A Utah initiative is working to boost preschool math skills by teaching parents how to use simple games to build foundational arithmetic, according to a September 30 report. The project, known as MILO & Friends, aims to encourage families to engage with math before children enter kindergarten to help bridge achievement gaps.
The Utah STEM Action Center leads the MILO & Friends project, which stands for math introduction and learning opportunities. Clarence Ames, who leads research and implementation for the agency, stated that many parents feel unqualified to teach math or suffer from math trauma. To address this, the center uses tools like the board game Happy Bunny to teach concepts such as sequencing, symbolic number recognition, and cardinality through play.
The initiative has partnered with the Granite School District’s family engagement program for the last three years to host sessions at schools like Plymouth Elementary in Taylorsville. A study by the Utah Education Policy Center found that parents attending these events reported feeling more confident about helping their young children with math, with the strongest effects seen among Spanish-speaking families and those with less education.
The push for early math intervention comes as national math achievement trends show significant declines. The National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that average math scores for fourth, eighth, and 12th graders in 2024 sank below 2019 levels. Additionally, Stanford University professor emerita Deborah Stipek noted that Black, Hispanic, and low-income children are disproportionately represented among those with low math skills by the time they reach kindergarten.
Looking ahead, the Utah STEM Action Center and the Utah Education Policy Center plan to collect kindergarten entry scores for children who received MILO & Friends materials through a partnership with pediatricians starting next year.
