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First, students predicted how many seconds it would take to eat a cup of popcorn. Then a timer was started and the munching commenced.
“I love eating popcorn,” Leach said, grinning.
About 75 kids and adults turned out for Family Math Night, held at Olympic View Elementary School in Lacey. The event featured scores of activities designed to help students practice problem-solving and prediction skills.
“It’s about getting families to engage with the kids and math in a nonstressful, fun way,” said coordinator Linda Hoover, who teaches second and third grades at the school. “There isn’t a lot of focus on getting the right answer.”
This is the 25th year Olympic View has sponsored Family Math events based on a hands-on elementary school math curriculum developed by the University of California and the Lawrence Hall of Science. Olympic View has three more Family Math Nights scheduled, including tonight’s event, which will focus on numbers and operations, Hoover said.
Families began last week’s Family Math Night with warm-up games in the library. The room was abuzz as dice were rolled, coins were flipped and patterns were created with geometric shapes.
Instead of watching their children play, parents were encouraged to participate in the activities.
“I want to improve my daughter’s interest in math,” said Jong Cho, 40, of Lacey, as she played a guessing game with her 8-year-old daughter, Christine.
Family Math Night once was offered by numerous schools around the country, but it has been eliminated by many due to budget cuts, Hoover said.
At Olympic View, the program has survived partly because it’s a longtime tradition that has been enjoyed by generations of schoolchildren. Some parents attended Family Math Night when they were Olympic View students, Hoover said.
In addition, the events are staffed almost entirely by teachers who are volunteering and “just doing the program out of the goodness of their hearts,” Hoover added.
During last week’s event, families spent about 20 minutes in the library before moving to classrooms where they could work on activities geared toward specific grade levels.
For example, first-grade students practiced prediction and counting skills with “everyday estimation stations.” They predicted the number of inches they could jump, the number of stuffed animals they could stack on a chair and the amount of weight of certain objects.
They also played strategy games, such as Connect Four.
Verena Lower, 32, of Lacey said she brought 6-year-old daughter Caelen to Family Math Night to show her “that math can be applied, that it’s not just an abstract concept.”
Marsha Mazara, 43, of Lacey said she brought her 6-year-old son Kamarri to help fuel his growing interest in math.
“I want to do whatever it takes to foster that,” she said.
Lisa Pemberton: 360-754-5433
lpemberton@theolympian.com
