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For kids at Washington Montessori School, math is fun and games, thanks to some interactive outdoor lessons.

Smart Path, an after-school program to boost math and reading literacy, pairs NC A&T University tutors with elementary students who need extra help.

During in-class enrichment activities and Smart Path after school, students learn math outside on the playground using Pathematics, where children run along a large, color-coded number line to explore math concepts.

“My goal is to get these kids to have one math experience that’s positive to break the pattern that math is drudgery,” Smart Path instructor Dean Driver said.

Driver leads the program along with Muktha Jost, an assistant professor at NCA&T in the Department of Education.

The painted number Runway you saw has been at Washington since 2006, and is one of three in Greensboro (Erwin Montessori and Morehead Elementary are the other ones, and three more are scheduled for installation).

The Smart Path program is made possible through a grant, is offered to third through fifth graders at Washington.

“I came up with the Pathematics method about four years ago after working as a volunteer tutor at Washington and Wiley elementary schools,” Driver said.

“As an aerospace engineer, I was usually assigned to kids needing math help," Driver said. "I became frustrated trying to help kids with math who were years behind grade level and intimidated by numbers in general, so this is was attempt to give them a concrete (no pun intended) way of visualizing numbers, and a spatial, kinesthetic sense of mathematics. We try to keep everything fun and engaging.”

Contact Cindy Loman at cindy.loman@news-record.com