Education news

Notre Dame Prep student teaches first graders to love math #dyscalculia

Sophomore, Alex Blanchet spends his spare time teaching first graders problem solving strategies with math games. It started out as an idea for a school project, but ended up as a weekend tournament.

smurfs-140212_960_720

High School students and first graders can learn from each other. A sophomore at Notre Dame Preparatory High School has been teaching math and problem-solving skills to first grade students at Rogers Elementary School through the use creative thinking and math games. The program was made possible by a donation from the President of the Pentathlon Institute of Indianapolis.

Share the idea

This Notre Dame Prep student is giving back!

A Notre Dame sophomore is teaching math to first grade students.

But the first graders aren’t the only ones learning. The high school in charge of the program is getting some early experience in what it’s like to teach a complicated subject to small children. This instructor has learned that little kids need to take frequent breaks because they have very short attention spans. But with some patience and a lot of creative thinking, the program has been a good learning experience for everyone involved.

What started out as an idea for a school project culminated in a weekend tournament for the Rogers Elementary first graders, competing against hundreds of other first graders, at Walled Lake High School on April 17.

Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert

Key takeaways

  1. Notre Dame Prep student Alex Blanchet spends his free time tutoring first graders.
  2. He works to inspire them to love math through games and creative activities.
  3. Blanchet started a competitive math program for the students.
Is it dyscalculia? Take the free test A short screener that shows where the math struggle really starts. Take the dyscalculia test

Is your child struggling in school?

Get your free personalized learning roadmap

You describe what you see at home. We turn it into a plan you start this week.

  • Answer 5 short questionnaires about what you already notice, 30–45 minutes at your own kitchen table
  • Your child sits no test and gets no score: nothing to schedule, nothing for them to dread
  • You do the answering, the AI does the writing, and a person reviews it before it reaches you
  • Access all 40+ courses instantly: reading, math, focus, processing and more, with new ones added regularly

Why we use AI, plainly: it writes from a knowledge base our team maintains and audits. We work through it line by line and pull anything the evidence stops supporting. The roadmap you get on Tuesday reflects what we corrected on Monday, and a human still reads it before you do.

Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.

Get my free assessment & 7-day trial Cancel anytime during your trial.

Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.

A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.

· Learning Success expert Writes about the learning brain for parents who want plain answers. Every article is grounded in current neuroscience and classroom practice.