Why adopt Mixing in Math?

Mixing in Math (MiM) is

• a fun way to put math into activities, projects, and daily routines;
• easy to use, whatever your math background—no training required;
• ready to go, and needs little or no prep time;
• absolutely free!

MiM improves skills, confidence, and attitudes. According to an independent evaluation*, after using MiM for as little as 45 minutes a week for a few months, staff and site directors reported:

• Changes in staff capacity: staff learned to provide fun math learning experiences for kids—adding math-related activities to their repertoire; staff also built up their own math knowledge and confidence;
• Changes in children:  children became much more enthusiastic about math, and they improved their math and problem-solving skills.
• Changes in programs: programs did a lot more high-quality and engaging math.

Mixing in Math is used by thousands of after-school educators serving tens of thousands of children around the US.  We encourage you to let colleagues around the world know that MiM is a free resource. Many after-school programs were involved in developing MiM, including the Santa Clara Valley YMCA, Girls Inc. of New Hampshire, and BELL. Click here to read their stories.

* From an external evaluation of MiM conducted in 2006 by Miller-Midzik Research Associates. Participants included 111 staff and 24 site directors at 22 sites in four states in different regions of the US. The number of children served per site ranges from 26 to 150 (mean of 84), with an average of 56% receiving free or reduced lunch.

We already have math homework support. Why should we do more math?
Children and staff don’t experience Mixing in Math (MiM) as “more math.”

(1) Children learn about math in everyday life. With MiM, children do math as part of regular activities, projects, and routines. As a result, they gain an understanding of how math fits into everyday life. For example:

Many after-school programs include time for crafts. In the MiM activity Double or More, children read a recipe and figure the amounts needed to double (or quadruple) so that everyone can have enough. Then, they mix and use the play dough.  

Most programs include playground, gym time, or quick exercise breaks. In How Many in a Minute, children estimate how many jumping jacks, push-ups, or other activity they can do in a minute. Then, they try it, and compare their estimates and actual amounts.  They can keep records over time to compare trials on different days and track progress. As they do this activity, they practice timing, estimating, and recording and comparing data.

(2) Children are enthusiastic.  Because MiM is “mixed in” and active, children love it.  As one staff member commented, comparing MiM and a traditional after-school math program:

“I find MiM a lot better than our [other] math curriculum because it keeps the kids engaged a lot more and there is movement and it is more real … It gets the kids liking math as opposed to them getting worksheets.”

(3) Parents and teachers value the increased math time—especially when it gets children excited about math. One program director commented:

“Anytime you can say you are doing math in an after-school program, it is definitely much better [for relations with the schools]. We also have a lot of teachers who volunteer and they are really happy to see we are doing this too.”

 

What are the benefits of using Mixing in Math?

MiM is proven to increase staff and children’s math-related confidence, skills, and enthusiasm. Data are drawn from an independent evaluation of MiM.*

Key benefits include:

1. Improved staff capacity to lead math activities, and increased staff comfort with math and ability to connect math to everyday life.  (Reported by ¾ of staff and directors.)

Many site directors and staff reported that once they became comfortable with MiM, they found new ways to build math into a broad range of program components. For instance, after leading the MiM activity “Find a Partner,” in which children compare hand size and foot length, one staff member began engaging children in measuring on a regular basis:

“Now everything I think about teaching, I think about how to mix math into it. It’s just like once you get it, math has to be mixed into everything.”

2. More positive attitudes toward math, and increased confidence, skills, and understanding. 

 “Children are beginning to see math is everywhere… That math can be mixed into anything.”

Children themselves reflected on benefits of MiM: “This math is fun….”

3. More and high-quality math programming. (Reported by nearly all directors.)

“MiM became second nature to the staff and was implemented regularly, it was integrated into other aspects of the afterschool program and overall agency (e.g., integrated into summer programs, other projects and future trainings) and caused program-wide changes to occur such as the addition of math clubs.”

Even programs that did regular math programming before adopting MiM experienced changes:

“We were pretty much doing a lot of math enrichment to begin with. What [MiM] did do is add flavor to the enrichment we had and the different activities we could do where the children didn’t realize they were doing math. This helped out a lot.”

* From an external evaluation of MiM conducted in 2006 by Miller-Midzik Research Associates. Participants included 111 staff and 24 site directors at 22 sites in four states in different regions of the US. The number of children served per site ranges from 26 to 150 (mean of 84), with an average of 56% receiving free or reduced lunch.

You’ve said that training isn’t needed in order to use Mixing in Math. Why should I offer training?
Mixing in Math (MiM) activities are easy to use without training. Nonetheless, training serves to:

• Show staff that MiM really is easy to use, no matter what your math background.
• Help staff see that MiM isn’t “something extra” to fit into a schedule, but that it meshes with whatever they are already doing with kids.

MiM provides several free training modules that can be led by any staff member who has had some experience using MiM with children. Modules can be combined or used independently, for trainings and follow-up sessions ranging from 5 minutes to 2 hours. Click here for more detail on training materials offered.

How can I help my staff get the most out of MiM?
Site directors and program leaders suggest the following:

1. Set clear expectations about extent of use of MiM.
   A supervisor of several site directors describes her experience. “First we gave [the MiM packet] to the site directors and said ‘use it anytime.’” They didn’t use it. Then we said ‘use it once a week’ And now 80% of the sites are using it every week!”
2. Make sure everyone at a site is familiar with MiM. Don’t rely too heavily on just one person.
    “When we started this, it was one person per center would come [to trainings]. If you lost that person, it could take months to get a new one.”
3. Arrange for staff to observe peers using MiM activities with kids. Peer observations can help staff diffuse anxieties about math. They realize if my co-worker can do this, so can I! 
   “Once staff saw how energized children were when they engaged in many of the activities, their enthusiasm for the project grew and they were more likely to implement Mixing in Math.”
4. Follow up often!
   Signal your interest in MiM by using staff meetings and quick check-ins to ask a question or two about how it’s going with MiM. Use discussions about the monthly calendar to help staff plan how and when to mix math into various program components, special events, and regular routines.

Click here for a checklist on ways directors or a staff member responsible for leading MiM can support staff.

Click here for a checklist you can use with staff to evaluate their use of MiM.

How can I support staff who are not confident about their math abilities or don’t like math?
Here are some approaches that have worked for many leaders and site directors:

1. Point out connections between MiM activities and games that staff may already know. For example, Guess Which One is similar to 20 Questions.
2. Let staff know that MiM involves everyday math. For example, if you can figure out when to get up to get to work on time, you can do the math in MiM.
3. Show how MiM can help staff manage day-to-day challenges. For example, using MiM community-building activities can help staff deal with cliques. For more examples, see the training module “Solve It.”
4. Ask those who have used MiM to demonstrate it for others. This helps hesitant staff see that it works for their peers and engages children.