In June 1973, Larry Martinek, creator of the Mathnasium Method, earned his

Bachelor’s degree in mathematics. The following year, he earned his California teaching credential, and began teaching in an inner–city school in Los Angeles, California.

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It was immediately apparent that the overwhelming majority of students lacked the basic skills necessary to succeed with the grade–level curriculum. It was also clear that the textbooks did not provide the depth of remediation most students required. To help his students fill the gap left by both the curriculum and the textbooks, Martinek began writing his supplemental materials. Much of that material is currently in use at Mathnasium.

 

In his fourth year of teaching, Martinek was elected faculty coordinator of a federally funded, state-administered school reform program called RISE (Reform of Intermediate and Secondary Education). This experience provided Martinek with firsthand insights into the inner workings of the educational bureaucracy, highlighting the upside and the downside of mandates on local schools given from afar, as well as giving Martinek a perspective from which to evaluate trends in Mathematics education. 

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The following year came the news of a lifetime—that Larry Martinek would become a father. At this point in his life, after almost five years of successful teaching (successful in terms of outstanding performance reviews, student and parent appreciation for changing attitudes toward math and boosting skills across the board), Martinek stopped and asked himself:

“Why is there such a disparity in the performance of the students who

come to me, and how can I help my child avoid the difficulties that so

many intelligent people have with math?” This question would weigh heavily on Larry Martinek’s mind for a long time. After taking a year off from teaching to start an electronics business, Martinek returned to classroom teaching, working in a barrio school, a gifted Math–Science magnet school, a gang diversion program, and an inner-city high school. Martinek made the same

observation in these settings: “There is a serious disconnect between

students’ basic skills training and the curriculum they are expected to master in the years to come.” In his ongoing efforts to meet the needs of the students in his charge, Martinek continued to develop supplemental materials to help students bridge the gap. Meanwhile, his son, Nic, was now five years old and was showing signs of being mathematically precocious. Martinek’s first book, Math Tips for Parents, provided insights gained from working and playing with Nic in these early years. The warm reception Math Tips received from parents and teachers encouraged Martinek to accelerate the production of materials for early mathematics education.

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One day, Martinek decided that, rather than trying to fix kids in middle school and high school, it would be better to prevent kids from getting so far behind in the first place by training elementary teachers how to do it right the first time. To this end, Martinek returned to school and earned an elementary credential. In addition, he continued creating material for elementary educators to use with all types of learners: the  “Numerically challenged,” the “average” kids, and those who relish “challenging numerics.”

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As Nic grew older, he provided Martinek with more profound insights into how the young mind deals with mathematics and the process of learning mathematics. The name Math AWAREness™ was given to this process. As teachers, administrators, and parents began to see the results of the Math AWAREness™ approach, first with Nic, then his friends, and then with students in classrooms of teachers brave enough to try new methods and approaches, Martinek began giving workshops for teachers and

parents. The materials from these workshops soon found their way into other  classrooms, thus beginning Martinek’s career as a math consultant.

As the years went by, the educational grapevine in West Los Angeles spread the word that there was a way for all kids to learn math—call Larry Martinek “The Math Guy.” Now, in the new millennium, thousands of students in Culver City and Inglewood public schools, as well as students at a dozen private and religious schools, have benefited from the methods and approaches that Larry Martinek and son Nic developed over 15 years.

 

Tragedy struck in May 1999 when Nic died at age 19 in a car accident. Not long before the accident, Nic told Larry Martinek, “Dad, you have to teach other teachers how to teach math the way you do.” This statement was a reflection on his observation that many of his friends left high school not well–prepared in math—not because they couldn’t handle the math, but because they weren’t taught math in a way that made sense to them.

 

This mission—helping students and teachers better deal with math—

continues to be the dominant factor in Larry’s professional life. The experience and materials of the past 28 years of Larry Martinek’s work have found a home at Mathnasium, where they have thrived for the past 22+ years.

 

Today, Martinek’s math teaching methodology has been developed over 50 years, resulting in Mathnasium being the only worldwide chain of math-only Learning Centers, with 1,173 Centers in 11 countries, 1,024 in the US, and 171 in California.