Family Math Roadmap

Resources for families, parents and caregivers to bring math to daily conversations and activities with their kids

Family Math is an emerging movement to promote math activities within the context of family relationships and everyday life, from the grocery store to the playground, during breakfast, bath time or bedtime. The practices inherent in Family Math are designed to help young children strengthen their math skills and feel enthusiastic and confident in their math abilities. The movement empowers parents, organizations and early educators with knowledge, tools and resources that help them feel excited about introducing and exploring mathematical concepts. Read more about the movement here. Learn more about the Family Math movement and current efforts through NAFSCE. Reach out to Fred Ji at jif@nafsce.org or visit nafsce.org.

We know that families are navigating the “new normal” of virtual connections, sheltering in place, lots of hand washing and homeschooling children. Even during these times, math can add real fun to conversations and activities with your kids. On this page, we’ve compiled some of our favorite resources from the members of the Family Math Roadmap Project.

Research

In 2019, the Research Work Group of the Family Math Implementation Roadmap supported a literature review of the Family Math field. This white paper, Reviewing the Family Math Literature: Recommendations for Practice, Policy and Research, summarizes the researchers’ findings on several topics, including: What skills serve as foundation for children’s math achievement, and what other characteristics are linked to differences in early math? What aspects of family math engagement are most strong related to children’s math learning, achievement and attitudes? What do we know about how families are engaging in children’s early math learning as part of their day-to-day lives?

The authors of the white paper also wrote two-pagers with recommendations for policymakers, practitioners and researchers. The executive summary and the recommendations two-pagers can be accessed at the links below.

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