October 24, 2018
We are excited to announce a potential grant opportunity for organizations interested in implementing and supporting “Family Math.” Family Math refers to activities that happen outside of the classroom and within the context of family relationships, the community and everyday life that support young children and families to strengthen their math awareness and math concepts; feel enthusiastic about their math abilities and develop strong math identities; and understand and use resources to help improve understanding of math concepts.
The Family Math Learning Community Grants, an initiative of the Family Math Roadmap Implementation Project, seeks to close early math opportunity gaps by increasing the use of home and community practices that support Family Math. Through these grants, the Overdeck Family Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Foundation and CME Group Foundation hope to support community-focused initiatives that ensure all children – but particularly those from low-income communities and communities of color – see themselves as math learners. We are requesting Letters of Inquiry (LOI) from the following:
- Organizations aiming to expand their community work in the area of Family Math and/or
- Organizations interested in sharing effective family engagement strategies around early learning issues more broadly.
The original estimates for potential grants range from $500,000-$750,000 but this will be further explored based on responses from the LOI. It should be noted that as this time, there is no commitment on behalf of any of the listed foundations, or foundations that join the project, and Education First to make grants available. We are using this process to gather information to determine if and how the foundations will use their resources.
