Family Maths Nights
One of the areas we chose to work on this year was parent engagement. An initiative we implemented was having a 'Family Maths Night' where parents and kids could come to school for an hour in the evening to participate in maths activities and games. Our aim was to involve parents in using maths strategies and thinking, and show them how maths learning has changed since they were at school.
We did 2 nights. One for middle/senior families in Term 3 and one for Juniors in Term 4.
We did 2 nights. One for middle/senior families in Term 3 and one for Juniors in Term 4.
The night was based on maths centres. We set up around 50-70 activities all through the classrooms and the i-centre. After a brief all-together meeting in the multi-purpose room, the parents were free to wander with their kids through the rooms, sit themselves down at various different activities, read the instructional sheet and have a go. Close to the end, we got everyone back in the multipurpose room for a quick round up and announced the winners of the various competitions we had running through some of the centres.
It was a lot of planning, preparation and pack up but the actual session was very easy for teachers as everything was set up for the families to go to it! All we had to do was roam the rooms, make sure everyone was having a good time and play a few games ourselves!
Both nights were very well attended. A rough estimate of 80% of our families came to one or both of the nights.
We didn't make or buy anything new for the centres - just used what we use in our maths curriculum and what equipment we already had in our school.
Both nights were very well attended. A rough estimate of 80% of our families came to one or both of the nights.
We didn't make or buy anything new for the centres - just used what we use in our maths curriculum and what equipment we already had in our school.
Here's pictures of the centres and some of the descriptors we put with each centre.