Math Counts

June 18, 2020

As regular readers know, numbers make me happy. I see numbers as the greatest toy in the world: Even when they mean bad news, they can bring a little zing of connection, because at least now we know, and can do something about whatever it is. One of my goals for my kids' education has been to help them see numbers as something to be friended rather than feared, and for them to perceive math as a tool and skill that everyone can master if they just play with it long and hard enough.

I was an English major, but was fortunate enough to marry a mathematician who inspired in me both a love of measuring stuff and the conviction that doing so matters. As publisher of KidsOutAndAbout.com, I have access to dozens of metrics about how people behave online; indeed, our business thrives mainly due to how our team pays attention to the numbers. So, really, I get to play all day long.

One of the delightful trends I've been privileged to observe during the pandemic has been how beautifully human ingenuity has risen to the occasion in providing online experiences for kids, particularly in science, math, nature, and technology. And as these experiences became available, I watched with fascination as our readers flocked to them. I see these numbers from the back end, in number of visitors to the STEM events, classes, and camps on our calendars; the people who provide the experiences see them as they look out over their Zoom audience or see the counts go up on Facebook Live. From both ends, the numbers mean people, and progress. And this has brought me hope for the future.

But I think the best trend of all during the past few months has been that regular people—non-mathematicians, non-scientists, and even those who didn't do well in math in school—have come to understand that math really does matter to everyday people, and that it's accessible to everyone. We've seen the curves, and we've helped flatten them. Your kids have been educated from home, and you found new power and confidence in your own ability to connect them with ideas and facts that matter.

As I've told my kids their whole growing-up lives: If someone can understand it, so can you. It's a superpower in everyone's grasp, and the pandemic just brought it closer.