly wide circulation over the years, he became recognized in Los Angeles as “Larry, The Math Guy”. Schools began teaching from his materials instead of their textbooks, and test scores skyrocketed at every grade he impacted within two years.

He gradually expanded his work to develop a complete and integrated curriculum from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade math.

In the spring of 2002, Larry’s dream came true. Peter Markovitz and David Ullendorff, leaders in the education industry, made Larry Martinek and his curriculum the driving force of Mathnasium. Larry introduced his curriculum as the Mathnasium Method™ at their first math learning center in Westwood, California.

Students of all ages found the curriculum to be incredibly powerful and engaging. Over the years, centers have sprung up across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The hallmark of the Mathnasium program has been the way it engages kids and gets them to know math at a level far beyond adult expectations.

Today, over 35 years after its inception, the Mathnasium Method™ is providing children all over the world with the confidence, critical thinking skills, and mathematical ability to last a lifetime. Thanks to Larry for bringing Mathnasium to us and uplifting the world of education in Math.