PUTTING THE “M” Using Math Toys as Teaching Tools During the Pandemic by JACKIE CUCCO, senior editor IF THERE’S ONE THING THAT PARENTS love in their kids’ toys, it’s educational value. Who wouldn’t want their kids to excel in school and learn key skills to succeed in life? While not all kids love school, all kids love toys, and with so many STEM options out there, it’s easy to learn key skills in science, technology, engineering, and math through the power of play. Although STEM toys are available everywhere you look, the “M” doesn’t always get as much love as the other letters in the acronym. It seems like there is a constant flow of science kits, coding toys, and engineering sets launching all year long, while the math-themed toys get the short end of the stick. The COVID-19 pandemic has created major disruptions in schooling — and math, in particular — for students over the past year as many opted for at-home learning for the first time. Studies show that kids are struggling in school due to the “COVID slide” and math is taking a hit significantly more than other subjects. The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a research-based, not-for-profit organization that creates assessments to measure growth and proficiency for students in pre-K to grade 12, did a study showing that elementary and middle school students have fallen behind in math during the pandemic. The MAP Growth assessments tested 4.4 million students in grades 3-8, with results showing an average drop of 5-10 percentile points in math during the 2019-2020 school year when compared to results from the previous year. The same assessments showed that students progressed at a normal pace in reading with no
Rainbow Fraction Measuring Cups are a fun way for kids to practice fractions while cooking. | Source: hand2mind
significant drop. An EdWeek Research Center study published in January took a representative survey of U.S. teachers, in which 67% reported that math anxiety was a challenge for their students. Abruptly changing learning environments, loss of math retention, students’ lack of confidence, and parents’ inexperience to help teach the subject at home are all having a big impact on math education during the pandemic. As we start to see the effects of the COVID slide on students, there couldn’t be a better time to shine a light on math toys as the “M” steps back into the STEM spotlight with a plethora of new products on the market. HANDS-ON AT HOME “Math is very challenging to teach in a remote learning environment because kids miss out on the ability to use educational toys and manipulatives to touch, see, and
feel abstract mathematical concepts,” says Elana Woldenberg, senior director of product development at hand2mind. “Because of this, the last year of distance learning has heightened the need for parents to supplement with materials, such as educational toys and resources, to keep their kid on track academically.” The product developers at hand2mind were inspired to create new tools and toys that help families practice math together, such as the Rainbow Fraction Measuring Cups — a fun way for parents to teach kids about fractions first-hand while cooking. Hand2mind will also launch the Numberblocks MathLink Cubes Activity Sets in June, based on the Netflix series Numberblocks. Kids can practice counting as they stack the cubes to build number-themed characters, just like the ones from the series. As an educational resource company, hand2mind offers plenty of math-related
18 THE TOY BOOK | JUNE 2021 | toybook.com
STEMFeature_June2021.indd 18
5/20/21 4:43 PM