My journey began in college as a high school math student teacher. I was astonished that I had two classes with 9th grade students that could barely do arithmetic. How did they get here? I developed more creative methods through fun experiences including movement to help the students retain the information better. Climbing stairs to understand adding and subtracting numbers, M&Ms and pretzel sticks to teach geometry, and just trying to make it fun for them to at least engage during class. This earned me an award (Nancy Higginson Dorr Award) demonstrating academic excellence and showing promise for success as a secondary education teacher.

Fast forward to having my own very high energy children. Keeping my kids challenged academically and moving to work out energy was one of my biggest challenges as a parent. Creating games related to their interests that also include math and physical activity was how I kept them entertained. My son loved science and soccer so there is a lot of math that can be shared while playing soccer or exploring nature. My daughter loved dance and princesses so we played a lot of games related to those interests while incorporating counting and shapes.

My passion is to nurture a child’s strengths to help them thrive to reach their full potential. I believe that math is a critical skill for all children to learn from a very early age to build confidence and start on a trajectory towards great success. Without a strong foundation in math, many hurdles will be put in front of a child and many give up over time. I saw this first hand when I was student teaching and wanted to make sure my children and your children have a different experience.

Ms. Carrie founded Fun Wise® Math bringing her math education background, passion for helping children and corporate expertise together to develop solutions for quality math enrichment.