Concordia is known for its strong math program, and students at all levels regularly score much higher than the global standard for their grade. 

The Bolt spoke with four Grade 5 students and their teacher to find out why. 

“We do many math games. We learn and are able to revise and try division and multiplication in different ways. I can think about what is the best method. I can develop my brain to solve questions in many ways, and write the reasoning for why the answer came out the way it did. I like math,” said Jayden (G5).

“In grade 5, I’ve learned about many things in math, like fractions, adding fractions and subtracting fractions, and finding volume of shapes and comparing them. I think that Concordia has a good math program, and there are many different sites that we use, like Khan Academy and IXL. I think the most challenging part so far has been solving big multiplication and division problems with three and two digits,” said Don (G5).

“When I left New Mexico, in the US, I had a hard time with fractions that were extremely high in the denominator and medium in the numerator. The way Concordia has helped me is it’s taught me all these mathematics methods that, if I hadn’t been here, I would never have learned. My teacher has shown me the four square method, with four steps for how to solve a problem,” said Otto (G5).

“I really like how the teacher makes math really fun by reviewing math with programs like Kahoot and other games that we can play, and he actually teaches so well that we can understand in one second. I learned US traditional math, for subtracting, adding and multiplying, and I can use it in all different ways. It has really helped me - it’s the correct way to really understand math concepts,” said Akari (G5).

“Concordia students are very strong to begin with, so we as teachers need to give them enrichment activities along with following the Common Core standards of 5th grade. The kids use Khan Academy to challenge themselves, an excellent resource for doing high level math,” said Grade 5 teacher Mr. Mills.