The effects of parent program involvement and mathematics enrichment on preschooler's mathematics readiness skills

This study was designed to measure the effect parent program involvement and participation in a mathematics enrichment program has on a preschooler's math readiness skills. Children and parents were recruited from Head Start agencies in Washington, DC and were exposed to a four-week enrichment program. A total of 40 children and 40 parents took part in the study. Twenty of the parents were involved in the study as active participants in their child's classroom during the enrichment program.; Children's mathematics readiness skills were pre- and post-tested using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised, Arithmetic sub-test. Parent Involvement was determined by whether the parent was selected to participate in the classroom (involved) or in parent education sessions (not involved). Through surveys developed by the researcher, parents were asked to give their perception of their child's mathematics skills pre- and post-enrichment program and children's motivation for mathematics was assessed. Parents were also asked about their satisfaction with the enrichment program via a post-enrichment program survey and through focus group discussions.; It was hypothesized that children who attended the enrichment program would score higher on the WPPSI-R Arithmetic sub-test post-test than children who did not participate in the mathematics enrichment program. It was also hypothesized that parents attending the mathematics enrichment program with their children would perceive themselves as more satisfied with the program, would perceive their children's mathematics enrichment skills to be better than children not attending with a parent and would have a significant positive effect on the scores their children obtain on the WPPSI-R arithmetic sub-test. The results of this study indicated that children who participate in a mathematics enrichment program score higher on the WPPSI-R arithmetic sub-test than those who do not participate. Results found that parent participation in the enrichment program did not have a significant effect on mathematics readiness skills, parent perception of their child's mathematics skills or parent satisfaction in the program. However, results relative to parent participation could have been skewed because parents who were participating in the mathematics enrichment program communicated with parents not participating, creating a threat to validity.