Explore the world of math through hands on experimental learning.  Each camp is designed to engage the student in problem solving, logic skills, money, graphs, measurements and much, much more.  Students develop a sense of mastery and ownership to their learning.  Magical Math Camp (MMC) instills an excitement that will last the rest of the summer and into the school year.  MMC is for all students, grades 1 thru 6.

"My son did not want to come to "math camp" and I had to fight him all the way there.  After the first day he loved it so much he is already begging to come back next year.  Thanks for a great camp!"

"My daughter and several of her friends attended "keep it simple" Summer Math Camp, which was an excellent reinforcement for what she had learned during the school year.  I'm so pleased with the results that I wonder why more schools aren't using the Semple method.  It has worked wonders in a relatively short amount of time.  I am so glad we found Semple Math at 'keep it simple" Learning Center."
                     Mother of a 3rd grade student

"Thanks for all you time and understanding in working with Ian over these months.  I think he has some good tools to pull out and use as he goes forward.  He is getting very good grades in pre-AP math (all A's & B's) and seems to be humming along.  In fact, we have been pleased that he has made honor roll both quarters."
                   Ian's parents, 6th grade student

"I just had to tell you how impressed I was with what Emma was doing last night! She seemed to really know 6+1, 6+2, etc... This is such a far cry from where she was even 2 months ago. I know her progress is slow, but I was happy in knowing what she's doing. I don't know what magic your working but it's great!"
           Emma's  parents, 2nd grade student

MATH TUTORING THERAPY – A NEW APPROACH

Does your child do poorly in math?
Does he count on his fingers to add and subtract?
Does she struggle to learn the times tables?
Does he have trouble grasping mathematical concepts
no matter how hard he tries?

If this sounds familiar, your child may be one of the 30% of students who struggle to learn math due to a difference in learning styles!

“keep it simple” Education Centers are devoted to helping these students who learn differently.  The alternative teaching methods make these Centers unique to Central Texas.  Debby Brewington, the founder and executive director of the kis Education Centers says:

“While teaching in the public schools, I was saddened by the number of students who continued to struggle with math concepts and operations, despite my wholehearted effort to facilitate a variety of programs in the classroom.  My determination to help these seemingly unreachable students led me to research the brain and its role in the acquisition of mathematics.  I discovered that there is a link between brain sidedness and math instruction.  It is important to note that 30% of the population does not process math information effectively in the left area of the brain for which math programs are traditionally designed.  These individuals need math principals to be taught in a manner which is assimilated in the right-brain so that they can effectively accept and efficiently retain information.”

Through this discovery, in the importance of brain sidedness, the kis Centers were born.  The kis Centers have experienced incredible successes with students who could not perform basic math functions without hours of frustration.

The right-brain learner, which is the focus of the kis Centers, struggle with the most basic math concepts, growing more frustrated as they progress in grade level.  Right-brain learners are typically your low performing and at-risk students, dyslexic and learning disabled students, and students in resource and life skills classrooms.  These students:

• get it one day and forget it the next

• count on their fingers or count dots

• reverse numbers

• don’t grasp place value

• incorrectly copy problems

• have messy writing and their numbers don’t align properly

• can’t remember math facts for addition, subtraction, multiplication or division

Mnemonic teaching is one of the alternative teaching methods employed by the kis Centers.  This form of teaching has been utilized for hundreds of years and used by memory specialists, marketing companies and college students.  Semple Math©, one of the mnemonic programs that the kis Centers use, is a nationally recognized program which revolutionizes the method by which math is taught.  The lessons are steeped in mnemonics (memory aides) which simplify complex procedures and abstract ideas.  Some of these mnemonic strategies involve images, associations, songs, stories, drawings, rhymes and chants.

Research has provided ample evidence that mnemonic teaching strategies can benefit all students including the learning disabled.  Numerous studies performed by different researchers have demonstrated the dramatic effectiveness of these memory-enhancing techniques.  Take, for example, the very real problems of poor memory and attention.  Students with these problems have trouble holding one piece of information while processing another.  Semple Math© eliminates this problem through imagery and association, so as not to overtax short-term memory.  Mnemonic techniques teach to the long-term memory, whereas rote learning, which is most often used in the schools, teaches to the short-term memory.

Kelly Reyes, the administrator of the kis Education Centers, states:

“Schools have long known that all children do not learn the same.  Even so, schools predominately teach one way to one type of learner.  If your child does not fit this type of learner, they struggle to learn.  There are nine different learning styles documented through research.  As our population of students becomes increasingly diverse, it is absurd to think that there is a single method for teaching that will work for all children.  With schools being forced to teach to the mandatory state tests, their teaching methods have been even more stifled.  Teachers do not have the freedoms they once had to use various styles of teaching.  This is unfortunate for the learning differenced student.”

Here are some of the observations teachers and parents have made after students began tutoring at the kis Education Centers: 

• their math scores significantly improved

• teachers remarked about the positive changes they saw in the classroom

• behavior problems diminished

• self-esteem improved dramatically

• students began participating in class

• they were helping other students with their work

• they eagerly showed their new techniques to teachers and students

• they passed the TAKS test

• students looked forward to their tutoring sessions

• each student found a new appreciation for math

Debby Brewington partnered with Kelly Reyes to expand the services the kis Centers offer.  Debby was a special education teacher with a focus on math skills and has been offering teacher training in multi-sensory math for the past four years.  Kelly owned and operated a school for learning challenged students for 10 years.  She specialized in secondary education whereas Debby specialized in primary education.  The Centers offer services in math tutoring therapy to students in kindergarten through 12^th grade, including math concepts through calculus, TAKS prep, SAT prep, and other math college entrance exams.  During the summer the kis Education Centers offer Magical Math Camp for grades 1 – 6.

kis Consulting offers Professional Development Training throughout the year to teachers and parents who desire to learn the mnemonic methods used at the kis Centers.  kis Consulting also offers a certification program in Semple Math©.

“keep it simple” Education Center is a non-profit 501c3 accepting contributions towards its tutoring and camp scholarship programs.  These scholarships provide financial assistance to those families with special needs and at-risk children who are in need of math support.

“keep it simple” Education & Consulting Centers
Debby Brewington, Executive Director
Kelly Reyes, Administrator
1401 N. FM 1626, Buda TX  78610 (mailing address)
2600 Exposition, Austin TX  78703
512.554.2454 * keepitsimple {at} kiseducationcenter.com www.kiseducationcenter.com

KIS Education Center is an Hays County Texas equal opportunity Non Profit (501C3) organization located in Buda - Kyle Texas and does not discriminate against persons because of age, race, color, creed, religion, disability, gender, ethnic or national origin.