Spirit Of Math Schools Vaughan

This guys are not answering to phone calls nor to emails. Now am not even thinking for enrolling my son in their math programs.

There aren't nearly enough written reviews of SoM, so I would like to add my two cents.My 6yo has high numeracy skills, and I was not finding him challenged in the public system, at least in certain areas (particularly in basic number sense and numeration). However, he lacks an understanding of certain basic mathematical concepts, only because he hasn't been -taught- them yet (note: he's in grade 1 but tested strong enough for SoM grade 2). A lot of what he understands is innate, as opposed to something he can explain/express due to age, experience and having been taught. He loves puzzles like Sudoku and Checkers and Chess, and seems inclined towards math, so I thought I would try SoM.He always does one of the best in his class at SoM's drills, and their drilling system is good (I do think Kumon's is better, as SoM students stop their drills after 5 minutes, so my kid gets anxious when unable to finish), but the problem solving is very challenging for the age group and requires a lot of parental involvement. He GETS the concepts, but I'm not sure that he's retaining all of the concepts. With that said, though, the SoM program is an excellent one for problem solving, and you'll be surprised by the kind of math that your child will be pushed to do.Some of our challenges have included: trying to learn prime numbers without ever having been taught the concept of odd and even numbers, or having an assignment that requires a knowledge of BEDMAS without ever having been taught the concept yet. Kids must catch up to obtain the required knowledge, and quickly.Some of the problem solving questions are reasonably challenging, while others require -several- steps, even requiring children to multiply XX by XX digits or higher, and be able to notice patterns (like Fibonacci's sequence) and be able to think flexibly to figure out multiple routes to an answer. They also do fractions, understanding that there are multiple ways to divide to get one (3/3, 4/4, 12/12) and start addition of mixed fractions, which in my opinion is also quite early for grade 2, because again, some children will come in with only a basic understanding of how fractions work even if they have superior numeracy skills. Grade 2 even does factorials.SoM definitely teaches concepts that are grade-levels higher than the public system does, and I'm -not- sure that's necessarily a good thing, but we've only been in the program for half a year so time will tell. This year, we even encountered one particular type of question that was covered in SoM grade 1, but wasn't re-taught so that my son could understand it (so I had to learn how to do it and show him).To be fair, I do not harp on SoM homework during the week (he completes it the day before class), so some of his lack of retaining could be from lack of routine practice. However, he does all of the homework and drills, so other than reinforcing concepts throughout the week and therefore adding more time to his already packed schedule, I don't see another way for him to better retain.Overall, I find that the SoM program assumes competency and prior knowledge in areas that my child doesn't have. And that means I have to be heavily involved from week to week. We're in virtual right now, so I'm always there during each session, but I don't know if my son would do as well without me there.I plan on revisiting some of the problems over the summer to see how much stuck. I have a feeling that he will gain a lot from the SoM program, so I'm intending on continuing him next year as well, but it won't be without a lot of hard work and dedication on both of our parts.If you have a child who is talented in math, SoM might be a great place for you, but prepare to put in some leg work to assist. :)

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