Black Girl MATHgic Aims to Increase Math Confidence in Black Girls

The monthly subscription box goes through everything from division to fractions with a female-focused twist.

Black Girl MATHgic

I want to live in a world where it is not socially acceptable to say you are not a math person,ā€ says Brittany Rhodes, founder of Black Girl MATHgic, a monthly subscription box designed to increase math confidence and decrease math anxiety in black girls.

With a degree in mathematics and years of tutoring experience, Rhodes is committed to bringing math to the forefront. Each month, girls will receive a box containing a math lesson with an activity booklet based around a theme and dedicated to math activities along with writing reflection.

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Rhodes says, ā€œWe are conditioned to believe you have to be good at writing or math, not both.ā€ Three to five math-related items will bring the theme further to life along with a profile of a black woman mathematician. The parent guide helps the adult in her life with tips and an answer explanation key.

Lessons are of a third-to-eighth grade level, when girls are building their math foundation in school. Rhodes says, ā€œThese are the ages where they disengage in math.ā€ The box tackles multiplication, division, symmetry, unit rate, budgeting, subtraction, angles, fractions, decimals and more, all for $39.95.

ā€œI chose to focus on math, especially,ā€ she says. ā€œI applaud the STEM effort, but I think the effort treats math as the appetizer when it should be the entree.ā€ Rhodes wants to eventually take the subscription box international, and a Black Boy MATHgic box is also in the works. 

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