Quick, what number gets its own Special Day and even has schools, families and websites devoted to its celebration?

Why, it’s pi, of course, that versatile, constant number that refers to the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle.  It’s always 3.14 (or 3.14159 if you want to be especially precise about it), so March 14 – 3/14, get it? – is the day when math teachers use the occasion to bring attention to this useful number.  The ones who are obsessive sticklers for precision stage their celebrations for March 14 at 1:59.  The Mr. and Ms. Monks of Math.

Pi is always 3.14 no matter which circle you use to compute it.  It appears as a constant in a wide range of math problems.  The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians knew about pi.  Perhaps in our perpetually changing world we’re somehow comforted by something so constant, so reliable, so invariable, so historic.

There are lots and lots of activities that math teachers recommend for their math colleagues and students’ families to reinforce an understanding of pi.  (An old English teacher unfamiliar with teaching about the ratio of circumference to diameter, I am amazed at the sheer number and creativity of these activities.  You can find scads of them from the Math Forum of Drexel, one of my favorite math websites, at www.mathforum.org.  Another useful site is www.education-world.com, where you’ll find more lesson plans and family activities.)

Here’s a sampler.

1. Compare the volume of slices taken from round and rectangular cakes.  In my mind’s eye I can see children and teens in classrooms all over the country on March 14, 1:59 or not, clustered around cakes of all kinds and eagerly, hungrily, doing the math.


2. Compare the radii of sprinklers in a garden.  Again, I can just imagine kids outdoors on schools’ front lawns or in their own family gardens, moving, measuring, and yes, getting a little wet, as they do the math.


3. How many feet does the tip of the minute hand travel in an hour on the clock on Philadelphia’s City Hall?  Or on Baltimore’s Bromo Seltzer Tower?  Or on London’s Big Ben?  Or on the church steeple’s clock in your own neighborhood?


4. Using colorful beads of many colors, make a pi necklace to reinforce the idea that some numbers never repeat or end.

March is National Math Month, so you’re no doubt hearing a lot about a relatively new acronym in education, STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.  (Go to www.stemeducation.org for information.)

Educators everywhere are working to ensure a high quality of STEM education at all levels of schooling, recognizing that students today more than ever need an understanding of science and math principles.  That means a working knowledge of computers – both hardware and software – and problem-solving skills.  As we prepare our kids for 21st century skills, values, and futures, we’re acknowledging and acting on our country’s need for homegrown scientists and engineers to do the technological research and development vital to our economic growth.  We’re providing technologically-proficient workers for a science-based, high tech workforce.  And we’re preparing a scientifically literate populace, not only taking advantage of technology but having a basic understanding of its workings.

So, on National Pi Day (which is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, a fortuitous coincidence that I find deeply satisfying somehow and makes me smile at the occasional aptness of Fate) and during National Math Month, let’s redouble our efforts to be good math role models for our kids, active supporters of their math teachers, and stricter monitors of their homework, study, and testing activities.

Look at the “Archives” section of my blog for more math-related postings.

Math is in the news again.  The White House is promoting math education with superstars like Sesame Street’s Elmo, and in Maryland, the state where I live, the University System is developing new math requirements for students headed to state colleges and universities. Those new requirements include four years of math studies in high school instead of the current three.  Other states are no doubt doing the same.

Many students complete three years’ math study by the end of their junior year and don’t bother with math in their senior year.  That’s a one-year hiatus until college.  You can forget a lot in one year.

Four years of math study will better prepare students for university or work in our increasingly science-technology-engineering-math oriented economy.

Do we do enough to get kids interested in math at an early age?  Probably not.  Here are some thoughts and tips.

1. Look for numbers all over.  For the youngest learners, look for numbers all around the house and the neighborhood.  Just as we look for letters and words as our youngsters are learning to read, why not “explore” for numbers, too?  There they are in magazines, on the addresses outside our homes, in road signs.  Combine words and numbers in “searches,” and see how fast children catch on.


2. Use numbers.  Let your child punch in the numbers when you’re making a phone call, read the quantities in a recipe, dial the oven to the necessary temperature (with your supervision, of course).  Let her set the alarm clock, set all the clocks at spring-forward, fall-back time, and help you monitor number-exhibiting gauges like thermostats, speedometers, odometers, tire-pressure gauges, and the like.


3. Count.  There are lots of things you can count with your youngsters.  Stairs, birthdays, family members, cars in a small parking lot, toys on the floor, toys on the shelf, “sleeps” until a happy occasion, pets in the neighborhood.  Sing counting songs.  “Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall” can be changed to “Ninety-nine bottles of juice.”  It’s a better message, but – fair warning – it’ll drive you just as nuts in the car.


4. Look for shapes and patterns.  Helping kids recognize and notice shapes and patterns gets them ready for the rudiments of geometry.  Rectangles, squares, circles, ovals, triangles, and other shapes surround us in our homes and neighborhoods.  Patterns are organized, repetitive, and predictable – and they’re all around us.  “Old MacDonald had a farm, E, I, E, I, O.”  Odd and even numbers.  The seasons of the year.  Rituals at church, temple, or mosque.  Morning routines.  Exercise routines.  Recognizing simple patterns help children to predict what comes next.


5. Know about STEM .  Science-Technology-Engineering-Math courses are more important than ever.  For your middle- and high-school students, encourage them to explore these courses.  Learn about them yourself so you can be a knowledgeable advocate at home.


6. Be a role model .  Talk about the role of math in your life and job.  Let the kids see you doing math.  Point out your math when you’re filling the car with gas, following a recipe, paying bills, examining sports statistics, figuring out the route for a vacation, building a tree house, figuring out a pool shot.  If you “hated” math when you were in school, keep your mouth shut about it.


7. Advocate for good math teachers.  Yes, all teachers are important, but math teachers are among the teachers hard to come by, more’s the pity.  So, let your principal know that you’re interested in math education and you’re willing to lend a hand when it comes to recruiting and retaining a new math teacher.  If you have a college aged child who’s good in math, encourage him or her to consider teaching .


8. Bone up on the curriculum.  No, you don’t have to master the higher math courses, but you should know about the math curriculum in your child’s school.  What are the requirements?  What’s the progression?  Are the texts and materials up to date?  Is special tutoring available?  (The company I work for, Sylvan Learning, has an excellent math record for kids who want to catch up, keep up, or get ahead.  Check us out at www.SylvanLearning.com.  Participating Sylvan Learning franchisees also offer SchoolMathPrep.com, a new, FREE, online math resource for grade 7-12 teachers and students to use at school – for remediation, enrichment or test prep.  To learn how your family can use SchoolMathPrep.com’s sister site, SylvanMathPrep.com, during your family’s homework time, visit www.SylvanMathPrep.com.)


9. Have fun.  Kids don’t need to know they’re learning math.  There are many, many games that enhance math skills.  Card games, Scrabble (good for math patterns and vocabulary), puzzles, Sudoku, brain teasers, fun workbooks (www.sylvanlearningbookstore.com), and Monopoly, to name a few.


10. Engage girls.  Don’t let girls fall for the old math-is-for-boys canard.  It’s not true, and it affects many girls’ confidence in school and beyond.

Readers, share your math success stories with us.  Just click on “Comments” below.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called “the nation’s report card,” came out recently with America’s report card grade in math.  The good news is that our kids are doing a teeny bit better in math, but the bad news is that there are still far more kids who are underperforming in math than who are doing well.

Since the national test was first implemented in 1990, the percentage of fourth graders, for example, who scored “proficient” or “advanced” in math has risen from 13% to 39%.  Good but not good enough.

The percentage of kids at “basic” or “below basic” levels has dropped from 87% to 61%.

Again, good but not good enough.  Sixty-one percent of our fourth graders doing math at only the basic or below-basic levels is, frankly, scary.

The skills for the 21st century that our future workers, thinkers, leaders, and citizens will need center around our abilities to think clearly and creatively, to analyze and reason, and to solve problems independently and with others.  That’s math.  (It’s also communications and people-skills, but let’s concentrate on math here.)

Look at the growth industries of the near-future.  The Microsofts and Googles of the future will almost certainly have to do with the technologies related to alternative energy solutions.  Those who can think creatively, analyze information, and work with others to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems will be the ones who are in the most demand, the ones who are the most successful.

Here are some ideas to help us improve on that nation’s math report card. I’ve written extensively about each of these suggestions.  Click on “Archive” to read more.

1. Get serious about learning.  Especially math.  Show your kids that school is important to you and to the family.  Give your kids the great good fortune of coming from a family who values lifelong learning.  Read my previous blog posts about how to set goals, take homework seriously, communicate with teachers, and reward students.  If you suspect that your child is having difficulties, for heaven’s sake get help early.  The company I work for, Sylvan Learning, has thirty years’ experience and a great track record in helping kids catch up, keep up, and get ahead in math.  There are even free seminars for parents to catch up on “forgotten math.” You won’t be alone.


2. Start early.  Show your kids how math is important in so many ways.  Show how you use math daily – you use it more than you think.  Play games and sports that require some level of math knowledge (scores, stats, record-keeping, score-keeping, measuring, etc.).  Establish good math habits and attitudes.  No fair complaining about “math was my least favorite subject in school.”  Zip it.  Don’t saddle you kids with your prejudices.


3. Practice.  Practice makes perfect.  You’ve heard me say this countless times. Make sure your kids get plenty of opportunities and time to practice their math facts and skills.  Set up pretty strict routines for homework and study time.  Reward good effort and results.  Monitor homework.  If your child says he has no math homework tonight, contradict him and assign some yourself.  And, while working with your child during math homework time, use www.SylvanMathPrep.com an online math resource for students in grades 7-12 that provides students with on-the-spot math homework assistance.  Work with your children to recall “forgotten” math concepts so students are ready to tacklemath throughout the school year.


4. Encourage study buddies.  One of my favorite suggestions, as regular readers know.  Your child should have study buddies to help him get ready for tests, to make sure homework assignments are done on time, to compete with, to celebrate with.


5. Get involved.  Stay in contact with the folks at school – teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, other parents – to ensure your child is on track.  Expect excellent teachers and current, reasonable, trend-free curricula.


6. Look to the future.  Show your child how her education now, especially math, will affect her future employability, earnings, and success in the work world.  Show how math is important in your job and how you use it every day.


7. Set a good example.  Another favorite theme of mine.  Let your kids see you doing math – measuring, balancing your check book online, shopping, looking for the best bargains, planning trips and vacation outings, etc.  Speak of math’s importance.  Don’t speak of how you hated your eighth grade math teacher.
   
   
8. Have high expectations.  Just as you have high expectations of the math teachers and curriculum at school, have high expectations of your child.  Let her know that her grades in math are important to you, that you’re going to be monitoring her homework and grades.


9. Set goals.  With you child, set the goals you expect him to reach every month,  quarter, semester, year.  Decide together what appropriate rewards and consequences should be.


10. Keep it up.  Maintain a rigorous homework and study schedule, with plenty of time for practice.  Turn off the TV and other screens.  No “multi-tasking.”  Make sure there are plenty of breaks, plenty of opportunities for fun, plenty of family time, too.

It’s not hard to argue that many of us Americans don’t value or respect learning.  Take a look at what we spend our money on, what we watch on TV, how we spend our time, how our attention spans have shortened.  It’s up to us adults to lead our kids to a future that allows them to be successful, fulfilled, and, yes, smart.