For 1st & 2nd Grade Teachers

Learning procedures is mundane. Understanding concepts is motivating.

Most curricula are underchallenging classroom reasoning and underutilizing structural language and proportional visual models.

Math Success has them see it, explain it, and defend it...and they do.

Trusted by 300+ schools · Loved by 14,000+ teachers · Built on 40+ years of classroom research

Two 2nd graders subtracting 82−45 on an open number line, hopping back by tens
82 − 45, on the number line, by 2nd graders
  • Full K-6 curriculum + printables, download and keep them forever
  • Weekly live Office Hours with Dr. Brendefur & Dr. Ismail
  • Assessments that find the gap + the activities that close it

30-day money-back guarantee: full refund, keep everything you've downloaded

✔ Peer-reviewed RCT: 25 schools, 4,618 students✔ 79.2% vs 65.7% proficiency, RMC Research
Get Instant AccessFull program. 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.

Not ready? Explore some free lessons, prep, and practice →

+39pts
SBAC gains*
300+
schools
40+ yrs
of classroom research

*Iowa Elementary, Nampa, Idaho: 16% to 55% SBAC math proficiency over four years. read the principal's account →

Sound familiar?

The primary classroom is a special place.

“Do I look forward to math? Well....”
“I like math, am not a “math person”, but I do enjoy teaching it. There's just something missing...”
“That lesson was AMAZING! I can't wait for the next one. I could do this all day!”

Make addition and subtraction the same idea

When students compose a new ten and see it, 47 + 25 becomes something they can reason through. When subtraction runs on the same number line and bar models they already used for addition, it arrives as the same idea in reverse, not a new procedure to survive.

That's real place value: units students build, draw, and explain. That's fluency that survives past November. Watch the free Grade 2 lesson →

The number line is spatial practice.

Spatial reasoning quietly predicts later math achievement more than verbal ability does, and it can be learned.

Every hop on the number line, every bar model, every unit composed is a rep for the spatial engine, which is exactly why subtraction the day after addition takes a day: the mind already has the picture.

Measurement rides on the same skill: units compared, iterated, and composed before they are ever abbreviated with a ruler.

Two words do the heavy lifting: unit and compose.

The most powerful vocabulary in Grades 1-2 is not a word wall. It is the precise language of mathematics, and these two words appear everywhere from here to college.

unit

The thing being counted or measured. In Grade 1, the unit is 1. In Grade 2, the ten becomes the unit: 42 is 4 units of 10 and 2 units of 1.

Once a child sees the ten as a unit they built, regrouping stops being a mystery ritual. Place value, measurement, and every algorithm after are just new units.

Mrs. Stucki's kindergartners already find the unit of 10 hiding inside 11.

compose

Put parts together to make a whole. Students compose a new ten from ten ones, compose 100 from tens, and compose 47 + 25 on the number line.

Then, the day after addition, subtraction arrives as the same idea in reverse: decompose the ten. When a student says “I composed a ten,” the teacher hears exactly how the child is thinking, and the misconception clears itself up.

compose is everywhere: compose numbers compose shapes compose music compose a story a composition book

Because the words are precise, they align teachers with student thinking and the focused concept. When we're consistent with compose, decompose, unit, iterate, partition, equal from kindergarten on, the math conversation never has to restart. It's the same through college and beyond.

See the language in the free Grade 2 lesson →

From real classrooms, on tape

Real teachers. Real classrooms.

79.2% vs 65.7%
proficient or advanced, DMT classrooms vs comparison (RMC Research, independent evaluation)
4,618
students in the peer-reviewed cluster-randomized study, 25 schools
+39pts
SBAC math, Iowa Elementary over four years of DMTI partnership

“We practiced the addition until it is really solid. And then all I have to do is tell a subtraction story and they don't even bat an eye. They just solve it.”

MS. HOCHSTRASSER · TEACHER

“This is it. This is how to teach math.”

MOLLY YORK · TEACHER
Rosie Ashcraft

“Despite extraordinary barriers: nonverbal students, 3-month absences, working memory challenges, our students grew. These kids aren't just saying math words anymore. They can explain them and show models to back it up.” Rosie Ashcraft, kindergarten teacher, on the growth and the math talk in her own classroom.

Principal Chinita Irby

“In 14 years, I've never seen a company come in and support the children directly. DMTI works with the teachers and the students side by side.” Principal Chinita Irby

Who benefits most? The students furthest behind. In the peer-reviewed cluster-randomized study (25 schools, 4,618 students), the students who started with the lowest math performance made the largest gains.

Independent evaluation (RMC Research): 79.2% of students in DMT classrooms proficient or advanced vs 65.7% in comparison classrooms, with DMT schools serving more students in poverty and more English learners.

That matters most in Grades 1-2, where the gap is still small enough to close.

This is where multiplication and fractions get decided.

What a child builds in Grades 1-2 does more than pass benchmarks: it decides how the upper grades feel. The language (unit, compose, decompose) and the models (number line, bar model) a child builds now are the same ones that carry them through fractions, algebra, and college. Nothing to unlearn. Everything builds.

in Grades 1-2

Tens composed, differences explained on the number line

in Grades 3-4

Multiplication as units of units: same words, bigger numbers

in high school & beyond

Reasoning that scales: models still work, language still precise

Dr. Jonathan Brendefur laughing with math manipulatives
Dr. Jonathan Brendefur, founder

40+ years of research.
And he still answers the weekly call himself.

“The primary years are where place value and the operations are won or lost, and most programs teach the column before the unit. Let me show you the version where regrouping isn't a mystery.”

Our service promise to teachers

  • Real people answer: portal Q&A and live weekly Zooms with Dr. Brendefur & Dr. Ismail
  • Start yourself today. No contract, no district decision, no purchase order
  • One click to leave: cancel anytime, no forms

Not a program. Actual math learning experts, on your side.

The people behind 40+ years of classroom research don't hand you a binder and disappear. They're in the portal, on the weekly calls, and, when you need it, building a plan for your students with you.

A DMTI math specialist teaching an open number line lesson: students' hands up, everyone in Coach in the room, number line up
Dr. Jackie Ismail and Dr. Jonathan Brendefur (DMTI founder) coaching a teacher over Zoom, the real weekly virtual session Real coaching, live over Zoom
Dr. Sam Strother teaching fractions at the board Fraction questions? He's got them.
1

We listen first

Your classroom, your students, your constraints. You tell us what Tuesday actually looks like, and we start there, not with a script.

2

We build the plan together

Diagnostic → instruction → intervention, mapped to your roster. You'll know exactly what to do tomorrow and why it works.

3

We stay in the room

Weekly live calls with Dr. Brendefur & Dr. Ismail, portal Q&A answered by people who've taught the lesson. When you hit a wall, we're there.

Dr. Jonathan Brendefur
“Effective mathematics instruction isn’t more complicated. When teachers understand the mathematics and what to look for in student thinking, they can focus on what matters most, and the work gets easier, not harder.”

Every teacher is in a different place. Our goal is to meet teachers where they are, help them better understand the mathematics and their students’ thinking, and make good decisions about what to do next.

Tell us about one student who is stuck, or one lesson that keeps falling flat, and we will build the plan with you. That is the partnership: teacher-led, expert-backed. We do not push a system downward; we listen, advise, question, and support.

Dr. Jonathan Brendefur, founder, DMTI

Everything below is included. Here's the value math.

Pretty sweet deal, if you ask us =)

Complete K-6 curriculum & unit resourceslesson plans, printables, varied practice: print them and keep them FOREVER$250+
Foundations Masterclassthe full research foundation, taught by Dr. Brendefur$895
MLP Assessments with targeted intervention strategiesfind the gap, teach the gap$1,495
Games & Reportsmathematical play that reinforces the ideas$195
Coaching, live & on demandreal math experts on the weekly calls (coaching runs $100/hr elsewhere)$100/hr
The Coaching Natalie series8 full coaching sessions, from flat scores to breakthrough$395
All of it, valued atover $3,000
Yours included: $21/mo or $210/yr

Plus at least an hour of expert time free, and as many questions as you can ask, answered. Join today, and everything you download is yours to print and keep. FOREVER.

It's the level of a Masters program in the years that decide everything, for less than a teacher lunch budget a month.

Subtraction gets to be easy. You don't need one more thing on your plate. You need a clearer path through it. One routine this week; the rest builds from there.

Join Office Hours

Live every Monday, 3:30pm Mountain.
Bring your questions.

Free weekly Q&A with Dr. Jackie Ismail and Dr. Jonathan Brendefur, the researchers behind the program. Grades 1-2 questions welcome: a stuck regrouping lesson, a student who puzzles you, a routine you want to sharpen. Send your questions ahead of time or drop them in the YouTube chat during the call.

Join Office HoursFree · every Monday · no signup needed to watch ▶ Subscribe on YouTube for the reminder

“Bring one stuck lesson,
leave with a plan.”

Questions teachers ask before they join

Straight answers, the same ones we'd give you on a call.

Does this replace my district's required curriculum?

No, it supplements it. The models, routines, and assessments deepen how your students think about the math you're already required to teach, alongside your adopted curriculum.

Is it aligned to my standards?

The lessons target the concepts your grade-level standards expect (number sense, place value, the operations, fractions), and we'll help you map them onto your district's pacing.

How much prep does this take each week?

Less than you'd think. Lessons come with plans, printables, and practice built in. Most teachers start with one routine a week and grow from there.

Do I need special tech or a printer?

Printables print on any printer; the demo lessons and interactive games run in your browser. Nothing to install.

What if I can't make the live calls?

Coaching is live and on demand. Sessions live in the portal, so you can catch up whenever it works.

How does billing and canceling work?

$21/month or $210/year, month to month. Cancel anytime in one click, and everything you've downloaded is yours to keep. If it doesn't make your teaching clearer within 30 days of your first charge, we refund you. No forms.

Are you ready for Math Success?

Teachers don't need another commitment. Start free, see your students compose their first ten, feel more confident walking into class tomorrow.

Get Instant Access$21/month. 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.

30-day money-back guarantee: full refund, keep everything you've downloaded

Month to month · no contract · cancel anytime.

Plus the 30-day money-back guarantee: if it doesn't make your teaching clearer within 30 days of your first charge, email us and we refund you. No forms, no explanation required, and you keep the materials you already downloaded.

P.S. for the skippers

Here's what you get instantly when you join Math Success by DMTI ($21/month):

The Grades 1-2 Pack, free on this page: the Grade 2 demo lesson, Math Fact Fluency, Building Place Value Proficiency, plus free practice activities, yours either way.
Fluency & place value tools: varied practice sheets and games built on the same models, not repetitive worksheets.
Full K-6 curriculum map + lesson example videos from real classrooms: exactly how to teach each lesson, not just what to say.
Weekly Office Hours + diagnostics & intervention activities: find the gap behind the wrong answer, teach that instead of reteaching the unit.
Get Instant Access$21/month. 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.

30-day money-back guarantee: full refund, keep everything you've downloaded

Start free, keep it either way

The Grades 1-2 Pack is open right now. Yours to keep whether or not you ever enroll.

Grade 2 Demo Lesson

Place value & the operations: a full lesson taught, with practice and printables that go with it.

Watch it free →

Math Fact Fluency

Why facts stick when they're built from relationships, and how to run that classroom.

Read it free →

Building Place Value Proficiency

What the research says about the primary years: the moves that matter most.

Read it free →
Want to see the teaching live? Weekly Office Hours: bring one stuck lesson, leave with a plan.

Not ready to subscribe? The free stuff is still yours. No card, no signup.

Try the free Grade 2 demo lesson  ·  Take the free Foundations course

Both open with an email. That's it. Yours to keep either way.