Parent–Child Math Talk About Fractions During Formal Learning and Guided Play Activities

Eason, Sarah H.; Ramani, Geetha B.

doi:10.1111/cdev.13199

Cited by 62 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…These strong relations may potentially explain why the direct + indirect factor was related to all direct assessments. It may be that when parents engage their children in mathematics-focused activities, they may go beyond just explicit teaching and also use significant amounts of math talk (Eason and Ramani, 2020). It is possible that this math talk may expand beyond simple numeracy-related talk to include mathematical language and spatial skills; however, the specific types of talk parents use during these types of activities at home needs to be further investigated.…”

Section: Relations Between the Home Mathematics Environment And Prescmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though existing work has not directly linked parent reported HME to mathematical language, there is a growing body of evidence that would support that link. For example, recent evidence in an experimental setting suggests that parent–child interactions that are explicitly focused on teaching mathematics (direct numeracy activities) show greater amounts of math-related talk during these activities than in less direct mathematics-related activities or non-mathematics related activities ( Eason and Ramani, 2020 )—suggesting that when parents are engaged in direct mathematics activities, they are more likely to use (and potentially support) mathematical language compared to when they are engaged in less directed activities. Moreover, the direct activities that parents and children engage in most frequently (e.g., counting and comparing; Thompson et al, 2017 ) involve the numeracy skills that are most closely related to children’s mathematical language knowledge ( Hornburg et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining the Factor Structure of the Home Mathematics Environment to Delineate Its Role in Predicting Preschool Numeracy, Mathematical Language, and Spatial Skills

et al. 2020

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A growing body of evidence suggests that the ways in which parents and preschool children interact in terms of home-based mathematics activities (i.e., the home mathematics environment; HME) is related to children's mathematics development (e.g., primarily numeracy skills and spatial skills); however, this body of evidence is mixed with some research supporting the relation and others finding null effects. Importantly, few studies have explicitly examined the factor structure of the HME and contrasted multiple hypothesized models. To develop more precise models of how the HME supports children's mathematics development, the structure of the HME needs to be examined and linked to mathematics performance. The purpose of this study was to extend prior work by replicating the factor structure of the HME (as one general HME factor and three specific factors of direct numeracy, indirect numeracy, and spatial) and using those factors to predict direct assessments of children's numeracy, mathematical language, and spatial skills. It was hypothesized that the general HME factor would be related to each direct assessment, the direct numeracy factor would be related to both numeracy and mathematical language, and the spatial factor would be related to spatial skills. Using a sample of 129 preschool children (M age = 4.71 years, SD = 0.55; 46.5% female), a series of confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Results diverged somewhat from prior work as the best fitting model was a bifactor model with a general HME factor and two specific factors (one that combined direct and indirect numeracy activities and another of spatial activities) rather than three specific factors as had previously been found. Further, structural equation modeling analyses suggested that, in contrast to expectations, only the direct + indirect numeracy factor was a significant predictor of direct child assessments when accounting for age, sex, and parental education. These findings provide evidence that a bifactor model is important

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Section: Relations Between the Home Mathematics Environment And Prescmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the Factor Structure of the Home Mathematics Environment to Delineate Its Role in Predicting Preschool Numeracy, Mathematical Language, and Spatial Skills

et al. 2020

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“…First, it is unclear whether short conversations about a variety of academically-relevant concepts or more in-depth conversation about one concept is the critical factor in promoting school readiness through conversations between caregivers and children. Most prior research has examined the effects of the amount of math or shape talk as given by the frequency of occurrence, but there are a few studies that have assessed the variability in the types of words being used in conversation (e.g., Eason and Ramani, 2020 ). The coding scheme for this study was designed to measure conversations about multiple academically-relevant concepts such as numbers, colors, and shapes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brief Interventions Influence the Quantity and Quality of Caregiver-Child Conversations in an Everyday Context

et al. 2021

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Reading and arithmetic are difficult cognitive feats for children to master and youth from low-income communities are often less “school ready” in terms of letter and number recognition skills (Lee and Burkam, 2002). One way to prepare children for school is by encouraging caregivers to engage children in conversations about academically-relevant concepts by using numbers, recognizing shapes, and naming colors (Levine et al., 2010; Fisher et al., 2013). Previous research shows that caregiver-child conversations about these topics rarely take place in everyday contexts (Hassinger-Das et al., 2018), but interventions designed to encourage such conversations, like displaying signs in a grocery store, have resulted in significant increases in caregiver-child conversations (Ridge et al., 2015; Hanner et al., 2019). We investigated whether a similar brief intervention could change caregiver-child conversations in an everyday context. We observed 212 families in a volunteer-run facility where people who are food-insecure can select food from available donations. Volunteers greet all the clients as they pass through the aisles, offer food, and restock the shelves as needed. About 25% of the clients have children with them and our data consist of observations of the caregiver-child conversations with 2- to 10-year-old children. Half of the observation days consisted of a baseline condition in which the quantity and quality of caregiver-child conversation was observed as the client went through aisles where no signs were displayed, and volunteers merely greeted the clients. The other half of the observation days consisted of a brief intervention where signs were displayed (signs-up condition), where, volunteers greeted the clients and pointed out that there were signs displayed to entertain the children if they were interested. In addition, there was a within-subject manipulation for the intervention condition where each family interacted with two different categories of signs. Half of the signs had academically-relevant content and the other half had non-academically-relevant content. The results demonstrate that the brief intervention used in the signs-up condition increases the quantity of conversation between a caregiver and child. In addition, signs with academically-relevant content increases the quality of the conversation. These findings provide further evidence that brief interventions in an everyday context can change the caregiver-child conversation. Specifically, signs with academically-relevant content may promote school readiness.

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“…For example, one study compared the impact of guided play in a sandpit -during which a teacher encouraged young children's exploration and experimentation with various materials -to free play with the same materials [van Schijndel]. Overall, most studies reported that guided play with PMs was more effective than free play with the same or similar materials for children's visual-spatial, language, and exploratory play outcomes [Borriello;Casey 2008a;Eason;Ferrara;Fisher 2011bFisher , 2013.…”

Section: Free Playmentioning

confidence: 99%

Educational interventions involving physical manipulatives for improving children’s learning and development: a scoping review

Byrne¹,

Ramchandani²

2022

Preprint

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WHY DID WE DO THIS RESEARCH?Hands-on learning activities with physical objects – or physical manipulatives (PMs) – can be great at encouraging children’s active participation in learning. Cast your mind back to your own childhood: do you remember using items like counters, shapes, or fraction bars in school? If so, you were using PMs! We wanted to find out what kind of research has been done on educational programmes involving PMs.WHAT DID WE DO?We conducted a scoping review – a type of literature review used to identify and broadly describe a body of research according to certain inclusion criteria. We searched several academic databases for studies that have tested the effectiveness of PM interventions with primary-age children; 102 studies met our inclusion criteria and were synthesised in the review.WHAT DID WE FIND?Most studies involved children between 4-6 years in school settings. They spanned 26 different countries, but almost all took place in high- or middle-income contexts, typically the USA. The interventions involved different PMs and hands-on activities (e.g., block building, shape sorting, paper folding), and evidence relating their effectiveness was mixed. Whilst some studies reported benefits to children’s math, spatial, or literacy skills, others did not, and many were hindered by methodological shortcomings. This means we must be cautious when drawing conclusions about the overall effectiveness of PM interventions. Nevertheless, the findings illustrate the many ways hands-on experiences with PMs can facilitate children’s active engagement in learning. Going forward, higher quality research is needed, as well as more studies testing PM interventions in lower-income contexts.

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Parent–Child Math Talk About Fractions During Formal Learning and Guided Play Activities

Cited by 62 publications

References 40 publications

Examining the Factor Structure of the Home Mathematics Environment to Delineate Its Role in Predicting Preschool Numeracy, Mathematical Language, and Spatial Skills

Examining the Factor Structure of the Home Mathematics Environment to Delineate Its Role in Predicting Preschool Numeracy, Mathematical Language, and Spatial Skills

Brief Interventions Influence the Quantity and Quality of Caregiver-Child Conversations in an Everyday Context

Educational interventions involving physical manipulatives for improving children’s learning and development: a scoping review

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