Statements

Mission

Parents are children's first teachers. Counting Fingers and Toes empowers parents to play an active role in their child's math learning by providing them with the knowledge and tools they need to engage in math activities together.

Background

Counting Fingers and Toes was founded in 2021 with the goal of supporting parents when it comes to early numeracy. Parents know what to do to support their child's early literacy, however many are lost when it comes to supporting their child's early numeracy. Counting Fingers and Toes seeks to raise parents' awareness around the importance of early math learning, ultimately improving children's math confidence and achievement.

Our core beliefs:
* All children are capable of excelling at all levels of math.
* Math is about creativity and flexibility.
* Children need strong numeracy skills to pursue big goals.
* Families play an essential role in their child's math learning.

Why early math learning? Research shows if children are behind in math skills when they enter kindergarten, they tend to stay behind. Additionally, by the time children enter kindergarten, there is already a gap in math performance between children from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. In order to give all children the ability to succeed in elementary school and beyond, it is essential that we begin supporting children's math learning as early as possible.

Why parents? Parents are children's first teachers. Children spend the majority of their time at home with their parents, and a child's home environment has the potential to be full of learning experiences that support cognitive development. Although engaging in math activities at home is a strong predictor of children's math performance, many parents are unsure of how to support their child's math learning. Furthermore, many adults report having some level of math anxiety or discomfort with doing tasks that involve math.

There are two programs at Counting Fingers and Toes that work together to address this issue: parent workshops and early math kits. The workshops teach parents about the importance of early math learning as well as show them specific strategies they can use at home with their child. The early math kits ensure that parents have the resources they need to engage in math activities at home. With these two programs, Counting Fingers and Toes seeks to provide parents with the knowledge and the tools they need to support their child's early math learning at home.

Impact

In the 2022-2023 school year, Counting Fingers and Toes partnered with four Metro Nashville Public Schools to distribute 950 Early Math Play Kits to Nashville families. That is 600 more play kits than our 350 goal, and over a 1,000% increase from the number of play kits we distributed in the 21-22 school year. We also led six parent events where parents learned strategies to support their child's math learning at home.

Based on pre and post survey data, parents who received an Ealy Math Play Kit were more likely to engage with math activities at home. In the pre-survey, 79% of parents or caregivers did math activities with their child at least once per week, and 21% of parents of caregivers did math activities once per month or rarely. In the post-survey, 90% of parents or caregivers did math activities with their child at least once per week, and only 10% of parents or caregivers did math activities once per month or rarely.

With regard to the family workshops and family math nights, 100% of school leaders said that the content was aligned to the needs of their school community and that they would recommend Counting Fingers and Toes family workshops to a fellow school or community organization. A few testimonials:
* "We love the hands on experience and games that the families engaged in with their children." - Cambridge Early Learning Center
* "The sessions are always so valuable, and I'm so grateful to be able to offer this resource to our families." - Haywood Elementary
* "Knowing that a high quality activity was being delivered by someone with a vested interest in children's success takes a weight off the shoulders of those planning such events. It is hard to try to be everywhere all at once and the trust we have in you means one less place we have to be." - Casa Azafran Early Learning Center.

2023-2024 Goals
* Support 5 schools/community organizations by leading parent events and distributing Early Math Play Kits.
* Distribute 1,200 Early Math Play Kits to Nashville families in need.
* Collect data to support the effectiveness of programs.

Needs

Just like children need books to learn literacy skills, they need manipulatives to learn numeracy skills. The Early Math Play Kits seek to provide parents with activities they can do at home with their child that use a specific manipulative. Donations are used to purchase materials for the Early Math Play Kits, such as:
* Linking cubes
* Playing cards
* Pattern block puzzles
* Dice
* Dot cards

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Education  - Educational Services
Secondary Category:	Science & Technology  - Mathematics
Tertiary Category:	Education  - Adult Education

Areas Served

Counting Fingers and Toes focuses its efforts in schools in MNPS.

TN - Davidson