My name is Gary Amara and I have been a teacher and tutor of mathematics in the greater Portland area for over a decade.  I am currently an adjunct faculty member at Southern Maine Community College as well as at the Waynflete School in Portland.  I typically travel to students’ homes, schools, or wherever they feel comfortable working.  For students not in the Portland area, I am available for online video tutoring sessions.

My goal when working with a student or a small group of students is to assess their strengths and weaknesses and equip them to achieve at the highest level possible.  I believe that all students can find a satisfying level of comfort and fun when learning mathematics.

You do not need to have difficulty in the classroom to use my services.  Over half of my private students see me for enrichment.  These students see me so that they can skip a class, place into higher level courses, or simply to maintain a high grade.

When prepping for standardized tests, like the SAT, ACT, Praxis, etc., my goal is to impart efficient test-taking strategies, while reinforcing mathematical fundamentals that are essential to an individual’s success.

Allow me to show you what a highly trained mathematics tutor can do for your child.

Gary Amara

1.   Stop the Bleeding – Assess Needs and Fill Gaps

My primary goal, when working with a student, is to assess that person’s abilities and determine their strengths and weaknesses. Mathematics is what I like to call foundational.  Every new topic is predicated by the assumption that a student has mastered every topic leading up to the present.  If there is a gap in learning at some point in their mathematical learning, it can cause trouble for every subsequent topic. For instance, if a student had the chicken pox when subtraction was covered, that student could have issues with subtraction every step of the way, which can inhibit their confidence and success in every year and every course that follows.  My goal is to determine those gaps and bridge them to new levels of understanding, while reinforcing fundamental mathematical skills.

2.  Meet Current Goals – Plan and Execute 

I work with the student and the parents and teachers of that student, to determine their short term and long term goals.  Once goals have been established, I develop a plan for success in their current areas of study and work with the student to execute that plan.

3. Look to the Future – Build Confidence and Proactivity 

Once stability in the current areas of study is achieved, I expose students to the topics that they will be seeing in the future.  Working ahead of the pace of their current course, gives students a boost of confidence, especially when they see these topics in the classroom for the first time.  The result is a stable student who exhibits an increase in class participation and a deeper understanding of mathematics.

www.mainemath.com

info@mainemath.com

207.871.5683

When prepping students for standardized tests, my goal is to impart test-taking strategies to maximize a student’s time management and efficiency, while reinforcing mathematical fundamentals that are essential to an individual’s success.  I currently provide mathematics tutoring for the following standardized tests:

SAT®

SAT® Subject Tests (SAT II)

PSAT/NMSQT®

ACT®

Accuplacer

CLEP

GMAT

ISEE

SSAT

Praxis

“I recommend MaineMath whenever I hear anyone is looking for help with a math course or test prep.”- Waynflete Parent

“When Gary walked into our home, I had a daughter struggling with math and a daughter bored with math. In just a few months, my daughter who was struggling was getting A’s on her tests, and my daughter who was bored became happily engaged — doing work months ahead of her class.”– Catherine McAuley High School and King Middle School Dad 

“Gary works with what his students DO understand, and builds on that, connecting his lessons, as much as possible, to real life applications.” – Cape Elizabeth Parent

“Gary is patient, smart, flexible, funny, pragmatic and reliable. I recommend him to anyone looking for help with math. ” – Waynflete Parent

“Gary helped our son jump a year in math by condensing a year long Pre-Calculus course into a summer course.  Our son went on to score an 800 on his math SAT and a 5 on his calc AP exam that year!” – Cheverus Mom

“MaineMath helped our daughter get through a challenging math class by filling in middle school gaps.  She is now flourishing in AP Calculus BC as a senior.”– Catherine McAuley Mom

“”Gary did a wonderful job working with my son to better grasp difficult pre-calculus and calculus concepts. He is extremely clear with his explanations and focuses on putting the math to work by doing problems that illustrate these tough mathematical ideas. He has a wonderful calm and open way about him that made my son feel comfortable and unafraid to make mistakes. I would highly recommend him!”– Waynflete Parent