Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Twenty-six Westminster College education majors recently organized and conducted a Family Math Night at Campbell (Ohio) Elementary School.
Developed in March 1997 by Joyce Hoellein, Westminster education lecturer, the program is a collaboration with neighboring school districts' elementary and middle school students and their parents.
"The emphasis is on 'doing math' as a family to allow pre-service teachers an opportunity to work with the students and their parents," Hoellein said. "The math activities are in line with the Pennsylvania and Ohio Academic Mathematics Standards and address measurement, money, algebraic thinking, fractions, geometry, estimation, and basic algorithms."
Westminster's Drinko Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning provided funding for the Campbell event to enable each child to take home a math manipulative with directions for using it at home.
Other districts that have benefited from the program include Wilmington Area, Union, Shenango, West Middlesex, Sharpsville, and Poland (Ohio).
"It has been an extremely successful program for the school district, the students and their parents, and the Westminster pre-service teachers," Hoellein said.
Contact Hoellein at (724) 946-7185 or e-mail hoellej@westminster.edu for more information.
