Bedtime Math app is currently being piloted in six Newark Public Schools for Prekindergarten – 2nd grade students
[Newark, NJ – February 5, 2016] – Newark Public Schools (NPS) hosted an informational workshop at Ridge Street School for Newark parents using “Bedtime Math,” a free application designed to make math fun for kids. The app is the brainchild of Laura Overdeck, a trained astrophysicist and lifelong math fan. She founded Bedtime Math in 2012, a New Jersey-based non-profit organization dedicated to making the nightly math problem as common as the bedtime story. The Bedtime Math app, validated by University of Chicago researchers, is currently being piloted with families from six Newark schools, including Ridge Street School, for students in Prekindergarten through 2nd grade.
“Math is something every child should embrace with excitement and confidence,” said Overdeck. “Yet too many adults and kids fear math. The Bedtime Math app is a wonderful tool for parents to spark math conversation at home in an easy, kid-friendly way, so kids can learn to love math and excel at it in school.”
During the workshop, Darlene DeVries, Special Assistant of Mathematics for NPS, demonstrated how parents can download the app using a specific link Bedtime Math created that allows NPS to track usage back to each individual classroom. DeVries also walked parents through how to use the app.
“Bedtime Math is a fantastic tool to make math fun, exciting and relevant for our children and parents,” said DeVries. “The Bedtime Math app is a great parent-engagement activity that can be part of any home routine: dinnertime, bath time, breakfast time. We are very excited about the impact it’s having on our young students across the district.”
Families from the following six Newark Schools are currently participating in the program: Ivy Hill Elementary School, McKinley Elementary School, Ridge Street School, Harriet Tubman School, Quitman Street Community School and Cleveland Elementary School. The district plans to expand the program to include students in grades 3-5 in the six pilot schools and eventually districtwide.
About Bedtime Math Foundation
Bedtime Math Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to put the fun and discovery back into learning math. Its core product is a zany online math problem that parents can do with their kids every day, to make recreational math as common and beloved as the bedtime story. Bedtime Math is also the creator of Crazy 8s, a lively, hands-on after-school math club that has been launched in more than 5,000 locations nationwide. Bedtime Math and Crazy 8s are registered trademarks of Bedtime Math Foundation. For more information, visit www.bedtimemath.org.