Mathematics

Curriculum Overview
The Mathematics Department’s curriculum is designed to develop mastery and fluency in various ‘sub-languages’ of mathematics so that our students will be comfortable reading and analyzing quantitative information in their chosen field upon graduation from Keio Academy of New York. It integrates the best practices of the American and Japanese math curricula. Students are actively encouraged to progress to the next instruction level in our three-level system of mathematical competency.

Goals
Our goals are to build a solid foundation for our students in Algebra, Geometry and analytical geometry, to strengthen their logical and critical thinking skills, to support our students becoming mathematical and practical problems solvers, to give students tools for studying new ideas, methods and algorithms once they enter colleges.

Class Structure, Methods and Size
Each course is offered at standard, intermediate and honors levels.  Each level is treated with an increased level of abstraction and detail. A student’s level placement is based on the student’s academic performance. A student will be promoted to next higher level class if he/she does very well in the current level class.
Our class size is in single digits or low teens for the standard level, which allows teachers to offer our students more extra help. The class sizes are in teens or low twenties for intermediate level and honors level classes.

Distinctive Feature
The Mathematics department integrates the best practices of the American and Japanese math curricula. In particular, American textbooks contain various types of basic problems, which help students build a solid conceptual foundation of each mathematical concept. Japanese textbooks and problem-solving books, on the other hand, offer problems that require multiple steps to solve the problems. These examples help students deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts and of relations among them. The American and the Japanese textbooks complement each other, creating a more comprehensive approach to learning. That is why Keio Academy provides excellent mathematics education.

Yilin Cao / Mathematics Department Chair
ycao@keio.edu