SUM THING TO TALK ABOUT: CAREGIVER-PRESCHOOLER MATH TALK IN LOW-INCOME FAMILIES FROM THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. The early home environment is critical for laying a strong numerical foundation for young children’s development. Participation in math-related informal learning activities in the home is associated with caregiver and child talk about math; however, it is unclear which activities promote different types of math talk. METHOD. We observed whether the math talk that 33 families from low-income backgrounds from the United States engaged in varied across three math-related activities – book reading, puzzle solving, and board game play. Math talk was coded into five categories: counting, numeral identification, cardinality, ordinal relations, and arithmetic. RESULTS. There was substantial variability in the amount of caregiver and child math talk. The amount and types of math talk caregivers and children engaged in varied by activity. Of the three activities, the board game elicited the most math talk. The most frequent type of talk during an activity corresponded to the specific numerical content embedded in each activity. DISCUSSION. Findings suggest that caregivers are responding to the play context when engaging in math-related informal learning activities. Understanding factors that influence math talk could inform the type of activities used in future home-based interventions aimed at reducing the gap in early mathematical understanding between children from lower- and higher-income backgrounds in the United States.