Abstract
Selecting a large and diverse sample of 5–6-year-old preschool children (179 boys and 174 girls; Mage = 70.03 months, SDage = 3.43), we aimed to extend previous findings on variability in children’s home math environment (i.e., home math activities, parental expectations, and attitudes) and its association with children’s mathematical skills. We operationalized mathematics in a broader way than in previous studies, by considering not only children’s numerical skills but also their patterning skills as integral components of early mathematical development. We investigated the effects of children’s gender and socioeconomic status (SES) on their home math environment, examined the associations between children’s home math environment and their mathematical skills, and verified whether these associations were moderated by children’s gender and/or SES. Parents of 353 children completed a home math environment questionnaire and all children completed measures of their numerical (e.g., object counting) and patterning skills (e.g., extending repeating patterns). Results indicated no effect of children’s gender on their home math environment. There was no effect of SES on the performed home math activities, but small SES differences existed in parents’ math-related expectations and their attitudes. We found no evidence for associations between children’s home math environment and their mathematical skills. Furthermore, there were no moderating effects of gender or SES on these associations. One explanation for these findings might relate to the characteristics of the general preschool system in the country of the present study (Belgium). Future studies should consider the effect of the preschool learning environment because it might explain differences between studies and countries with regard to the home math environment and its association with mathematical skills.
Highlights
Children’s early mathematical skills at the age of 5 are strong and stable predictors of their later mathematics achievement (e.g., Duncan et al, 2007)
We extended the existing literature through a more thorough assessment of children’s math-related home experiences and early mathematical skills by focusing on early numeracy and on patterning, which can be considered as a critical aspect of preschool children’s mathematical development (e.g., Klein and Starkey, 2004; Clements and Sarama, 2014; Rittle-Johnson et al, 2015; Wijns et al, 2019b; Zippert and Rittle-Johnson, 2020)
We extended the previous literature on the role of socioeconomic status (SES) and gender in children’s home math environment by examining this in a diverse and large sample
Summary
Children’s early mathematical skills at the age of 5 are strong and stable predictors of their later mathematics achievement (e.g., Duncan et al, 2007). Researchers have become increasingly interested in the role of children’s home environment in the development of these early mathematical skills (e.g., LeFevre et al, 2009; Kleemans et al, 2012; Skwarchuk et al, 2014; Blevins-Knabe and Berghout Austin(eds), 2016; Susperreguy et al, 2020b). Parents’ behavior, and their expectations, beliefs, attitudes, and demographic characteristics (see Eccles, 1993) might impact early child development and achievement (Huntsinger et al, 2000; Blevins-Knabe and Berghout Austin(eds), 2016) Against this background, children’s home math environment as provided by their parents must be considered as a broad construct, including parental activities, expectations, and attitudes. These observations make the existing body of research less conclusive
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