vidalia &8212; The average knee-high participant at Vidalia Lower Elementary&8217;s Family Math Night couldn&8217;t tell you what they&8217;d learned.

To them, it wasn&8217;t learning; it was just fun.

Parents, and in some cases whole families, worked through a series of math games Monday at the school for prizes. Unknown to the kids, they learned calculators skills, shapes, probability, statistics and patterns.

&8220;When they are this age and younger you need hands-on,&8221; teacher Janie Reyes said. &8220;You put a pencil and paper in front of them and it isn&8217;t going to work. This is more concrete.&8221;

Moms, dads and grandparents had to play against their children in number games and help them make the right patterns and shapes.

Dalton Wiley came with his second-grader Brooke Monday night and lost at least one game to her.

&8220;She started reminding me as soon as I picked her up from school,&8221; Wiley said. &8220;Anything with children that gets them more interested in school is good.&8221;

VLES hosts family oriented learning nights several times a year, but Monday&8217;s math night was the result of a new math program implemented in the school. Teachers are using math textbooks from Scott Foresman Publishing, an international company.

The company helped organize math night.

&8220;We know parents are their children&8217;s first and best teachers,&8221; Louisiana Sales Representative Donna Knapp said. &8220;This is just a time for parents to see the types of math activities included in their children&8217;s books.&8221;

Mom Ann Burley came with her pre-kindergartener Rex and husband Michael to learn more about the lessons.

&8220;(I want to) participate in school activities so we can help him in his activities,&8221; she said, &8220;and find out the new math learning techniques.&8221;

But for 7-year-old Jadah Lyons it wasn&8217;t about techniques.

&8220;It&8217;s got games,&8221; she said. &8220;Math is my favorite. It&8217;s easy.&8221;