Math class is getting a new soundtrack in Oklahoma City.
Educator Niah Spriggs has released an album, “Multiply the Beats: Math That Moves,” to help students learn multiplication and number patterns through music. The album is available on platforms including YouTube, Apple, and Amazon Music.
Spriggs is focused on helping children build numeracy and understand how numbers work by teaching multiplication and number patterns through rhythm and repetition. Instead of relying on memorization alone, students learn to recognise patterns like multiples and skip counting by hearing and repeating them through music.
Support for the project was provided in part through an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the Oklahoma County Commissioners.
Research cited for the project points to the value of early maths learning. Studies from the Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis found that early math skills are one of the strongest predictors of later academic success, even more than early reading.
“Students don’t struggle because they can’t learn math; they struggle because they don’t always see how numbers connect,” said IBLA Founder, creator of the program.
“When students hear the patterns in music, they begin to understand the patterns in numbers.”
In classrooms using the approach, students sing, count and identify number patterns. As they repeat the songs, they begin to internalise key concepts, helping them solve problems with greater confidence and accuracy.
The songs guide students through foundational skills, including recognising multiples and skip counting, understanding number patterns, building fluency in multiplication, and developing a foundation for division, factors and fractions.
The album is part of a broader teaching approach that emphasises understanding before memorisation. Parents and teachers can also access instructional videos on YouTube showing how the method is used in classroom settings.
Spriggs runs I Believe Learners Academy and Scholars Circle Community Tutoring Program in Oklahoma City. The “Multiply the Beats” project is part of a broader effort to improve math understanding by helping students recognise how numbers relate, grow and connect throughout Oklahoma City.
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