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Math Flies
‘Off the Shelf’

Cereal and soup labels are the recipe for improved skills in an event called "Math Off the Shelf." Angie Rabie, a Title I ESL parent involvement facilitator at Langley Elementary School in Hampton, Virginia, uses the program to teach parents how they can make the most of "teachable moments" in supermarkets and at home in the kitchen.

Parents and kids take a hands-on approach to improving math skills with "Math Off the Shelf" workshops.

"I developed this workshop as a classroom teacher a few years ago," recalled Rabie. "It occurred to me that there are many opportunities for parents to reinforce math skills at home during everyday activities using items commonly found in their kitchen."

With the help of her mother, who is also an educator, Rabie developed ways for children in kindergarten through fifth grade to reinforce math skills at home. She carried the activity with her into a new role as parent involvement facilitator and found it to be a perfect fit.

"What impressed me the most about the event was the ability for parents to take the ideas presented to them and think of other activities they could do as well," she explained.

The experience of using common household goods to explore math has had other unexpected outcomes. One child who spoke limited English was able to teach his parents an unfamiliar concept by using pantry items presented during the workshop. Rabie's use of concrete materials make moments like this possible, and it is a practice she recommends to others who hold events like "Math Off the Shelf."

Participants say they are pleased to learn new ways to educate their children while they do their "usual" activities, like shopping, cooking, and more.

Since the inception of the workshop, teachers have become increasingly involved and committed to the program. Now Rabie's peers who teach math join her in planning and implementing it. The materials have been translated into Spanish so that all attendees can follow along.

"Future improvements include breaking parents into groups based on grade levels instead of having all parents combined together," added Rabie. "That will allow parents to see more activities specific to the grade levels of their children."

The ideas for articles in this Partners for Student Success series come from the resources of the National Network of Partnership Schools. Established by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, NNPS is dedicated to bringing together schools, districts, and states that are committed to developing and maintaining comprehensive programs of school-family-community partnerships. "Based on more than a decade of research and the work of many educators, parents, students, and others, we know that it is possible for all elementary, middle, and high schools to develop and maintain strong programs of partnership," NNPS director Joyce L. Epstein told Education World. NNPS provides a wide range of resources to help schools and school districts build strong partnerships. Click the links below to… … learn more about how your school or district can join NNPS. … find out about NNPS products and services. … investigate research related to school, family, and community partnerships.

Article by Cara Bafile
Education World®
Copyright © 2009 Education World

08/10/2009