Posted on Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Westminster College junior and senior elementary education majors conducted Family Math Night Nov. 4 at Wilmington Elementary School.
Over 200 families attended the "Rocket into Math" event for students in kindergarten through fourth grade. Westminster students set up three activity areas for each grade level and worked with small groups of children and parents as they rotated through each area.
The Westminster students are from a mathematics methods course taught by Joyce Hoellen, education lecturer, who has coordinated more than 30 family math nights for elementary schools in the area.
"Parents don't often have a chance to discuss mathematical concepts like classification, patterns, shapes, and fractions with their children," Hoellein said. "Family math night encourages teamwork with parent and child to solve, discuss, and enjoy math problems. It also provides Westminster pre-service teachers the opportunity to work with families as they facilitate the activities that promote the discussion."
Dr. Jeffrey Boerner, Westminster assistant professor of mathematics, attended the event with his daughter, Alice, who is in first grade. "I enjoyed helping her think things through and also learned by watching the Westminster students interact with her," Boerner said. "It was great to build her confidence and we've continued working on some of the activities at home, such as counting out change. It was a very positive experience that we would do again."
Hoellein, who has been with Westminster since 1994, earned an undergraduate degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College and master's from Edinboro University.
Contact Hoellein at (724) 946-7185 or e-mail hoellej@westminster.edu for additional information.
