As an engineer from Belarus, opened an elite school of mathematics in the USA
'17.08.2018'
Source: WBUR
The Russian school of mathematics, the American parents call the extracurricular activities exactly like this among themselves, is gaining recognition of thousands of schoolchildren and their parents across America.
In fact, the name of the program of extracurricular activities is Studio of Engaging Math, and it became Russian because it was organized by Russian immigrants who introduced Soviet education standards, the newspaper writes WBUR.
From Newton to Brooklyn, from Dallas to San Jose, representations of the Russian School of Mathematics quickly spread throughout the United States. There are 40 schools in total, 15 of which is located in Massachusetts, where it all began. The school has 22 thousands of students.
Inessa Rifkin, a mechanical engineer from Minsk, Belarus, who founded the 20 school years ago, says that now one fifth of elementary school students study at the Russian school of mathematics.
“We are doing what the Soviets have done the best - a mathematical education, and we brought him out of this terrible closed society into the free world,” she says.
Shocking knowledge
Pupils attend school once a week. In a year, the occupation of one child costs $ 2000 to parents. The school is distinguished by rigor and a large amount of homework.
Rifkin argues that the curriculum of the Russian school is following the traditions of the Soviet educational system, which is based on thinking and a deeper understanding of things at an early stage, and not just memorization and practice. The child must understand why he performs certain actions, and not just because it is necessary.
“I think what I am doing is developing critical thinking, as well as some mathematical skills, through understanding, not memorization, trying to make it more exciting, in small groups,” says Rifkin.
Much attention is paid to the literature, which is full of references, explanations and puzzles.
In the end, if the child is faced with a task, he says "let me think" instead of the usual "I do not understand."
Some parents send their child to school in Russian mathematics because they are unhappy with the American school curriculum, or because their child simply loves math and wants to know more, says Professor John Star, who studies mathematical education at Harvard High School.
Some parents believe that if they do not give the child to the Russian school of mathematics, he will know the subject worst of all in the class. Begins a kind of mind race.
History in brief
The history of Russian mathematics in America begins with a real arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. In order to support its science, the Soviet Union created elite schools in mathematics and physics, sending talented children there.
“Russia has a brilliant mathematical tradition,” says Honorary Professor Lauren Graham, a leading American historian of Russian science from Harvard. “There was a period in the Soviet era, when Moscow was, in my opinion, the most powerful center in mathematics in the world.”
However, emigration began in the 1970s, mainly Russian Jews. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, it intensified, and about half a million people immigrated to many parts of Boston.
Inessa Rifkin arrived with her family in 1988 from Minsk, where she worked as a mechanical engineer, to Boston. She and her husband quickly adapted: they both found work and bought a house in Newton. Life in America was beautiful, until her son Ilya in the 8 class showed low math knowledge, which shocked her.
Inessa, after talking with the rest of the immigrant parents, realized that this was a problem for many children. This situation contributed to the opening of the Russian school of mathematics in 1997, where the children of Russian immigrants initially studied. But with the popularization of technology and science, many American families became interested in school.
Challenge American Schools
The growth of Russian math classes can create problems for American schools. For example, when a teacher introduces a new topic, it turns out that a quarter of the students have already studied it in the school of Russian mathematics.
Some teachers believe that such extracurricular activities can affect children in a negative way. They will be too confident in their knowledge.
There is a fear that extra-curricular education may increase the gap in understanding of mathematics between the rich and the poor, between families who can afford $ 2000 per year for weekly after-school activities, and those who cannot.
