Our Philosophy

MathAmigos believes everyone can do math. Period.

Contrary to the way nearly all of us learned mathematics — and found it boring or mystifying — math is a joyful, playful, creative pursuit. Yes, it is also confusing and frustrating at times, but believe it or not facing problems can be a good thing because it teaches us how to solve problems.

MathAmigos is dedicated to building excitement among teachers and students as they join in the discovery and critical thinking that is so important for their futures.

• Math is about patterns, and people are verrrrry good at seeing patterns. It’s also something we can learn to be even better at.
• Math isn’t about figures; it’s about figuring things out.
• Math is recreation — it’s puzzles.
• Math is useful in everyday life.
• Failure in math is expected. It’s part of the process.
• While working on math problems you will make mistakes; mathematicians make mistakes all the time – and that’s okay.
• Of course you won’t know how to solve every problem, but you can learn to solve more problems through math.

It may be difficult to imagine math this way – since most of us learned math through memorization, rules, and endless drills – but that isn’t all there is to math! Math is about discovering and understanding. It is both a tool and a playground. Sure, facts and principles are important in math and must be learned, but what’s fun is solving problems by applying what you’ve learned. It’s like woodworking: Once you learn how to use woodworking tools you can put those skills into action by helping to build a house or creating furniture.

Applying math skills to investigate and understand complex issues is valued in the work world. Employers want people who can solve problems, communicate effectively, collaborate with others, work with data, and know how to use computers. That’s math!

Take a look at the video below to understand more about MathAmigos philosophy.