- Story Ideas - Send Corrections EWING — Select Mercer County
schools are encouraging elementary students to learn math and
science with less traditional class time and more play time.
President Barack Obama’s nationwide initiative to improve the
participation and performance of America’s students in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics, dubbed Educate to
Innovate, encourages school administrators to find innovative
and fun ways to get kids excited about the subjects. Local
educators are heeding the president’s advice and are using toys
to increase a student’s understanding of the fundamentals of the
two subjects. “I am hearing the teachers they are just so
excited, the kids are solving things differently,” said Dr.
Judith Fraivillig, associate professor of Mathematics Education
at Rider University. Fraivillig has partnered with the Parkway
Elementary School in Ewing to teach kindergarden, first and
second graders a new and innovative way to learn place value — a
difficult but essential fundament