While thinking of activities for her son to take part in during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kelly Whittet’s motherly and teacherly instincts kicked in.
“I was thinking, ‘How am I going to keep my kid engaged in schoolwork and get him out and active?’” Whittet said.
Her idea: a math scavenger hunt. She posted about it in the West Ridge Community Group on Facebook and the neighbours were on board.
On Wednesday, about eight families posted math problems in their windows. Kids and their parents went door to door to see if they could solve problems such as, “Connor eats five candy worms a day. How long would it take him to eat 30 candy worms?”
Connor is Whittet’s six-year-old son.
“This has been a chance for us to connect as a family,” she said. “It’s given us an opportunity to find a silver lining in a bad situation.”
That was the case for other families in the neighbourhood taking part. About 20 came to Whittet’s window to solve math problems.
“I’ve met so many people just talking through our window,” Whittet said.
It’s also given the kids an opportunity to learn in an interesting way while they’re out of the classroom.
“The kids forget that they’re doing schoolwork. They’re just excited to be out with their family,” said Wittet, an e-Learning Ontario teacher with the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board. “We need to learn to stop, be a family again, learn how to do things as a family.”
After a successful first math scavenger hunt, the community has decided to make it a weekly outing. They’re being called “word problem Wednesdays.” Those in the West Ridge community wanting to take part must have their math problems posted in their windows by 9 a.m. Wednesday.
While Whittet welcomes families from other areas of town to check it out, she encourages them to consider starting something similar in their area of the city, making it more accessible to children in their neighbourhood.
For more information on word problem Wednesdays in West Ridge, join the West Ridge Community Group on Facebook.
