Math is one of the most important, fundamental things kids can learn in school, but they’re not always rushing to their math class. Depending on how the concepts are framed, math can seem abstract, difficult, or boring.
We all know that excited, engaged students are better learners, so how do we make students hungry to learn math? RP4K has a few ways to make our online math courses fun and exciting.
The basic idea of making it fun for kids to learn math involves embedded math concepts into our lessons about how to create video games. Kids are highly motivated to learn how to design and program video games, which they can show off and play afterwards with friends and family.
Even kids as young as seven can start to learn concepts that coding and mathematics share, such as vectors, integers, and even some trigonometry! It’s impossible for kids to learn coding without learning math.
RP4K’s co-founder and president, Elliott Bay, is a mathematician with a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. who has taught kids math since the 1990s. The sessions for beginners and very young students aren’t difficult. They’re meant to introduce them to basic math and coding concepts, but we apply the lessons by making math fun. Usually, the kids don’t even realize they’re learning math!
RP4K offers a beginner applied math course meant for kids 9-11 getting at least a B in their school math class. Students in these classes learn about addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, negative numbers, probability, and geometric transformations.
RP4K’s trademark is to use fun coding projects to frame math concepts around, and the beginner applied math course is no exception. This course was designed by our teacher, Tiger Wu, who has been with RP4K since 2018.
Wu has an undergraduate degree from U of T with a large helping of math courses, such as calculus, linear algebra, multi-variable calculus, statistics, and linear regression. More than anything, Wu knows how to make his courses a pleasure for kids to take!
While kids need to learn math fundamentals, we also understand that after-school programs need to be enjoyable first and foremost.
Our Developing Applied Math Class for Coders is perfect for students aged 12-14 getting at least a B in their usual math course and who have done at least one beginner-level RP4K course. The concepts students encounter are a little more advanced, some of which are:
Kids learn to program fun concepts, such as applying the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle to code a particle gun. We always ensure that coding for kids is fun and practical, but these new applied math courses take that to another level.
There’s no reason to think that as the underlying math concepts get more advanced, the sessions are less fun! RP4K has always put video games at the centre of what we do, and we know how to excite students by giving them tools to get more granular control over their games.
In that sense, creating video games can be as addictive and engaging as playing them. You’ve probably seen your kids hooked on playing video games or heard them say, “Just one more game,” when you’ve tried calling them to dinner. Imagine they were that engaged when learning math!
We recommend this course to anybody 14 to 18 years old with at least one intermediate-level RP4K course under their belt, getting at least a B in their math course at school. As the name suggests, this course is definitely more advanced and not for everybody.
Students will learn Pythagoras, Trigonometry, Vectors and Matrices, Fractals, Speed, Distance, Velocity and Momentum, Path Finding, Shortest Paths, and Planar Graphs. If these concepts sound dense or intimidating, just like always, we apply them in fun ways!
Students in our Advanced Applied Math Course get to use fractals to design a Chaos game. When kids take this course, they’ll be set up nicely for applied mathematics careers, which can open up many doors in a range of jobs. Knowing applied mathematics can lead to a wider array of jobs than you may think.
Parents want their kids to learn math and understand how to code for different reasons. There are practical benefits, like getting a job one day. Professional considerations aside, knowing math helps people navigate life in countless ways. More than anything, kids need to have fun in after-school programs.
This class is unique among RP4K offerings in that it’s not a coding course. The Elite Math and Physics for Video Games is a math and physics course where students encounter physics, math, examples, and proofs.
As president of RP4K, Elliott has supervised numerous courses over the last 20 years and noticed a few core concepts were recurring. Today, Elliott himself has created this course to address a gap in knowledge at the very top of advanced math for kids.
This course is suited to 15-18 year olds who have completed RP4K’s advanced level course with at least a B in their school math course. It’s an elite level course that is definitely not for everybody.
Students can expect to encounter trigonometry, coordinates, vectors, matrices, radiation matrices, special relativity, graph theory, and Dijkstra’s algorithm. These concepts will expand on and reinforce math topics they already know, creating a robust foundation that will stand out among their peers in school.
If you ask a group of kids to learn math in their spare time, they aren’t all likely to jump at the opportunity. RP4K has over two decades of experience making math fun for kids, so they enjoy sessions and walk out with a strong grasp of important knowledge. If you’d like to enroll your child in our program or have any questions about which class is right for them, don’t hesitate to contact RP4K today.
