Bookstores and libraries in more than
50 locations around the country will take part in the first “Bedtime Math
National Pajama Party Week,” to make math fun, exciting and relevant for
children 3 to 8 years old. Most of the Pajama Parties take place between June
24 and 29, and include readings, math-inspired games, and activities that
celebrate the release of BEDTIME MATH: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late.
The book will be published June 25 by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of
Macmillan.
These Pajama Parties are free, family-friendly events with
educator-approved activities such as “Mystery Clocks,” “Make
Your Own Animals” tangram puzzles, “Build Your Own Zip Line,”
and more. Stores and organizations hosting the parties will receive party kits
provided free by Bedtime Math and will encourage customers to bring children
dressed in pajamas and ready to play. While events vary in date and time
throughout the week, and some take place later in the summer, all are designed
to give local parents and children a chance to take part in Bedtime
Math’s growing national movement.
Bedtime Math is a national non-profit organization whose
mission is to make the nightly math problem as common as the bedtime story. In
addition to its forthcoming book – the first of three from Feiwel and Friends
– the organization has received significant national media attention over
the past year, launching math-focused activities across a number of platforms.
Bedtime Math was founded in early 2012 by mother of three Laura Overdeck, a
trained astrophysicist and lifelong math fan. The program grew out of the fun
nightly math problems she and her husband had been giving their kids for years.The
idea caught on among Overdeck’s friends, then blossomed. Bedtime
Math’s nationwide subscriber list now tops 30,000 and its social media
presence on Facebook and Twitter continues to grow exponentially.
Bedtime Math launched a series of well-received math videos in
April on YouTube, along with a mobile app that landed in the iTunes top 20 list
of educational apps. The group’s “Summer of Numbers”
initiative to prevent student math skills from sliding over the school break
has received orders for more than 60,000 math calendars this spring. Information
about Bedtime Math activities can be found online at www.bedtimemath.org.
“We firmly believe that learning math skills can be a
fun, engaging and exciting family activity,” Overdeck says.
“Parents, grandparents and anyone who cares about math literacy in
America can encourage the children in their lives to enjoy math as play,
without making it seem like homework,” she says.