ROCKPORT — Rick Drost, a parent who helps lead Rockport's Elementary Math Circle, says the kindergarten through Grade 2 Saturday morning program is based on a simple premise.
"Get kids to take 'this is math' and 'this is fun' and put the two together," he says.
The Math Circle opened this fall for pupils in kindergarten through the second grade after a successful run last spring. The Circle meets on Saturday mornings at 9:15 a.m. until 10:15 a.m. and opened in mid-October.
Members conducted two sessions this month and will continue for six more weeks into mid-December. Bill Mueller, a mathematician, and other parents who work in mathematical fields, organize each week's session.
According to the Circle staff, the program is a free program to explore ideas in mathematics and encourage students to consider futures in mathematics or engineering.
Drost also noted that the "circle" does not work from a curriculum, and does not tutor students in math along the school system curricula.
Last year, said Mueller, students studied number patterns, probability, spirographs and gears.
This year, he said, the circle staff wants to introduce codes, and the mathematical patterns in bubbles, shapes and other objects.
The circle began last year with 12 to 15 students in kindergarten or first grade. In this year's first two sessions, Mueller said, the size of the group has doubled.
This year, Rockport's Math Circle received a $2,000 grant from the University of California at Berkley's Mathematical Sciences Research Institute. Mueller said that Cal's MSRI stands as one of the few, if not the only math circle in the country for elementary school students. Most math circles are geared toward high school and college age students looking for enriched mathematical education.
The grant helped Circle staff provide new materials for this year.
While the program doesn't have a curriculum of its own, Mueller said that the Rockport School system supports the endeavor as part of its Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative.
"We want (the Circle) to be a cooperative effort between teams and parents," he said.
Steven Fletcher, a former Times intern reporter, is editor of the Gordon College paper, The Tartan, and can be reached at Steve.Fletcher@gordon.edu.
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