This program developed about 120 pages of activities for ABE students who interact with children to do first themselves, and then with a child. Emphasis is on keeping things fun, on learning naturally, and having the ABE student thinking about math concepts and how they might be learned, perhaps learning them him/herself (Project PACT: Parents and children together., 1986).
In a project to develop collaboratively math materials to be used in ABE classrooms, instructor Dianne Bertrand worked with her ABE students to develop math materials and activities to use with their preschool children (Hagedorn, 2004).
Government bodies and other agencies have produced material to be used independently by parents. Two such have similar titles, an earlier one by the Government of Ontario (“Helping your child learn math: A parent’s guide”, 2002) and another by the US Department of Education (“Helping your child learn mathematics with activities for children in pre-school through grade 5”, 2005). Both are suitable for parents who don’t have much difficulty with reading.
Most programs say that parents are surprised about how much they enjoy the math activities.
Diane Bertrand, working with adult ABE students who were parents, says, “[Parents]
were pleased to be able to do something educational and fun
” (Hagedorn, 2004, p. 68).
However, they value more than fun; in a study of parents who all had at least high school
graduation, Kliman, Mokros and Parkes (2001) reported that as they understand how the
games and activities relate to math learning, parents enjoy watching their children learn,
and sharing the “Aha!” moments.
Parents often have “Aha!” moments of their own about math, and come to a rational understanding of processes that they had previously done by rote. Reporting on the Esso Family Math program, Onslow (2002) comments that as parents begin to understand the math through the games and activities, attitudes towards teachers and school math programs may change as well. Parents, who may disapprove of what they perceive as mere “playing” and “wasting time” as their children use manipulatives or take part in discovery activities in their classes, come to see the value of such activities through the family math program, and change their attitudes.
Talking about math, and talking about how we learn math, are two things that most parents
do not do in the course of their ordinary life. Yet both these intellectual activities are offered
to them during a family math program, and they “enjoy the opportunity to come together
to discuss an intellectual matter such as mathematics with other adults. They are no
longer “just” sharing stories about their children and in general about their everyday life,
they are now talking about mathematics together
” (Civil, 2002, page 2).