Fun Wise® Math was inspired by my own children. My son was always a fast learner and even faster on his feet. Keeping him challenged academically has been my biggest struggle as a parent. Since preschool, my children have been enrolled in so many different activities to broaden their experiences and strengthen their skills.
My son played soccer through middle school, Tae Kwon Do through 5th grade, music from preschool to high school starting with piano, viola and voice and is a leader in many academic activities including Mu Alpha Theta and Science Olympiad.
My daughter is also very academic but loves performing the most. She acts out the scenes from her day at the dinner table. Every story is a performance. She has participated in dance since age 2, musical theater including a lead role in her 8th grade play, voice and chorus, and then sports too including volleyball and cheerleading.
Both of my children have been VERY high energy since birth so the Fun Wise® Math program was a culmination of my education background, corporate expertise, parenting demands and passion for helping children learn in fun ways.
Award Winning Products – 20 National Awards
The journey began when the kids were in elementary school with the award winning Exploracise® Gymathtics® DVD. My reason for creating the DVD was really just being a mom and hoping that I could help other moms like me. What to do with an 8 year old and 4 ½ year old on a rainy afternoon in Florida? What should a school do when kids cannot go out for recess? Gymathtics!! Twelve National Awards also agreed making the Exploracise® Gymathtics® program the most awarded kids exercise video on the market. It definitely was an undertaking but so rewarding as parents and teachers shared how much their children love the program.
The tagline for the Exploracise® Gymathtics® DVD was Fun Wise® Exercise and that is where the Fun Wise® journey began. Helping children learn through fun educational games has always been the mission whether through award winning products or fun interactive programs.
As my children got older, I wanted to develop more products to use with them to continue making learning fun. The award winning Exploracise® ball products were developed from the My First Math Ball through the Multiplication Football. We tossed the footballs around playing games in the house first reviewing addition and then multiplication. Schools and families used the balls as a fun way to review math facts and keep kids active.
Passion for Math
Though I love developing fun creative products using my corporate expertise, I missed working with children. My passion is helping children have fun learning math. Could I create a program with all the fun activities that I did with my children and bring it to more children in Tampa and beyond? Is it possible to create a program that is literally all games all the time showing math concepts through fun interactive techniques? A Definite YES!
My passion for helping children learn math began more than 20 years ago during my student teaching. I am a certified secondary math teacher in New Jersey but have yet to be a traditional classroom teacher. During my student teaching, I had five classes and two were teaching basic elementary math to ninth graders. How did they make it this far without understanding basic math skills especially arithmetic? I tried some new ideas just to get their attention and interest in learning the basic concepts and still enjoy sharing my favorite stories during our professional development trainings.
Then fast forward to being a mom and sharing my passion with my own children. Yes, my kids love math too! Is it because I have my Bachelor’s degree in Math and Masters in Statistics? We are just a math & science family so the kids had a lot of opportunity to get extra guided enrichment at home from family on any topic that interested them. Of course, I took every possible teachable moment to share math in our day-to- day activities and still do all the time.
The Future of Fun Wise® Math
Though there have been many names on this journey, Fun Wise® Math is the new name for the same mission to help millions of children love learning math through fun interactive educational experiences.
Fun Wise® Math is continuing to grow and expand by offering new services to help your children have fun learning math. Please share our passion with your kids, friends and family to help spread the word and engage in fun math games.
Stay in touch on social media or contact us at 727-FunWise, info@funwise.com or complete a contact form to get started with tutoring, classes, field trips or workshops.
Special Thank You’s
I have been blessed during this entire journey to have the support of my family especially my husband, Dr. Scheiner, who believes in helping children exercise their minds and bodies for a healthy lifestyle plus my mom and children who are always so supportive and my assistants in classes or at events.
I want to thank all of our families that have supported Exploracise® and now Fun Wise® Math by using the award winning products or enrolling their children in the programs. Please share your experience with us and other families.
Of course, it takes a team and I have incredible mentors, instructors and administrative team members that make Fun Wise® Math what it is today.