Robbins Hebrew Academy

"You should move your knight out from the back because it can jump all the other players and then move to the side." Such is the advice of Jered and Josh as we sit to discuss the rules and best practices of the game of chess. "The knight can even jump its own player." Sound counsel from these boys as they display an understanding of what many consider a complicated game. What's remarkable is that these are not seasoned chess players sharing years of wisdom. They are RHA students who learned to play chess in grade 2 as part of an in-class program. Why chess? Because chess is about thinking critically and learning to problem solve – two of the skills RHA embeds into its curriculum. To play the game you must anticipate the moves of your opponent as you strategize your own game. For one hour each week, over a 10-week period, the grade 2 class did just that, learning the game from the acclaimed Chess Institute of Canada. Students were paired into teams which comprise a student who already had some exposure to the game and a total novice. Amazingly, each student was able to play a complete game against his or her opponent by the end of the ten weeks. But even more than that, it was ten weeks of valuable learning. Learning to focus, to visualize, to analyze and most importantly, to collaborate. "You should always keep pawns in front of your king, queen and knight," says Jered. "Yeah," agrees Josh, "all the pawns are your helpers and work as a team." Learning to work as a team; essential learning at RHA. Media reports revealed this year that only 50 per cent of grade 6 Ontario students were able to meet the provincial standard in math. At RHA, we are happy to say that is not our experience. Not only do we score in the top EQAO quadrant for math, our students are winning national awards and are placing in the top 10 per cent internationally in math contests. Last year at TanenbaumCHAT, RHA graduate Jonah Dlin won the top mathematics award. And in surveys with RHA alumni, students reported that they came to high school math extremely well prepared and were easily mastering the curriculum. And now, we're upping our game even further. A warm welcome to Xinli Wang. She has joined our team as our Academic Math Chair. Xinli mentors our teachers in best practices and cutting-edge approaches in math enrichment, instruction and student learning. Educated in China and with a PhD in mathematics from Singapore, Xinli taught at the Singapore Polytechnic and created new curriculum and course materials. At RHA, extraordinary things really do happen. Chess in Grade Two: Developing Minds Starts Young at RHA Introducing RHA's Math Chair E L E V E N

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