It adds up: demand for specialized tutoring totals success for Mathnasium.

Two years ago, Ana Frandell hated math and it showed. She was in sixth grade and was getting C's and even an occasional F in the subject. So her father took her to a Mathnasium LLC learning center.

By seventh grade, she was bringing home A's, and she's kept it up since then. She said the teachers at Mathnasium explained challenging problems to her in "kid language."

"Here, teachers re-explain concepts 'till I understand," she said. "In school they use math terms and do it fast and expect you to get it right away. Most of us don't and before we can, the bell rings and we have to be in the next class."

Started four years ago in a Westwood storefront by Peter Markowitz and David Ullendorf, Mathnasium is an after-school learning center that specializes in teaching math. The program caters to students from pre-K through 12th grade.

The pair focused on math because they felt it's the most difficult subject for students to follow in school and also the most difficult for parents to help with. They also thought they could find customers if they could offer an affordable solution.

Their instincts proved right. In eight months. Mathnasium had to move to a bigger location.

"We were literally bursting at the seams with the number of students coming in," Markowitz said.

Today, Mathnasium is a growing franchise operation. Its centers are open from about 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. The centers take advantage of the latest technology: Students can walk in at any time but are asked to "check-in" with a barcode assigned to them and "check-out" when they are done.

Still, Irene Pinzon, an instructor at the Westwood Center, is a qualified math and science teacher and thinks the crux is in the customized curriculum.

"A broad range of children come in here--those who have failed all their lives and those who are good at it," she said. "We build relationships with them, without bombarding them with tests and exercises."

For-profit educational centers have been springing up across the nation in recent years, partly to fill a need in helping struggling students--but also to assuage baby boomer parents who fear their children may be left behind in what is seen as an increasingly competitive world.

Without addressing Mathnasium specifically, Steve Schneider, director of the mathematics, science and technology program at WestEd, a non-profit research and development agency, urges caution in selecting tutoring centers.

"All I can say is: Let the buyer beware of these programs," he said. "Most of them turn out to be homework helpers, but that is not what we want. We want children to learn by themselves."

Schneider said he had once considered a partnership with Mathnasium, but decided against it.

Markowitz didn't set out to specialize in education. In 1983, his wife was working at UCLA and she started FutureKids, a company specializing in training children to become literate in technology. He was a graduate student at the USC School of Cinema-Television and helped out in the evenings. But things suddenly changed.

"My wife decided to make our first baby." he said. "So I was left with the business full-time, and had to make it work."

FutureKids was doing well by the time he asked David Ullendorf to produce a promotional video for the company. Ullendorf agreed, but got so interested in the business that he went from consultant to co-investor. They sold FutureKids in 1999 and started looking for something new. They settled on Mathnasium.

"Our driver is the huge problem that children have with math and the market that exists for fixing that problem," Ullendorf said. "Besides, I like math. It's fun to work with something you like."

When they sign up, students take an assessment test and the results are used to develop a study program. Each student gets an individual folder with customized exercise sheets and can work on them with supervision. At the end of the course, their performance is measured by an outside agency, EyeCues Education Systems.

The company now has 80 franchises in the United States and in nine countries around the world. Franchisees are generally math enthusiasts who see the market potential.

Other alter-school programs such as the Huntington Learning Centers Inc. teach a whole range of subjects albeit at a higher per-hour fee ranging from $40 to $60.

"As an after-school program, we are looking to fill the gaps in what children learn," said Andy Quinn, the director of Huntington's Encino location. "That means the problems they have in math, they will also have with reading or science."

But the need for math training is universal. Ullendorf said. Even if students want to major in ballet or film when they get to college, they have to be good at math to get grades that will gain admission.

"Math is math everywhere," he said. "You can jump from country to country whether it is India or the United States and it will not change. It is a language that everyone understands."

Mathnasium LLC

Year founded: 2002

Core business: After-school mathematics learning center

Revenue in 2004:$600,000

Revenue in 2005:$2.6 million

Employees in 2004:12 full time (plus several part-time)

Employees in 2005:15 full time (plus several part-time)

Goal: To make math learning simple for as many kids as possible

Driving force: An international demand for affordable math classes