Lincoln Math Challenge: Lincoln fourth grade student Olivia Anderson and third grade student Axel Bergman hold up the Lincoln math challenge calendar and worksheets.

Lincoln Elementary School students and families have spent the first month of 2025 working together to brush up on their math facts.

Inspired by Ring Elementary School’s Literacy Challenge in November, Lincoln launched a Math Challenge that invites families to practice math facts nightly for at least 10 minutes. Students can then track their progress on a calendar. The grade level that practices the most will win a hot cocoa and cookie party.

“We saw the success Ring School had with their literacy challenge and thought, ‘How can we adapt this to meet our needs?'” explained Principal Katie Russo. “Many of our students are struggling with basic math facts–addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. That lack of fluency slows them down and impacts their efficiency in math. We wanted to create something that would help address this, while also giving parents concrete ways to support their children.”

Russo emphasized the importance of making family involvement accessible.

“Parents are always asking what they can do to help at home, but it’s not a matter of willingness–it’s about knowing how to be impactful. We’ve found that families appreciate clear, reasonable ideas. It doesn’t have to be an hour-long activity. Practice can happen in the car, during dinner prep, or even while a child is in the bathtub.”

The challenge is tailored by grade level. Kindergarten students are asked to practice adding within five and recognizing the number of items in a group. First grade students have been practicing adding and subtracting within 20 through weekly dice games. Second grade students have been practicing addition facts from zero to 12. Third grade students have been practicing multiplication facts from zero to nine. And fourth grade students have been practicing division facts from zero to 10.

“It hasn’t been super challenging, but it has been a little challenging,” said third grader Axel Bergman, a student in Rhonda Ricker’s class. “Some things are easier to do than others — mostly high numbers.”

“Division above like 12 is a little bit harder for me,” said fourth grader Olivia Anderson, a student in Lynn Mayer’s class. “But I do feel like it’s gotten easier as I do it each day.”

Both students also noted how much they’ve enjoyed working with their families.

The challenge also included a survey for families to share their feedback.

“We’ve received such positive comments from parents through Talking Points,” said Terry Ortiz, a teacher on special assignment who helps support students and staff at Lincoln. “Some said this was the greatest thing they’d participated in. The key was keeping it concrete and manageable, and we plan to replicate the challenge again.”

With strong family and community engagement, the Lincoln Elementary Math Challenge proved to be an effective way to boost math fluency and build connections between home and school.

“It’s all about working together,” Russo noted. “When families, students, and staff collaborate, amazing things can happen.”