Finding, creating and sharing effective resources that families and practitioners can use to deepen their understanding and enjoyment of math is core to the work of the Center for Family Math. If you have resources to suggest, please reach out to us here.
Our Resources
Research Review on Family Math
In 2019, the Research Work Group of the Family Math Roadmap Project supported a literature review of the Family Math field, Reviewing the Family Math Literature: Recommendations for Practice, Policy and Research. Click here to download the executive summary.
Family Math Toolkit for Educators
This comprehensive toolkit developed by PBS SoCal offers 350 multimedia resources in English and Spanish for educators, including: simple overviews of family math; games, videos, and activities across many math topics; and resources for leading your own family math workshop.
Hosting Family Math Nights
This facilitators’ toolkit by the Institute for Education Sciences can help elementary school educators host a Family and Community Math Night event, using interactive math activities to build positive math attitudes and facilitate family engagement in children’s math learning. The kit includes planning resources, research findings, and step-by-step instructions and printable materials for the interactive activities. And this video by the Erikson Institute offers testimonials from teachers and school leaders about the benefits of hosting a Family Math Night.
Math Games for Home and School
The Young Mathematicians initiative at EDC offers 50 math games for home and school to explore, with printable materials, directions, and videos available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Likewise, the Early Family Math website offers 160 free family math games, puzzles, and activities developed by math educators and available in over a dozen languages. Early Family Math also has 200 Puzzles of the Week and 100 Math Games for teachers to enjoy in their classrooms.
Promoting Math Talk through Storybooks
When families read together with their children, it can promote math as well as literacy. To help you select math-themed storybooks, consider this guidance from the DREME network, or visit websites with curated lists like these books created by Bedtime Math, these interactive storybooks in various languages from Early Family Math, these storybooks featuring patterns by NAEYC, these “small talk” board books that encourage math talk with little ones, and these math storybooks identified by PBS SoCal that celebrate Latine heritage.
Finding Math in Everyday Activities at Home
This “ideas article” by the Early Math Collaborative at Erikson Institute shares tips for making laundry day a special time for family math! And this toolkit for families, developed by parent leaders at the Center for Family Math, shows you how to explore math in everyday tasks around the home. The toolkit also provides guidance to families and parent leaders to talk about and advocate for family math in their schools and communities.
Explore Math Virtually and in Your Own Backyard
The Measure! Everything! App, developed by MathTalk, can be downloaded free on the Apple App Store, is available in English and Spanish, and uses Augmented Reality experiences to help young children and their families explore math in their own homes, backyards, schools, and communities.
