Teaching math according to the Soviet curriculum is becoming increasingly popular among American families, who see it as an advantage for their children when applying to higher education, writes The Times. According to those who teach Soviet-style math, their instruction style is different because it supports reasoning, critical thinking, and abstract principles.
More and more American families want their children to learn math according to the Soviet-style curriculum, believing it will give them an advantage when applying to higher education, The Times reports.
The opportunity to study according to a Soviet curriculum in the United States is offered by Alexander Kolchinsky’s company Russian Math Tutors, whose family fled the Soviet Union when he was a child. So, Kolchinsky’s company promises children from wealthy American families to be taught math according to principles developed when the USSR needed scientists and engineers to help it gain an edge in the space race.
The company promises a teaching style that supports reasoning, critical thinking and abstract principles, and begins teaching algebra from an early age. That’s where many families turn, hoping it will help their children get a place at one of the Ivy League universities, an association of eight elite American universities.
“We use real-world math, we strive to explain to students not only the math itself, but why we do it,” Kolchinsky said. He said the curriculum is based on Soviet textbooks, which his company has translated.
A similar rationale is offered by the Boston-based Russian Mathematics School, which was also founded by refugees from the Soviet Union. They call mathematics “an opportunity to navigate the inevitable uncertainties of life,” urging their students to treat it in the same way.
As The Times notes, more and more American families are choosing the Soviet model of teaching math to their children. This week a teacher at a private school in Manhattan even complained to the New York Post that students following the Soviet curriculum had a negative influence on other students in her class. She attributed this to the fact that these kids “start asking age-inappropriate math questions, and the other kids feel uncomfortable.”
Kolchinsky believes that the growing demand for Soviet-style math instruction in the United States can be explained by the growing popularity of math Olympiads. According to him, the Olympiads were “a very big part of the culture in the Soviet Union,” and now similar competitions are held all over the United States. Andrea Campbell, a mother of three from California, notes that it was teaching from Soviet textbooks that allowed her children to participate in math competitions.