In March, we are celebrating Math! This is because my favorite math holiday of all time is on 3/14/21. Have you celebrated Pi day? This year, consider celebrating with NASA or the Exploratorium – both are famous for their Pi day celebrations.

As much as I love math, I realize it can be hard to incorporate math into an afterschool program, so here are some ideas about starting your own Math Club or Math Family Night. First, remember that math is fun. A lot of us remember painful worksheets and memorization in school – but math is way more than that. Just like in science and engineering, there are mathematic practices or habits of mind that learners develop as they use math every day.

• Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
• Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
• Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
• Look for and make use of structure and patterns in math.

So, try it out. Have some fun with mathematics and help students build confidence and skills that they can use in the classroom. You’ll find great activities for your math club at:

• HowToSmile.org
• After-School Math Plus is an evidence-based math curriculum for grades 3-8 from fhi360 Download Jump Rope Math for free!
• Crazy 8’s Afterschool math club

Plan a Family Math night where parents and students a chance to enjoy mathematics together. Family Math, published by the Lawrence Hall of Science, will help you work with school-day teachers to plan an event that will foster positive attitudes s in both parents and children; support the relationships between schools and families, and help parents understand their children’s math curriculum.