What people are saying about

The Math Program

- 32 years in existence!

27 December 2007: Kelly W.  needed to pass her Algebra 2 class with at least a 76 to get into a School of Nursing at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. She came to work with Don for 2 hours December 22, especially on partial fractions. She called this day to thank Don and tell him she got an 80 on the online test and was accepted into the School of Nursing! What a nice way to end the year!!
19&20 October 2007: Rachael worked with Don during her high school years. As a junior in a western University she returned during the summer of 2007 and returned again in October to work on an assessment test she needs to take for college algebra . What a nice surprise! [She did well!!]
26 February 2007: An exciting day! John Melby, Emeritus Professor of Music at UI, who had moved to Mass. with his wife Jane Thompson a few years ago, dropped by to see Don and Marilyn. He came back for the premier of his computer composition at The Krannert Center, UI.

Don had his daughter Kirsten from 4 years old, maybe through 10th grade at UNI high. She just graduated with an M.A. from Munich U. in Germany. She is fluent in German and Italian, speaks some Thai, and will be studying Chinese soon.

Don had his son Charles from 5th-9th grade, also a UNI graduate. Charles received an A.B. in Physics from Princeton (Magna cum Laude) in 2006, just received an M.Sc. in Mathematics (with distinction) from Oxford in England, on a scholarship, and in 2007 is in a Ph.D. program in Physics at UC Berkeley. 

Would you say Dad was proud!!?? (and Don also!)

After Don congratulated Charles by email, on 27 March he wrote back: 

Hi, Mr. Cohen! It's great to hear from you. How have things been? It looks like you're still at it, teaching math to the next generation! That's fantastic, it's great that there's someone who is still working hard to show how fun math can be.

Incidentally, my dissertation was actually in... the theory of groups! Which, of course, I first encountered when you explained symmetries of the square to me. I hope you've had some other students who have taken a look at those same ideas, they're interesting ones and ones that kids are perfectly capable of handling if explained properly (as you do). Best, Charles

12 June 2007: "Dear Mr. Cohen, Thank you for the absolutely beautiful watercolor. We're hanging it the dining room where all see it every day, and whenever I look at it I'll think of you. Thank you too, for coming to my graduation party. It was so wonderful getting a chance to talk with you again. You are one of the best teachers I've ever had, and I'll be sure to stay in touch.  Love, Katy" [Katy came for 3 summers while she went to UNI High. She did some fine, unique work on infinite series and the area under a sine wave, that Don had not seen before.]

25 May 2007: Don received this note from Akshay's Dad: "The Math Program has been excellent stimulation for my son. He has been constantly overachieving in mathematics since he joined the program". [Akshay came for about 3 years, before the family moved to Ohio recently].
3 May 2007: "Once again, you have played a very crucial part in Kevin's successful school  year. We appreciate all your work with him. He has gained so much more confidence in his math skills. We will be taking the summer off due to vacations, trips, etc, but would like to start up again in August. Thank you again!"- Mr. and Mrs. M.
25 August 2006: Don received this email: Don,

Lori is so excited about Math now.  Her confidence has soared.  I even saw her worksheet she wrote out for her reading teacher which asked "What class do you expect to receive an A in this year?"  Lori's response, with no erasure marks was MATH!

This is a boost for both of us as Lori began 5th grade with a C in Math for the first quarter which lead us to you, the Mathman.  Since she received an A for the second quarter of 5th grade and ended the year with a final grade of B+.  She did very well on her ISAT exams and is beginning 6th grade, placed in Honors Math.  We look forward to continuing to work with you. Oh by the way, Lori's favorite subject now.....MATH!
Thank you 

Doris (Lori's Mom) [Lori continues to work with Don in preparing for the UNI test she is going to take.]

3 December 2005 "Dear Mr. Cohen, .. I want to thank you for all you've done for Al and therefore, for our family. You took a kid who could barely pass his regular math class and helped him move to Honors Math. There is no question that you are truly a gifted teacher and a great math expert. But most of all, you are also a wonderful person, and a great role model for any kid. I am glad to have met you, and glad that my son had a chance to meet you and work under your guidance.."- EP, Al's Mom in Champaign.

6 July 2005 Don received this email from Debbie: "A big hug to you, I hope you are well, and thank you for all you have done to open the excitement of real mathematics to so many. I know J. tells me, often, that you have changed the life of her daughter." -Debbie, WV

November 13, 2005 Don met the mother of 3 students he had about 10 years ago. Titus graduated from ISU and is working on getting a teaching certificate; Cedric has a son, has almost finished college, and runs a Ministry in Champaign; Mathew graduated from the UI. Their Mom said, " You were there when they really need you; I thank you so much!"

October 17, 2003 Jerry met the mother of one of Don's students from the past. Her daughter went to summer classes Don held at Mt. Olive Church in Urbana at reduced rates. "My daughter Tameka was doing badly at school in about 4th grade. After 5 weeks with Don, when she went back to school, she was way ahead! She is now about to get a Ph.D. in Veterinary Medicine".

September 5, 2003 Don and his wife went to a bed & breakfast in Bloomington, IL for a couple of days. When they entered, the owner asked Don if he taught math. Would you believe Don had her daughter during the summer 16 years ago, at age 6! "He was kind. She had a great time". A small world!

August 2003 At lunch Don happened to meet Marge, a retired teacher, one of Don's former students herself and the mother of 2 of his former students. Vickie, her daughter, has 2 children, an M.A., and works as a systems analyst in St. Louis. Her son Tim is getting a Ph.D. in Physics at UMN. "As teenagers they really wanted to come to The Math Program- that was wonderful!" The work Vickie did in studying the growth of the Chambered Nautilus using its shell, is in Don's worksheet book.

July 22, 2003 Debbie, the mother of one of Jerry's students, told Don that her son was a high school math teacher! Way to go Jerry!

June 20, 2003 At lunch, Don and his wife met Mr. & Mrs. H., parents of 5 of his former students. Matt is married with a son, and is a baseball player. Marci is married with a son, and her husband is a baseball player. Kara graduated from the UIC in nursing. Adam who was at lunch is a junior at the UI in communications. Don still has pictures of Marci and Kara on the wall of his Math room. WOW, what a wonderful 3-day meeting of parents of Don's former students!

June 19, 2003 Don met Mrs. D. in the grocery store; he had her 2 daughters about 8 years ago. One is now an Optometrist in Chicago; this young lady helped Don when he gave classes at Mt. Olive Church in Urbana one summer. Her other daughter is getting an MA in Nutrition at the UI.

June 18, 2003 Dr. Z, after hugging both Don and his wife,  told Don that her son Rishi graduated from Brown U. majoring in writing, both he and his wife are poets, he is doing legal outreach in Brooklyn, and plans to go to Law school. His sister Pari is graduating from college in December. Don had both children before they went to UNI high years ago.

June 18, 2003 The mother of a former student Emily, told Don that her daughter was planning to teach 7th and 8th grade math next year in a suburb of Chicago!

March 19, 2003 Don received this email:
"..Your web site is really very impressive.  I still have not seen anyone with a program like yours, local math kids are so lucky.  It's great that you can do it by email, too.  My little friend in Palo Alto for whom I bought your video and books is turning into a more mature mathematician, he is now 14.  ..They wish they had someone like you in the Bay Area". - Professor, UI and mother of one of Don's former students, now at Columbia U, a physics major.

February, 2003 found on "Spouses of Doctors" site:

"When I was in the fifth grade, I had a teacher who spent the year teaching us sign language instead of anything else. Her son was deaf, blind and mute, and so her world revolved around that....I went from being in the top of the math heap to the bottom when I entered 6th grade. It really affected my self-esteem because it was such a rapid decline, and my friends with other teachers were still in the top group....

My mom signed me up for a math summer session with Don Cohen. He was a local guy that eventually ended up writing books on the subject...that summer really changed things for me and gave me a real confidence booster! When I entered junior high I tested back in the top group and the things that I learned that summer have still stuck with me...

He has a website now and sells several of his learning tools..it isn't too expensive...Really, I can't recommend him enough. It changed things for me...I'm 31 years old and I still remember it. The website is www.mathman.biz/".

January 30, 2003

 I have A.D.D and last year in my math class I was struggling with a C-, if I was lucky! My mom found Mr. Cohen and I began studying with him and my grades improved! I know it's a new school year and I have brought home nothing but A's on my tests and report card! It was good to know I wouldn't have to bring home a C on my report card. Thanks Mr. Cohen . 

January 9, 2003 Mark, a former student Don had for 10 years (off and on),  picked up his sister from class. He told Don he is studying at Eastern IL U, and is getting a B in Calculus. He was pleased. He has been writing computer games for a long time and one game is doing very, very well, world wide. The students know more than the teacher- that's great! Don & Jerry both had trouble writing programs on PLATO when they first came to Champaign. They designed what would go on the screen, then hired high school kids to do the programming!

January 7, 2003 The Mom of a former student told Don her son was accepted in the Electrical Engineering Dept. at the U of IL as a freshman next Fall.
December 20, 2002 The Mom of a former student came up to Don to say, " Thank you for helping my son 2 summers ago in The Math Program. He is enjoying Math Counts in school now, as a 5th grader."
November 9, 2002 At a 50th birthday party for her Mom, the daughter Paula, that Don had, made a wonderful memory book for her mother. Not all of our students are college-bound, but are still fine adults. Her cousin Kelsey, also one of Don's former students, is getting straight A's in high school. Kelsey came back to Don in 2004!
 November 8, 2002 The Mom of two of Don's former students told him that her younger son is getting a A in AP calculus, and the older son is a freshman at the UI and doing well. They each came to The Math Program for about 3 years.
September 15, 2002 In the grocery store, Don met the mother of a former student Jon. She said he received his B.A. in Mathematics at St. Olaf College and was temporarily working at the Chicago Stock Exchange. He will be going back to school for a Ph.D. in Financial Mathematics. It's nice to have proud parents who stop to chat and tell us the great news of the doings of our former students!
September 14, 2002 At a Montessori 40th anniversary, Don met the parents of two of his students from the past. Their father told Don that their one son just received a Ph.D. in Physics!
August 10, 2002 Don received the following note from the mother of a student he had during the 2001-2002 school year: "Thank you so much for tutoring Nathan. He may never be a stellar math student, but he does understand that it is possible for him to learn and even enjoy math. That is a huge step for him."
August 7, 2002 Don, at a local Chinese restaurant, met the parents of Jeff and Sueanne, both of whom he worked with when she was 10 years old. (See Sueanne's work on trig).They told him she received an MBA at the U of Chicago,  was recently married to a stock broker, and living in NYC. Her brother Jeff was in his 4th year of pre-med at the U of Chicago.
June 28, 2002  "Don,
I don't know if Maggie has had a chance to tell you,  but she got A- in Geometry!!!!  Thanks so much for the help!!!  It would not have happened without you. 

Actually, she got A or A- in all her subjects, so her grade point, at this stage, is 4.0.  (A or A- both = 4 points.) 

Cheers" -- Maggie's Dad (Don has worked with Maggie from 2nd grade until the present). See Maggie's work on the difference of two cubes when she was 9 years old. This was also made into a java applet in Japan.

June, 2002: "Even though I have only been blessed with your presence for a few months, I am truly grateful. At the word "math", I used to run in the other direction. Now I feel I can at least try to do the problem. My confidence has grown, my abilities have grown too. All because of you. And while I may say goodbye to you now, a part of you will always be with me, and all of your students. For all you have done, thank you. You have truly touched my life. Thank you."--S.M., completed HS junior year.

April, 2002: 'Thanks for doing such a good job with Jenny. She really is improving & we have not heard "I don't like math" from her in a long time'. -- mother of 3rd grader.
September, 2001: At breakfast, the father of Steve and Jeff, 2 of his students from about 10 years ago, came up to Don to tell him: "You did a fine job with the boys in The Math Program. They both graduated from UNI high school. They both graduated from Yale- Steve in Chemical Engineering and is in law school at Michigan (environmental law) and Jeff studied Ethics, Politics and Economics. In 10 days Jeff will be concluding 2 years in the Peace Corps in Afghanistan. Thank you".
September, 2001: Also at breakfast the same day as above, Sarah's Mom came up to Don to thank him and tell him about her beginning at NM where she is studying Architecture. Sarah came the second summer with Don, this time to prepare for her pre-calc class. Sarah told her Mom, "I got a B+ on my first test. When the instructor was returning the tests he told me most of the class flunked this test. I would never have done it without my work with Mr. Cohen this summer. I knew what I was doing right away!"
October 21, 2001 "I just want to express our appreciation for the help you have given Sarah. As well as much confidence. She was so excited to have had a 95% on her Pre-Calculus midterm. Being so motivated has done wonders for her. Thank you so much for your part in all of this. --Anne W. (Sarah's Mom)
August, 2001 Don had Jamie about 4 years ago. He met Jamie's Mom at the photo shop, when she told him "You really helped Jamie; he just scored an 800 on the SAT math test!"
August 2, 2001 "Dear Mr. Cohen,
I just wanted to thank you for being so nice and helping me in math. I will be very sad when I can't see you again. [Her family moved.] You do a great job teaching math and just being people's friends. I hope to see you again. Love, Maggie P." (See Maggie P's work on patterns on the geoboard and fractions to decimals.
May, 2001 From one of Don's students, after her 8th grade algebra 1 final:
"Dear Mr. Cohen, Thank you so much for all that you've done for me. I really appreciate your help improving my math skills, but most of all, thank you for building up my confidence in myself. With your help, I went into my math final feeling sure of myself. You made math fun for me, and I'm looking forward to the sessions this summer. Thanks again! Love, Sarah" (Sarah's Mom told Don that Sarah even helped her twin brother prepare for the test, not the usual thing!) Sarah continues  in The Math Program during the 2001-2002 school year, working on her geometry.
May, 2001 From one of Don's student and mother:


Ermanda is continuing during the 2002-2003 school year to work with Don.

October 3, 2000: "Dear Mr. Glynn, ..I have been very pleased with the progress Eric has made since he started in The Math Program in June. Not only have his skills improved, but his confidence as well. Thank you for the terrific job that you do". -- Debra K. (mother)

Sept., 2000: "Dear Jerry,.. Julien is doing very well in math now. I think you helped enormously with his self-confidence in math. Thanks". -- Vickie A. (mother)
".. Also thank you grandpa for The Math Program. It really helped me a lot this past year". -- Love, Lian (he came his whole senior year when he took calculus at UNI high. He is now a freshman at the U of IL as of August 2000)
August 24, 2000: "Mr. Cohen's patient and open-minded teaching style have had a positive effect on Olivia (see Olivia's work on the Soma cube), my eleven-year-old and on Anna, my ten-year old. He has helped Anna to become comfortable with math and has encouraged her need to be able to visualize and understand by herself certain basic math principles  which we are often taught simply to take for granted. For example, she questioned the rule that the three angles of a triangle always add up to 180'. She drew very large triangles and very tiny triangles before beginning to acknowledge what most of us easily accept. I sense a new confidence in her. See Anna's work.

Mr. Cohen's emphasis on principles and basic understanding provides an invaluable basis upon which to build skill and drill math problems successfully". -- H.C., mother of two of Don's students.

 August, 2000: " When the teachers teach 4th grade math it's hard, but when you teach, like 6th grade math, it's real easy (you have a way of explaining it)".--Paul, a 4th grader, whom Don has worked with for 2+ years. See some of Paul's work.

June 2000: '..We are very grateful for all that you've done for Maggie.  We give you a lot of credit for her success.  Just as important, you have made learning fun for her.  She has enjoyed the sessions.  And you've been a friend, to her and us.  (Your painting will always have a prominent display in our house).  And we will be in touch. ..' -- father of student who will start UNI High School, August 2000. Don worked with Maggie for about 6 years. See some of Maggie's work.

A note from Jessica, an 6th grader, and her mother on 1/14/00

1999 Mr. Cohen,
Hi!! I just wanted to thank you w/all my heart for helping me to know and understand the wonderful subject of math. I truly appreciate all you do for me and for so many others. The first time I worked w/ you, I knew that we'd get along nicely. You have taught me not only lessons in math, but lessons in life. Keep in touch. Always, KatieR.
May 1999: "Thank you for all your help and interaction.  Your prodding, reinforcement and teaching were important for Wes and for that I thank you". -- father of student going into 7th grade.
The following letter was received in 1998 from one of Don's former students. Kohler's work is in Don's books; he came to work with Don as a 4th, 5th, and 6th grader, about 9 years ago:

"Mr. Cohen,

Greetings from Ohio! I've always meant to keep in touch but time seems to slip by. Now that I'm ready to graduate I thought I'd drop you a line to tell you how much I appreciate  the few years I got to work with you in The Math Program. You instilled a love for math in me that was able to get me through many hours of boring high school math.

I will be graduating June 5th as valedictorian of my class. Through the Academy Program offered by the state of Ohio, I was able to attend the local branch of Ohio State my junior and senior years and will graduate with 65 hours of college credit.

I am a National Merit Finalist and attending Ohio State Honors Program on a full academic scholarship.

Even though my math teachers tried to put me down for my odd ways of performing math, I managed a 790 on my math SAT  and am planning on majoring in both math and psychology.

I've always regretted having to move away from your program, but what you gave me really helped mold who I am today. Many thanks. I'm sure our paths will cross some day. Thanks for your inspiration, Kohler".  See some of Kohler's work , used in Don's books.

           

         Jonathan with the oscilloscope and oscillator

June 1998: "Until a year ago, my son had always struggled with math.  The traditional way math was being taught to him in school didn't seem to click with him.  In order to get the correct answer, he would break the figures down in a different way than that of his fellow students.  Every time they were given a test in math everybody else would be turning the page while my son was still working on problems on the first page.  It would then become evident to him that he was not keeping up with the rest of the class.  He felt as though he was stupid in math even though he excelled in the other subjects.

 The national standard achievement tests would show that he had advanced math skills in geometry and yet he was failing basic math.  His frustration was growing as he seemed to be sitting still as far as receiving an education went.

 I didn't know what to do or where to turn for help.  My girlfriend suggested The Math Program and Don Cohen.  It seemed her daughter had the same problem about fifteen years ago.  She attended The Math Program and is now a teacher herself.

 My son and I met with Mr. Cohen and I signed him up for a summer session.  Shortly after that my son's life completely turned around!  He came home from the first class excited and couldn't wait to go back to the next class.  Math was finally being taught to him in a way that he could understand.  It only got better.  He constantly talked about math and wanted to show everyone who would listen what he was learning.  It was amazing to me that what he had hated not very long ago, he now loved.

After two summers in The Math Program, my son now lives and breathes math.   He is a freshman in high school and is taking geometry, which just happens to be his favorite subject this year.

His math of choice is trigonometry, which he also learned from Mr. Cohen, along with Calculus.  His aspirations have changed slightly since he met Mr. Cohen.  He wanted to be a computer engineer, but now plans to get a PHD in computer science along with a PHD in calculus and physics.  That's quite an attitude change for someone who was lost in the system and just about fell through the cracks.  Thank goodness there is another option and that is The Math Program!

From grade schoolers through adults, everyone needs to believe in him or herself and have great expectations. My son now says, 'I can do anything I want to do', because he knows 'math is power'.

Many, many thanks Mr. Cohen for taking my sons' life in a new direction". --Carol S., with son Jonathan. (see some of Jonathan's work).

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