The roles of stimulating parenting and verbal development throughout early childhood in the development of mathematics skills

Abstract

This study investigated the unique contributions of mothers’ stimulating parenting practices and children’s verbal skills throughout early childhood to the prediction of their mathematics skills at age 7, using data from a 5-year longitudinal study of a nationally representative cohort of 3-year-old children in Turkey (N = 1,052, 55.4 % male). Structural models were estimated and systematically tested in order to arrive at a parsimonious model including children’s initial verbal and mathematics skills, and stimulating parenting behaviors throughout early childhood. Broadly defined stimulating parenting at ages 3, 4, and 5 had substantial continuity, nevertheless uniquely and significantly predicted the mathematics skills at age 7. The predictive associations of stimulating parenting with children’s mathematics skills at age 7 were mediated by the children’s verbal skills at age 6. The contributions of specific stimulating parenting behaviors and specific verbal skills to early elementary mathematics skills were discussed.