Information for clinicians and educators.

What Maker Math is, in clinical terms.

Maker Math is a private tutoring program, not a clinical or therapeutic service. We do not diagnose. We do not write reports. We do not bill insurance. We are a teaching service that works alongside the clinical and educational team already supporting a student.

Specifically:

• Format. One-on-one tutoring, two one-hour sessions per week, year round. Same teacher each session for continuity.
• Settings. In-person at Camp Hill PA or Avon NC. Online from anywhere via live video, with physical manipulatives shipped to the student so they can use them in real time.
• Cost. $75 per session, billed monthly. We do not bill insurance, but families with FSA or HSA accounts may be able to use those funds. We offer a limited number of partial scholarships for families with financial need.
• Staff training. All Maker Math teachers are trained in dyscalculia, dyslexia, and ADHD support. Senior staff have backgrounds in education and direct experience with students who have learning differences.
• Curriculum approach. We work from where the student is, not from a fixed scope and sequence. We draw on established multisensory math programs (notably Math U See) and the work of dyscalculia specialist Ronit Bird, integrated with our own custom-designed manipulatives. [CHECK: Math U See and Ronit Bird are real and well-regarded references; verify these are accurate descriptions of how Maker Math actually uses them.]

Who we serve.

The most common referral profiles we see:

• Students with a formal dyscalculia diagnosis who need targeted intervention beyond what their school can provide
• Students with dyslexia who also struggle with math, where the school is providing reading support but not math support
• Students with ADHD whose math struggles are not being addressed by attention-focused interventions alone
• Twice-exceptional students who have demonstrated learning differences alongside high abilities in other areas
• Students without a formal diagnosis whose parents have noticed persistent math struggle that does not match the kid's general ability
• Students who have hit a wall in algebra, geometry, or calculus despite previously functional math skills, often because earlier conceptual gaps are catching up
• Students whose math anxiety has reached a level that traditional tutoring is not helping

We work effectively with students from age 5 through high school and into college-level material. Our oldest active students are working through calculus and statistics. Our youngest are working on number sense and counting fundamentals.

We are not the right fit for:

• Students who need clinical services (we are educational, not therapeutic)
• Students who need accommodation paperwork (we do not write reports for IEPs or 504 plans, though our teachers can communicate with school teams)
• Students seeking general homework help (we work on understanding, not on completing assignments)
• Students whose families are unable to commit to twice-weekly sessions long term (the consistency is what makes the method work)

The teaching method.

Maker Math instruction is built around three principles:

Multisensory engagement. Every concept is approached through multiple channels: visual, tactile, verbal, and conceptual. Students do not just see the math, they hold it, manipulate it, and explain it.

Concrete-Representational-Abstract (CRA) sequencing. Concepts are first introduced through physical manipulatives, then through visual representations, then through abstract symbols. This sequence is well-established in dyscalculia and learning differences research as the most reliable path to durable understanding.

Custom tools when needed. Maker Math has 3D printers in-house. When a student is stuck on a concept and the right manipulative does not exist, our teachers design and print one, often within a day or two. Each tool is shaped to the specific need.

Sessions follow a flexible structure: brief check-in on prior material, hands-on introduction or extension of new material, guided practice with the relevant tools, and a short consolidation phase where the student articulates what they have learned. Pacing is set by the student, not by an external curriculum schedule.

We coordinate with school teams when invited to do so. We do not replace school instruction or contradict it. We supplement it with the depth and individualization that classroom math cannot provide.

What to expect.

Realistic outcomes vary by student, age, and starting point. We do not promise rapid results or specific grade-level improvements. What we do see consistently:

First few months. Students develop a working relationship with their teacher. Math anxiety often begins to decrease. Foundational concepts that were missing or shaky begin to firm up. Students often start to articulate that they "get" something for the first time.

Six months in. Procedural fluency improves alongside conceptual understanding. Students start to apply learned concepts in new contexts, which is the hallmark of real understanding versus memorization. Confidence improves measurably.

A year and beyond. Students who have been with us for a year or more typically demonstrate strong conceptual foundations across the topics we have covered. They tend to move forward in their school math curriculum with less friction than before. The struggle is not gone, but the catastrophic gap between effort and result has usually closed.

The students who benefit most are the ones who attend consistently, twice a week, over a sustained period. The method depends on regular practice and the slow build of understanding. Students who attend sporadically or who try to use Maker Math for short-term test prep see less benefit.

We are honest with families when we do not think we are the right fit, or when we think a different intervention would serve the student better. The first conversation with any prospective family is free, and includes an honest assessment of fit.

How to refer.

The simplest path: give the parent the URL makermath.com and let them reach out. Our intake process is straightforward, no clinical paperwork required.

If you want to be more involved:

Send the parent the downloadable one-pager (below). It is a single PDF designed to be printed or emailed. It explains Maker Math in terms a parent can understand and includes our contact information.

Reach out directly on behalf of a family. Some clinicians prefer to make the connection themselves. We can take a referral by email and contact the family from our side. Email makermathofficial@gmail.com with a brief description and the family's contact information (with their permission).

Refer with specificity if helpful. If you have specific recommendations from your evaluation (e.g., "this student needs intensive work on number sense before any procedural math") we welcome those notes. We do not require them, but they help us start in the right place.

Request a coordination call. If you have a complex case and want to discuss whether Maker Math is appropriate, we are happy to do a brief phone consultation before the family is contacted. There is no charge for this.