Widening the lens of family math engagement: A conceptual framework and systematic review

Assessing the association between parents' math talk and children's math performance: A preregistered meta-analysis

The home math environment has gained considerable attention as a potential cause of variation in children's math performance, and recent research has suggested positive associations between parents' math talk and children's mathematical performance. However, the extent to which associations reflect robust causal effects is difficult to test. In a preregistered meta-analysis, we assess the association between parents' math talk and children's math performance. Our initial search identified 24,291 potential articles. After screening, we identified 22 studies that were included in analyses (k = 280 effect sizes, n = 35,917 participants). A multilevel random effects meta-analysis was employed, finding that parents' math talk is significantly associated with children's math performance (b = 0.10, SE = 0.03, p = .002). We tested whether associations differ as a function of sample characteristics, observation context, observation length, type of math talk and math performance measured, and modeling approaches to math talk variable analysis. In addition, we tested whether associations are robust to the inclusion of strong baseline covariates and found that effects attenuated when children's domain-general and/or prior math abilities are included. We discuss plausible bounds of the effects of parents' math talk on children's mathematical performance to inform power analyses and experimental work on the impact of parents' math language on children's math learning.

Young children with intellectual disabilities and their mathematical attainments: Do parents' attitudes toward mathematics, home numeracy, and literacy practices matter?

This study explored potential factors of numeracy acquisition in young children with intellectual disabilities (IDs). Those factors are determined to assess parents' academic expectations and home practices that they use with their children daily. The sample consisted of 187 Greek-speaking couples, comprising a total number of 374 parents. All of them had a child with mild IDs aged between 4 and 7 years old. Since Greece is placed among European countries with the lowest median disposable income it is significant to assess the potential effects of each family's socioeconomic status. We employed structural equation modeling to identify potential factors affecting a child's with IDs numeracy outcomes. Analysis of moments structures (AMOS) revealed that there is a good fit for the suggested second-order structural equation model. Results are discussed regarding their practical implications.

Mothers’ and fathers’ engagement in math activities with their toddler sons and daughters: The moderating role of parental math beliefs

Parents’ beliefs about the importance of math predicts their math engagement with their children. However, most work focuses on mothers’ math engagement with preschool- and school-aged children, leaving gaps in knowledge about fathers and the experiences of toddlers. We examined differences in mothers’ and fathers’ (N = 94) engagement in math- and non-math activities with their two-year-old girls and boys. Parents reported their beliefs about the importance of math and literacy for young children and their frequency of home learning activities. Parents of sons did not differ in their engagement in math activities from parents of daughters. Mothers reported engaging more frequently in math activities with their toddlers than fathers did, but the difference reduced when parents endorsed stronger beliefs about the importance of math for children. Even at very early ages, children experience vastly different opportunities to learn math in the home, with math-related experiences being shaped by both parent gender and parents’ beliefs.

App-based support for parental self-efficacy in the first 1,000 days: A randomized control trial

Parental self-efficacy is key for guiding parents' interactions with their child and is an important target for early intervention. This study reports a pilot randomized control trial (RCT) of a parenting application (app) with 79 parents of children aged 0-6 months in the United Kingdom. The app includes 1,026 daily age-appropriate activities across eight areas of child development, using resources accessible at home. While controlling for pre-test scores, parents who used the parenting app (Treatment Group) had significantly higher parental self-efficacy, after the 4-week intervention period, compared to the Active Control Group. Partial correlation analyses indicated that higher frequency of self-reported use of the parenting app was associated with greater parental self-efficacy outcomes. This evidence establishes proof of concept that parenting apps can have significant benefits on parental self-efficacy in early childhood. Limitations to the interpretation and generalization of the findings, as well as directions for future research are discussed.