Bedtime Math Selected for Math Commitment at White House Early STEM Symposium

Expanding successful parent-teacher conference model to spread the
benefits of Bedtime Math family engagement to over 100,000 elementary
children nationwide

SUMMIT, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At the White House Early STEM Symposium today, nonprofit Bedtime
Math committed to expand its “math ambassador” efforts to five more
cities, enabling math-anxious parents and students to become comfortable
with an often dreaded subject. The announcement builds on the success of
its Newark Public Schools pilot, which taps the power of parent-teacher
conferences to coax math-shy parents to enjoy number play with their
kids.

Bedtime Math delivers quick, engaging math story problems every day for
parents and children to solve together. A recent University
of Chicago study found that within just one school year, children
who did Bedtime Math improved their math achievement on average by three
months more than children who didn’t use it. Most notably, children
of the most math-anxious parents who chose to do Bedtime Math had gains
of half a school year, narrowing the “math anxiety gap.”

“In a given year, kids spend three to four times as many hours outside
school as in it, so their parents have a huge effect on their learning,”
said Laura Overdeck, founder of Bedtime Math. “Parents are a child’s
most important educators, and by using Bedtime Math, even the most
math-anxious parents can add a little ‘math talk’ to their daily
routine. With the support of school districts across the country, we’re
hoping to help even more kids learn to love and embrace math.”

The parent-teacher conference model was piloted with families from six
Newark, New Jersey elementary schools during the 2015-16 school year.
Teachers learned about the Bedtime Math app, then shared the program
with parents one-on-one during parent-teacher conferences. Initial
results found 10-20% of parents at each school were using the app with
their kids, with the strongest results among prekindergarten through
second grade.

Based on these positive results, Newark itself is rolling out the effort
to all 54 elementary schools this fall. In parallel, Bedtime Math
committed at the White House Early STEM Symposium to expand the program
to at least five more school districts across the country, with hopes of
reaching an estimated 100,000 more children.

“I love Bedtime Math,” said Christopher D. Cerf, Superintendent of
Newark Public Schools. “Bedtime Math has made math accessible to
students and parents across the city. I especially appreciate the way
it encourages shared time for parents to participate directly in their
children’s learning. It is exciting to see students learn to love and
embrace math, which is a critical tool for long-term academic success.
We are proud of our partnership with Bedtime Math and are thrilled that
NPS can serve as a model for other school districts across the country.”

Building on President Obama’s early
learning and “Educate
to Innovate” initiatives, the White House, in partnership with the
U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, along with Invest
in US, hosted the White House Early STEM Symposium to further the
focus on early STEM education. Bedtime Math’s commitment was one of over
200 submissions received by the White House for today’s event.
Collectively, these commitments have the potential to bring new active
STEM content for young children to millions of households across the
country.

For more information about Bedtime Math’s White House Early STEM
Symposium commitment, or to speak with Bedtime Math founder Laura
Overdeck, contact Sandy LoPiccolo at 908-444-4532 or sandy@bedtimemath.org.

About Bedtime Math Foundation

Bedtime Math Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to put
the fun and discovery back into learning math. Its core product is a
zany online math problem that parents can do with their kids every day;
a recent study
from the University of Chicago showed that when families do Bedtime Math
together, kids’ math skills improve by months. Bedtime Math is also the
creator of Crazy 8s, a lively, hands-on after-school math club that has
donated more than 6,000 club kits nationwide, serving more than 80,000
children. For more information, visit www.bedtimemath.org.

Contacts

Bedtime Math Foundation
Sandy LoPiccolo, 908-444-4532
Director
of Communications
sandy@bedtimemath.org