Math scores are improving at Leonard Elementary thanks to a fun program that’s got students and parents working and learning together.
‘Kids are just much more confident in their math skills,? said Principal Joyce Brasington.
For more than a year now, Leonard’s grades 1-5 have been participating in a program called ‘Blast into Math Facts,? in which students spend as many minutes as they want after-school each day memorizing basic math facts with the help of their parents and a set of ‘fact triangles? (similar to the old-fashioned flash cards).
During the month of January, the school as a whole spent a total of 13,934 minutes (or 232 hours) practicing math facts such as 2+2=4 and 6×4=24.
The idea is for students to spend so much time practicing that basic computation skills become second nature to them.
Just as they know what certain words are by seeing them, Brasington said students should know the answers to basic math problems just by looking at them.
Each week students take two-minute tests during which they must correctly answer as many basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems as possible before time runs out.
Judging by the consistently improving scores, the program’s working.
‘Overall, there’s some real significant growth,? Brasington said.
For instance, in fifth-grade teacher Amanda Carcone’s class, between Jan. 21 and Feb. 1, one student raised her timed-test score from 71 to 99 percent. Two other students increased their scores from the mid-60s to the mid-80s.
‘Kids are recalling (math facts) much quicker,? Brasington said. ‘They’re not using their fingers. They’re not using the calculator. It’s making a difference in how they approach math.?
Each month, the student who spends the most minutes practicing in each class is rewarded.
The classroom that spends the most combined minutes doing their exercises gets to hold on to a massive traveling trophy for the month.
Much of the credit for this program goes to parent Melissa Musgrove, whose donation of a car to Charity Motors resulted in a $900 donation to the school.
Given Leonard students were having trouble mastering basic math facts, it was decided to invest the money in a program to help them and include parents.
‘We’re always looking for ways to partner with parents,? Brasington said. ‘If we can get parents to sit down with their kids and work with them, it’s just a win-win.?