By Neelam Khanduri
At La Scuola, what makes our math program distinct is that we don’t approach math as a sequence of isolated topics (like Algebra 1 or Algebra 2), but as a way of helping students make sense of the world. The focus is less on memorizing procedures and more on building understanding through patterns, inquiry, and real-life connections.
This journey begins in the early years, where students engage with math in very concrete and tangible ways—using everyday materials like beans, pasta, pencils, or blocks. Concepts such as number and fractions are first experienced physically, then represented visually, and only later expressed abstractly. In this way, math develops from something they can see and touch into something they can represent symbolically.
As students move into middle school, that foundation evolves into deeper reasoning and application. In my classroom, for example, when we explored linear relationships, students used dynamic tools to investigate how graphs change. One student paused and said, “Ah… now it makes sense,” and began explaining the idea to a peer. From there, we built the formula together. That shift—from memorizing to constructing understanding—is a key part of our approach.
We also consistently connect math to real, immediate contexts. Students might model the rate of water leakage from a faucet and represent it graphically, explore slope through real scenarios like break-even points, or use trigonometry to estimate the height of a tree, a basketball hoop, or a building. In science, they analyze relationships such as heart rate versus exercise, where math becomes the language used to describe patterns observed in real phenomena. In this way, math is not something separate or abstract—it is something students see around them and use to interpret the world.
Another important aspect that makes our program distinct is how we assess student learning. Within the MYP framework, students are not evaluated through a single type of assessment focused only on knowledge. Instead, they experience a range of assessments that capture different dimensions of their learning.
Students demonstrate:
- Knowledge and understanding of concepts
- Investigation skills, where they explore patterns, generalize relationships, and develop formulas
- Communication, where they clearly explain their thinking and reasoning
- Application, where they use math meaningfully in real-life contexts
This variety allows students to show their understanding in multiple ways and supports a more holistic development, rather than limiting success to one mode of performance.
Across all grade levels, the progression is intentional:
- Early years: concrete exploration and pattern recognition
- Upper elementary: representation and structured thinking
- Middle school: abstraction, modeling, and real-world application
By the time students reach the later years, they are not just solving problems—they are thinking critically, making connections, and using math as a tool to understand the world.