Probing the Relationship Between Home Numeracy and Children's Mathematical Skills: A Systematic Review

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2020 Oct 19

PMID 33071838

Citations 17

Authors

Belde Mutaf-Yildiz

Delphine Sasanguie

Bert De Smedt

Bert Reynvoet

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The concept of home numeracy has been defined as parent-child interactions with numerical content. This concept started to receive increasing attention since the last decade. Most of the studies indicated that the more parents and their children engage in numerical experiences, the better children perform in mathematical tasks. However, there are also contrasting results indicating that home numeracy does not play a role or that there is a negative association between the parent-child interactions and children's mathematics performance. To shed light on these discrepancies, a systematic review searching for available articles examining the relationship between home numeracy and mathematical skills was conducted. Thirty-seven articles were retained and a -curve analysis showed a true positive association between home numeracy and children's mathematical skills. A more qualitative investigation of the articles revealed five common findings: (1) Advanced home numeracy interactions but not basic ones are associated with children's mathematical skills. (2) Most participants in the studies were mothers, however, when both parents participated and were compared, only mothers' reports of formal home numeracy activities (i.e., explicit numeracy teaching) were linked to children's mathematical skill. (3) Formal home numeracy activities have been investigated more commonly than informal home numeracy activities (i.e., implicit numeracy teaching). (4) The number of studies that have used questionnaires to assess home numeracy is larger compared with the ones that have used observations. (5) The majority of the studies measured children's mathematical skills with comprehensive tests that index mathematical ability with one composite score rather than with specific numerical tasks. These five common findings might explain the contradictory results regarding the relationship between home numeracy and mathematical skills. Therefore, more research is necessary to draw quantitative conclusions about these five points.

Citing Articles

The relation of verbal and nonverbal skills to basic numerical processing of preterm versus term-born preschoolers.

Farmer I, Nelson P, Goksun T, Demir-Lira O J Exp Child Psychol. 2024; 251():106128.

PMID: 39626598 PMC: 11725348. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.106128.

Do home mathematical activities relate to early mathematical skills? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

James-Brabham E, von Bastian C, Brough C, Blakey E Child Dev. 2024; 96(1):451-468.

PMID: 39359150 PMC: 11693824. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14162.

Home Learning Environment and Screen Time Differentially Mediate the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Preschoolers' Learning and Behavioural Profiles.

Bonifacci P, Compiani D, Vassura C, Affranti A, Peri B, Ravaldini V Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2024; .

PMID: 38869767 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-024-01724-z.

Unpacking the Home Numeracy Environment: Examining Dimensions of Number Activities in Early Childhood.

Elliott L, Votruba-Drzal E, Miller P, Libertus M, Bachman H Early Child Res Q. 2023; 62:129-138.

PMID: 37786512 PMC: 10544779. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.08.002.

Investigating associations between parent engagement and toddlers' mathematics performance.

Silver A, Swirbul M, Tamis-LeMonda C, Cabrera N, Libertus M Br J Dev Psychol. 2023; 41(4):412-445.

PMID: 37431921 PMC: 10592410. DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12459.

References

Reynvoet B, Sasanguie D . The Symbol Grounding Problem Revisited: A Thorough Evaluation of the ANS Mapping Account and the Proposal of an Alternative Account Based on Symbol-Symbol Associations. Front Psychol. 2016; 7:1581. PMC: 5061812. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01581. View

Siegler R, Ramani G . Playing linear numerical board games promotes low-income children's numerical development. Dev Sci. 2008; 11(5):655-61. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00714.x. View

Gilmore C, McCarthy S, Spelke E . Non-symbolic arithmetic abilities and mathematics achievement in the first year of formal schooling. Cognition. 2010; 115(3):394-406. PMC: 3129629. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.02.002. View

Zippert E, Douglas A, Smith M, Rittle-Johnson B . Preschoolers' broad mathematics experiences with parents during play. J Exp Child Psychol. 2019; 192:104757. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104757. View

Dubow E, Boxer P, Huesmann L . Long-term Effects of Parents' Education on Children's Educational and Occupational Success: Mediation by Family Interactions, Child Aggression, and Teenage Aspirations. Merrill Palmer Q (Wayne State Univ Press). 2010; 55(3):224-249. PMC: 2853053. DOI: 10.1353/mpq.0.0030. View

LeFevre J, Fast L, Skwarchuk S, Smith-Chant B, Bisanz J, Kamawar D . Pathways to mathematics: longitudinal predictors of performance. Child Dev. 2010; 81(6):1753-67. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01508.x. View

Ramani G, Siegler R . Promoting broad and stable improvements in low-income children's numerical knowledge through playing number board games. Child Dev. 2008; 79(2):375-94. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01131.x. View

Elliott L, Braham E, Libertus M . Understanding sources of individual variability in parents' number talk with young children. J Exp Child Psychol. 2017; 159:1-15. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.01.011. View

Zippert E, Daubert E, Scalise N, Noreen G, Ramani G . "Tap space number three": Promoting math talk during parent-child tablet play. Dev Psychol. 2019; 55(8):1605-1614. DOI: 10.1037/dev0000769. View

10.

Cheung S, Yang X, Dulay K, McBride C . Family and individual variables associated with young Filipino children's numeracy interest and competence. Br J Dev Psychol. 2017; 36(2):334-353. DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12222. View

11.

Schneider M, Beeres K, Coban L, Merz S, Susan Schmidt S, Stricker J . Associations of non-symbolic and symbolic numerical magnitude processing with mathematical competence: a meta-analysis. Dev Sci. 2016; 20(3). DOI: 10.1111/desc.12372. View

12.

Levine S, Suriyakham L, Rowe M, Huttenlocher J, Gunderson E . What counts in the development of young children's number knowledge?. Dev Psychol. 2010; 46(5):1309-19. PMC: 2998540. DOI: 10.1037/a0019671. View

13.

Gunderson E, Levine S . Some types of parent number talk count more than others: relations between parents' input and children's cardinal-number knowledge. Dev Sci. 2011; 14(5):1021-32. PMC: 3177161. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2011.01050.x. View

14.

Mutaf Yildiz B, Sasanguie D, De Smedt B, Reynvoet B . Frequency of Home Numeracy Activities Is Differentially Related to Basic Number Processing and Calculation Skills in Kindergartners. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:340. PMC: 5874519. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00340. View

15.

Cheung S, Dulay K, McBride C . Parents' characteristics, the home environment, and children's numeracy skills: How are they related in low- to middle-income families in the Philippines?. J Exp Child Psychol. 2020; 192:104780. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2019.104780. View

16.

McHugh M . Interrater reliability: the kappa statistic. Biochem Med (Zagreb). 2012; 22(3):276-82. PMC: 3900052. View

17.

Wynn K . Children's understanding of counting. Cognition. 1990; 36(2):155-93. DOI: 10.1016/0010-0277(90)90003-3. View

18.

Simonsohn U, Nelson L, Simmons J . P-curve: a key to the file-drawer. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2013; 143(2):534-47. DOI: 10.1037/a0033242. View

19.

Huang Q, Zhang X, Liu Y, Yang W, Song Z . The contribution of parent-child numeracy activities to young Chinese children's mathematical ability. Br J Educ Psychol. 2017; 87(3):328-344. DOI: 10.1111/bjep.12152. View

20.

Skwarchuk S, Sowinski C, LeFevre J . Formal and informal home learning activities in relation to children's early numeracy and literacy skills: the development of a home numeracy model. J Exp Child Psychol. 2014; 121:63-84. DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2013.11.006. View