Brother-and-Sister Business Partners Launch Mathnasium

When siblings Charles and Julia Fung looked to get off the corporate ladder and search for more meaningful work, they soon came across a business opportunity that was a good match.

After making it through a vetting process and completing an apprenticeship in Toms River, they opened their Mathnasium franchise in the Nelson's Corner Shopping Center, near Starbucks.

Charles, who holds degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science, said it's a perfect fit. 

"I like to teach and I like kids," he said. 

With more than 30 years in business and more than 380 franchises in the U.S. Canada and 14 other countries, Mathnasium has proven its business plan adds up.

For the Fungs, it's all about the kids, though—which is why the business' opening in September—and grand opening Saturday—are perfectly timed.

"This is about the time of the year a lot of parents are looking at the report cards, and saying, 'my child isn't doing very well in math,'" Charles said.

Though they certainly hope to gain new customers among those students, he pointed out the typical mix of students at Mathnasium centers is a bit different: about one-third of the students are struggling to keep up in school, but another third of the students are doing fine and looking to do "something extra," he said—and the final third are students who want to extend their learning far above their grade levels.

The center is currently focused on teaching kids between the second and 12th grades Mathnasium's "Number Sense Triangle" approach to understanding math, which includes a focus on partitioning, proportional thinking and counting.

"People say, 'Counting? Counting is easy...1,2,3,4,5,'" Charles said. "But if you ask, 'Can you count forwards and backwards from 45.5 in three-quarters increments?', they can't do it."

And while the need for counting in three-quarter increments may not seem all that necessary, the ability to understand how to do it can spell the difference between a deep understanding and skill level in math and failing classes in high school.

Fung said students frequently "hit a brick wall" in math class, often in middle school because of a common problem: they don't fully understand the concepts behind fractions, which relates to the fundamental concepts of algebra and higher math.

"We start building a 'structure' in their minds," he added. That structure provides students the framework needed to fully understand how to apply the principles from addition through calculus.

The Mathnasium approach begins with an assessment of each students' ability on a range of math topics and applications—second-graders are tested not only on addition and subtraction, but changing money, telling time, and...fractions. An individual lesson plan is prepared and students work through the plan with a combination of personalized instruction and individual practice.

"Our model is a combination of one-on-one instruction and independent work—that's why it works," Julia said.

The center offers private instruction, as well as group programs, and uses games and a reward system to help students advance.

Even though the Hillsborough center has only bee open for a few weeks, the Fungs can already point to achievements: a second-grader struggling desperately with her homework who fought with her parents every night now happily dives in; a middle school football players who thought his failing grades showed he couldn't do math scored an A on a recent school test.

Charles thinks back on his old days in a corporate office, and notes how much has changed for him.

"I can truly say every morning, 'It's time to go to work and change some lives,'" he said.

The siblings admit they haven't operated a business before, but are quick to work out problems—consider their answer to a scheduling problem that nearly derailed their grand opening planned for noon Saturday.

They had been working with township officials to try and pin down a date but learned a tentative date they'd planned on wouldn't work for the officials.

They considered canceling the opening, or cutting the ceremonial ribbon themselves, before hitting on a better idea.

"We're going to have our 89-year-old mother do it," Julia said. "I told her this morning, 'Mom, you have to find your best dress and do this for us.'"

In addition to mom cutting the ribbon, the grand opening and open house will include food, games and drawings for prizes—the grand prize will be a six-month open tuition at Mathnasium, valued at $1,800. The event runs from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.

"This is a chance for parents and children to see how Mathnasium can help boost a student's math skills and understanding of math concepts," Charles said. "Math can be very intimidating to both parents and children, so we hope the open house will show how the Mathnasium Method makes math fun and interesting."