About the Founder
Gina Lauricella is a local teacher and mom who has loved math from an early age. Her positive, early memories of math instruction motivate her as a teacher to help as many students as possible have the same experience. Her first teaching position was middle school math in Guilford, CT, in which she loved the challenge of helping every student meet their potential. She taught 3 sections of math, and greatly valued the responsibility of supporting that many students with their math success. A wedding and the possibility of having children prompted her to make a change and work closer to home. So after 7 years, she started her new position in Westport schools, as a 5th grade teacher. During this time, she collaborated with top teachers in the state and benefited from elite professional development opportunities. Although happy in her position, she realized that she missed teaching predominantly math and decided to work to get an advanced math certification with the hope of finding a math-based teaching position at some point in her teaching future. This dream-position opened up in Weston, CT, where she became an elementary math specialist. Helping the youngest learners in the district develop their math identities and confidence was a dream come true. The position was also part-time, which allowed for Gina to begin leading preschool math groups during her off-days. This is when the vision for Mini Math Minds began! Seeing a group of 3 and 4 year olds fall in love with math activities and discussions was so fulfilling. The impact that these early, positive math experiences made on these young learners was undeniable, and she looks forward to bringing that to even more mini mathematicians in the area.
Mini Math Minds uses games, hands on math activities, math-based movement breaks, and concrete manipulatives to introduce students to math concepts in a fun and meaningful way.
There is an overwhelming amount of research that indicates that early math skills have the greatest predictive power of achievement versus even school entry or literacy skills.
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In one study of many, researchers found "a robust association between young children's early mathematical proficiency and later academic achievement is well established."
​Increasing intentional math instruction in preschool age students leads to significant math gains (Math Matters, Even for little Kids).
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Early play-based math experiences not only provide children with a positive first math experience, but help to lay the foundation of numeracy, measurement and geometry.
Research/Articles that Support the Importance of Early Math Learning
This is a quick-read article published by University of Nebraska- Lincoln
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This study is a longer read, but even the abstract and conclusion do a nice job of summarizing the research
This highlights the importance of math discussions and immersion for children ages of 3-5