The following is from Bedtime Math:
Bedtime Math, a national nonprofit known for its mission to make math a fun part of kids’ everyday lives, launched March of the Stuffed Animals, a free program offered throughout the month of March that provided preschoolers a rare, groundbreaking introduction to basic math skills – all with the help of their favorite stuffed animals.
Children marched in a Stuffed Animal Parade and conducted their own Crazy Creature Census, where they practiced counting, comparing sizes and grouping – essentially learning basic statistics in a playful, relaxed environment. More than 30,000 children participated in over 500 schools and libraries nationwide.
“Kids build their math ability at a surprisingly young age – that’s their big opportunity. The MRI brain scans of 8-year-old children predict future math ability better than any standardized math skills or memory tests,” said Bedtime Math founder Laura Overdeck, citing a recent Stanford study. “And yet only 14% of parents with preschool children do math at home. It’s urgent that we expose the next generation to playful, approachable math early in life, so they can build the brain structure to succeed in school.”
Bedtime Math provided instructions on how to run the math activities, as well as copies of Bedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out, Overdeck’s third best-selling children’s book. Most notably, participants went home with parent flyers about Bedtime Math’s app, which was recently shown by a University of Chicago study to increase kids’ math skills by several months in just one school year.
In New Jersey, the program reached almost 4,000 children at 65 sites in 50 towns.
“Providing an engaging and encouraging climate for children’s early encounters with math is so important,” said John T. Rich, executive director of Sarah Ward Nursery School in Newark, New Jersey, one of the participating preschools. “Using positive experiences in math to solve problems helps children to develop dispositions such as curiosity, imagination, flexibility, inventiveness and persistence, which contributes to their future success in and out of school. We can’t thank Bedtime Math enough for helping us show our kids that math can be fun, and how it becomes a part of their life.”
Bedtime Math plans to offer a similar preschool program again in fall 2016
For more information about March of the Stuffed Animals, or to speak with Bedtime Math founder Laura Overdeck, contact Sandy LoPiccolo at 908-444-4532 or sandy@bedtimemath.org.
About Bedtime Math Foundation
Bedtime Math Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to put the fun and discovery back into learning math. Its core product is a zany online math problem that parents can do with their kids every day; a recent study from the University of Chicago showed that when families do Bedtime Math together, kids’ math skills improve by months. Bedtime Math is also the creator of Crazy 8s, a lively, hands-on after-school math club that has donated more than 6,000 club kits nationwide, serving more than 80,000 children. For more information, visit www.bedtimemath.org.
