Young children's mathematics references during free play in family childcare settings

Abstract

Very little is known about children's discussion of mathematics topics during unstructured play. Ginsburg, Lin, Ness, and Seo [2003. Young American and Chinese children's everyday mathematical activity. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 5(4), 235–258. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=e2cc384a-0a86-471d-8c61-e61493d18ee6%40sessionmgr114&vid=1&hid=111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=mth&AN=10800300] have examined children's mathematics conversations in centre-based childcare, but to our knowledge no one has looked at children's mathematics conversations in home-based family childcare. On the other hand, it is often through children's spontaneous play themes that we have an indication of what is on a child's mind. This study examined the mathematics talk of children during unstructured play in non-parental, family childcare environments. Audio tapes of 50 children (20 girls) ranging in age from 3 to 5 years were transcribed and coded for different types of mathematical references including (a) classification, (b) magnitude, (c) enumeration, (d) patterns and shapes, (e) spatial relations, and (f) part/whole (Ginsburg et al., 2003). Out of all words spoken, 13% of children's words in unstructured play were mathematics-related words. Spatial relations were most frequently referenced. The data indicated a trend for children older than 40 months to reference mathematics more than children younger than 40 months. Children with providers who had child development associate certificates or two-year degrees were more likely to use mathematics words than children whose providers had less education or more education. These findings were also non-significant, but suggest that providers with applied certificates or degrees might have more practice-based experience in structuring the environment for mathematics inquiry.