| Current research has focused on early numeracy in the preschool setting, but few studies have addressed the relationship between elementary school children's understanding of mathematical concepts and parent-child interactions during math play or work. As a result, the researcher sought to understand the extent to which math concepts were discussed between parents and their children ages 5 to 7 during math interactions in 5 families of English language learners. The researcher employed a case study methodology that included visiting the participating families; observing their behaviors while they were engaged in math activities with their children; and obtaining parent-authored journals that described the participants' daily, weekly, and monthly math activities. This qualitative study linked studies of early numeracy acquisition to the observation of parent-child communication during mathematics interactions in the families of students receiving English as a second language services in their school. The results indicated that counting was the strategy chosen the most often during play with blocks or cards and when completing a math worksheet. The patterns of communication observed during the home visits indicated that most of the families engaged in parent-initiated conversations. The parents in Families 1, 2, and 4 initiated conversations 95% of the time. The parents in Family 5 initiated conversations 80% of the time. The parents in Family 3 initiated conversations 70% of the time. All of the families reported spending time on mathematical activities with their children, including math-related video or computer games, followed by Legos, puzzles, and cooking activities. In the course of an average week, Family 1 spent an average of 10.5 hours, Family 2 spent 15 hours, Family 3 spent 21.25 hours, Family 4 spent 7.75 hours, and Family 5 spent 15.25 hours in these activities. The overarching finding was that the families who spent a significant amount of time doing math-related activities with their children had children who were more confident in approaching math problems. Future research might include a longitudinal study involving family math communication as well an exploration of effective strategies that families and schools can employ to communicate with children about math. |
