Testimonials for David Freedman

David Freedman taught my son Nicholas for two wonderful years when he was in first and second grade. David is a master teacher, he is an expert in both literacy and math instruction and should you want to know, he could expound about educational theory with the best. But what is most amazing is that when he was in front of those first and second graders they were rapt because they never knew where he was going to go next and they could not wait to get there. David has such a wealth of knowledge and skill that he would immediately notice when the kids were not picking up a given lesson and he had many approaches to lead them to the knowledge. Nicholas was a “high functioning” student and David brought him from a solid first grade reading level entering first grade to a solid fourth grade reader leaving second grade. Again though, that is not the point. What really impressed me about the way that David taught was that all of the students felt like they were good learners and David was at his best with the students that had the most trouble learning. When I would ask Nicholas how his day was at the end of the school day he invariably would reply “fantastic”. And while my son has had some amazing teachers, that has not happened to the same degree since.

Katy Roemer

My third grader was struggling with math and it was affecting her confidence and self esteem.  She just wasn't grasping the math concepts the way that it was being taught in school and she was aware that she was falling behind her peers.  David's weekly tutoring sessions have been remarkable in turning this around.  Her confidence has increased and her teacher informed me, on her most recent progress report, that her grades were improving which she attributed directly to the tutoring. To top it off, my daughter actually enjoys the weekly sessions with David, because although he is very focused and systematic in his approach, he also knows how to make it fun through interactive games and activities. He has transformed my daughter's entire outlook and approach to math. He has also given me insight into her learning style and provided me with tools for supporting her math concept integration and cognitive development. I highly recommend David Freedman and his application of the "Making Math Real" method for any child who is having difficulty with math.

Barbara Campbell
Contracts and Grants Manager
Institute of Industrial Relations
Berkeley, CA 94720-5555

To whom it may concern

It is a great pleasure to recommend David Freedman as a Making Math Real tutor. We were fortunate to have our 3 rd grade daughter in his class during the MMR 2005Summer Camp. She loved his style of interacting with children and was thrilled when he agreed to continue tutoring her through her 4 th grade. David has a very cheerful personality and a special way of dealing with children that every week Sita looks forward to Tuesdays, when she goes to David for her lessons.

Thanks to him and MMR, over the last six to eight months Sita has made a great progress in math and her confidence in her abilities and herself is starting to spill over to other academic activities like reading, writing and spellings. She is no longer afraid of trying and we no longer hear heart-breaking comments like, “ I am so stupid!” Or, “ I don’t know anything!” Instead it’s, “ Can I do one more sheet of MMR home-work!” The best was when a few weeks back while driving back from school in the evening she asked, “ Daddy, can I do my math home-work in the car?” I can vouch that but for David and MMR I would have never heard that comment.

I am really happy that David has decided to start full-time MMR tutoring. This way he would be able to spend more time with his charges. Unfortunately, we are moving out of Bay Area, one of our concerns is how to continue Sita’s tutoring by David and we are exploring the possibility of long distance MMR tutoring via video-conferencing.

As a parent who has experienced the magic of ‘Making Math Real’ with two children I can confidently say that MMR tutoring is the best gift any parent can give to their children and David Freedman has done wonders with Sita.

Thanks, David for all your help and Best wishes for the new venture.

anil

Dr. Anil K. Joshi
Associate Research Scientist, Children’s Hospital Research institute,
Oakland, CA 94609

David has been working wonders with our son for close to two years. He was our son’s lead teacher in our first year at Making Math Real summer camp and he kindly offered to see our son weekly after that. David’s familiarity with the curriculum and his experience as a teacher is obvious as he builds our son’s math skills week after week. David has complete faith in our son’s ability to master math through the MMR program and has the teaching skills to know when to wait for an answer, when to prompt and when to reel him back in if he gets too silly. It truly is a pleasure to work with David, both for my son and as a parent communicating about “getting through” the school’s curriculum vs. learning math for life through the Making Math Real program.

Amy Ottinger