Negotiating with Family Members in a Block Play

Abstract

In this chapter, a study on the impact of the familial socialisation on mathematics learning is described. The aim of the study is the development of theoretical insights in the functioning of familial interactions for the formation of children’s mathematical thinking. The concept of the ‘interactional niche in the development of mathematical thinking’ is adapted to the special needs of familial interaction processes. It is integrated with the idea of Mathematical Learning Support System in order to shed light on how an elder sibling and a grandmother can be supportive or helpful for the mathematics learning process of a child. In this sense the negotiation of meaning during the block play is observed and identified using interaction analysis. The result demonstrates that a block play with an elder sibling and a grandmother takes place as a social act for a child and an elder sibling and a grandmother provides different learning opportunities to the child, who is exposed to learning about giving, receiving, sharing, and expressing his ideas and feelings. On the basis of this result, it can be concluded that through a block play with family members, a child gets an opportunity to think, to talk, to learn, and to be ‘educated’ in mathematics and in cognitive, social-emotional competences as well.