Keeping Learning Fun at Home

Posted December 28, 2020

By Savannah Lira, Program Associate

The Mathematics Resource Program at PVF has been serving low-income families and TK-3^rd public school teachers in San Mateo and Santa Clara County for years, allowing them to purchase much-needed math resources for their classrooms.

Thanks to the Heising-Simons Foundation, we are able to get critical math materials and professional development for public school classrooms and teachers who often struggle with limited resources. This year, many students are learning from home without the hands-on materials and manipulatives that aid in their learning.

Ms. Margaret Flores, a 1st grade teacher at Lyndale Elementary School in San Jose, CA, recently reported back to us on the impact of her $500 grant:

“I want to thank you for your very generous donation to support Distance Learning in my online 1st grade classroom this fall. My students have greatly benefited with using these materials during whole class and small group instruction on Zoom.

With this age group it was crucial to provide some manipulatives like the Magnetic Numbers/Counters and dry erase boards you provided. These are fun engaging ways for the students to practice math with me and at home with their parents.

Also, I really don’t feel my students would be grasping basic math skills such as the different ways to make numbers without your donation of the Magnetic Double Ten Frame Part Part Whole Dry Erase Paddles. I use these every day!!! For example I will ask the kids to show me ways to make 10 and we can do it using these math manipulatives. We have gone through all the combinations of numbers ways to make numbers from 1-10 since August.

Again, this has made a huge difference in their overall math skills. Young first grade students need to have manipulatives to use to develop these early math concepts.”