PORT ANGELES — A special program to help children improve math skills by playing with blocks is planned at Dry Creek Elementary School on Saturday.
Sessions of BlockFest will be at 10 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. at the school at 25 Rife Road in Port Angeles.
Volunteer training will be conducted at the school this afternoon.
Grant from Gateses
The program has been funded by a nearly $50,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Parenting Matters Foundation.
It will be conducted at schools throughout Clallam County.
All are sponsored by Parenting Matters and the First Teacher Program.
BlockFest is a research-based program that helps raise awareness of early math and science learning by offering hands-on block play experiences to families with young children.
The goal is to show parents, teachers and caregivers how to use block play to help children from 8 months to 8 years old like and succeed in math.
Parents can help their children learn early math and science concepts while they play with blocks through guided play and conversation.
Information about the program will be distributed through First Teacher, the monthly newsletter of the Parenting Matters Foundation.
To volunteer, phone Cynthia Martin at 360-681-2250 or Bill March at 360-457-6758.
For more information about the program, visit www.blockfest.org.