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Math and Language with Karen Tzanetopoulos
Karen Tzanetopoulos, M.S., CCC-SLP — author, speaker, speech-language therapist, and expert in how children learn math and reading. She provides professional development for educators, while also working directly with children, focusing on the language of math, cognitive processes, and strategies that help all learners succeed.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Professional Development on how to incorporate the latest cognitive research into daily math instruction with any math curriculum.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Karen provides in-person and online professional development for teachers, math interventionists, and parents on how to build foundational math skills from pre-K through pre-algebra, based in the cognitive science of how children learn math.
Examples of the range of schools and organizations with whom I work:
- Minnesota Department of Education
- Archdiocese of Arkansas
- Michigan Virtual Charter Academy
- The Skala, Whitefish, Montana
- Three Forks Elementary, Montana
- The Waldorf School
- The Sterne School, San Francisco
INDIVIDUAL STUDENT INSTRUCTION
Online and in-person in Carbondale, Colorado
Math
Karen brings unique and expert knowledge to helping struggling students learn math. She helps students in all grades catch up on foundational skills and teaches math in a way that is much easier to understand and learn. Karen works with students from the earliest grades through pre-algebra and algebra.
Reading, Spelling and Writing
Karen uses structured literacy to teach reading, spelling, and writing, specifically a speech to print approach. Many schools use a leveled literacy approach which is insufficient for children with most reading disorders, thus leaving many students to struggle unnecessarily.
SPEAKING
Karen is an experienced and well-received presenter on the pedogogy of math instruction.
RECENT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
As a result of Karen’s research and expertise in the role of language in learning math and in the science of math learning, she has been invited to speak at a variety of conferences and conventions.
Upcoming conference presentations:
- Big Sky Literacy Summit 2025
Recently Karen has presented at:
- International Dyslexia Association DyslexiaCon 2025
- Plain Talk About Dyslexia 2025
- International Dyslexia Association DyslexiaCon 2023 and 2024
- International Dyslexia Association - Rocky Mountain Branch 2023 and 2024
- Illinois Speech Language Association 2023
CURRENT PROJECTS
Writing: Invited author for an upcoming book on math and language. Details to be released in 2026.
Recent Research: Two-year National Science Foundation Grant from NC State University, Conversations Across Boundaries. Karen is one of 24 math-learning experts invited to debate different approaches to math instruction, including cognitive research, education research, and explicit instruction vs. exploration/inquiry approaches.
Parent Testimonials
for Karen’s Work with Their Children:
"Karen’s patience and attention to detail is extraordinary. She is compassionate and caring and truly concerned about the well-being and success of the kids she works with."
"When I wait outside of Karen’s office, I hear my daughter laughing with Karen and having fun in her sessions. She refused to try to read when we started seeing Karen, and now she is actually having fun and wanting to read!"
“Karen provided some invaluable resources that were so helpful for our daughter to improve her visual and auditory processing issues. Now she is helping us with college accommodations, when we were not sure she would make it to college.”
How Children Learn Math: The Science of Math Learning in Research and Practice
by Nancy Krasa, Karen Tzanetopolous, and Colleen Maas
Written for pre-service and in-service teachers, parents, and grandparents of children in pre-school through grade 6, this book connects research in cognitive development and math education to offer an easily understood and practical introduction to the science of math learning. It is the first book to review the cognitive research on how children learn math and includes practical activities and strategies to help children develop their math brain from early childhood.
Podcast: Karen Tzanetopoulos on the Science of Math Learning in Research and Practice
"In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Karen spoke with host Brendan Lee, sharing how she started working out of an office that was like a janitor’s closet to quietly do her own structured literacy with students and how her interest in math began while working in the public schools, as she observed that many of her students with language disorders also struggled to learn math and then she made a connection between the two."
Article: Five Ways To Start Teaching Fractions
"Following on from last year’s successful series of blog articles on 5 ways to implement the science of reading, this year experts will be providing ready-to-use tips on the science of maths....The second blog post of the series comes from Karen Tzanetopoulos, co-author of the book, “How Children Learn Math: The Science of Math Learning in Research and Practice” (2023)."
Karen's Latest News
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National Science Foundation Grant Awarded
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New Journal Publication: Learning Difficulties Australia
KAREN TZANETOPOULOS, M.S., CCC-SLP
LEARNING TO FULL POTENTIAL, LLC
Math and Language Therapy and Speaking Nationwide
