All Together Now: Family Ed Night at The Willows

Every year for Family Education Night at The Willows, we invite all students and their families onto our campus to experience firsthand experiential learning through hands-on activity. The theme this year is Mathematics. Throughout all grades, families will be able to go to their child’s classroom and work together on engaging math activities specific to their grade’s curriculum featuring: geometry & shapes, data & analysis, and games & number theory. Family Ed Night offers a glimpse into the Willows student experience and helps keep parents aware of how they can best support and engage with their children’s learning.

Wendy Amster, the Willows Dean of Educational Technology, leads the school in organizing Family Ed Night, and is specifically looking forward to sharing a recent mathematical breakthrough with families. “I’m really excited to introduce a recent math discovery of an Einstein, a shape that will tile infinitely without repetition. This geometry activity will have participants looking creatively at the shape and could give faculty an opportunity to explore its unique qualities in further detail in artistic and mathematical contexts.”

Uncovering a new shape is a rare discovery worth exploring through engaging learning, but this finding also communicates to students that history is not just in the past; there are still countless ideas that have yet to be uncovered. It’s crucial for both students and families to recognize that math plays a role in many different subjects, and this is just one planned activity in which mathematical concepts intersect with other curricular components.

Family Ed Night is also a celebration of community connection. As families navigate from one classroom to another, they become active participants in their child's education, building the home/school connection. This is by design, as Amster mentions that she’s “excited that there are a range of activities, from ones that can be tried during the event and then continued at home with families, such as the Card Dominoes game, the Cows and Bulls game, and the What’s Going On in This Graph? series from the New York Times Learning Network.” Strengthening the home/school connection reinforces learning from both environments, and Family Ed Night offers new methods to enhance this important relationship.

In addition to engaging experiential learning activities, the night provides a platform for parents and teachers to exchange insights, strategies, and stories about their children's educational journey. The impact of this collaborative effort extends far beyond the event itself. Not only do families participate in learning activities from their child’s current grade, but they also get to observe what lies ahead for them in future grades, laying the foundation for a continued partnership.

We are looking forward to seeing the whole Willows community for Family Education Night on Wednesday, January 15th from 6-7 PM.