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This study aimed to examine the effect of early numeracy activities at home on children's mathematics achievement in fourth grade. It also examined the mediating effects of early numeracy competencies and self-efficacy beliefs in mathematics on this relationship. The study used Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 Korean data, selecting nationally representative samples of fourth-grade elementary students (N = 4 669) and their parents. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the study data. The study findings revealed that students who engage in more early numeracy activities at home are more likely to have high mathematics achievement in fourth grade. Early numeracy competencies and self-efficacy beliefs positively mediate this relationship. Moreover, the findings of the study revealed that sequential mediating effects of early numeracy competencies and self-efficacy beliefs on this relationship. Based on the findings of the study, several implications have been proposed.

Early numeracy skills are vital for kindergarten students because they provide the foundation for acquiring mathematics skills in both kindergarten and subsequent years. Teacher support to intervene with kindergarteners at risk for poor mathematics learning outcomes is a promising approach to addressing this achievement gap. The current study replicates previous work on an established early numeracy intervention, ROOTS. In this instance, ROOTS uses remote professional development as a novel format for interventionist training support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that interventionists receiving remote support for implementing ROOTS found training and coaching acceptable and feasible. Remote training and coaching supported strong levels of implementation fidelity. Furthermore, children who received the ROOTS intervention outperformed their control group peers on post-test measures of mathematics achievement within a randomized controlled trial research design. Outcomes and implications for using remote professional development as a format for supporting educators in their use of early numeracy intervention programs are discussed within a pandemic-response context.

Children's numerical competence in kindergarten is highly predictive of their acquisition of mathematics in Grade 1 and Grade 2, suggesting that experiences at home before schooling are important in understanding how numeracy develops. In this study, the mathematical skills of 146 children in Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 were correlated with the frequency with which parents reported informal activities that have quantitative components such as board and card games, shopping, or cooking. Effect sizes were consistent with research relating home literacy experiences to children's vocabulary. The present research supports claims about the importance of home experiences in children's acquisition of mathematics. Chez les enfants de la maternelle, la compétence numérique est très prédictive dans le cadre de l'acquisition des habiletés mathématiques requises en 1re et 2e année du primaire. Ce phénomène suggère que les expériences vécues à la maison avant l'intégration en milieu scolaire sont importantes dans la compréhension du développement des acquis numériques. Dans la présente étude, les compétences mathématiques de 146 enfants de la maternelle, de la 1re et de la 2e année ont été mises en corrélation avec la fréquence avec laquelle les parents encouragent les activités informelles dotées de composantes quantitatives, comme pratiquer des jeux de société et de cartes, magasiner ou cuisiner. Les valeurs de l'effet obtenues correspondaient à la recherche comparant les expériences d'alphabétisation vécues à la maison au vocabulaire des enfants. L'étude appuie les affirmations concernant l'importance des expériences au foyer vécues par les enfants en matière d'acquisition de compétences mathématiques.

Parents’ high academic expectations have often been found to benefit children’s academic outcomes. Nonetheless, little is known whether different ways of expressing the high expectations exert similar influences on early numeracy development. This study therefore investigated the relations of two forms of parents’ perfectionistic tendencies—namely perfectionistic strivings and concerns—with children’s early numeracy competence, as well as the potential mediating roles of children’s executive functions and numeracy interest in such relations. One hundred one kindergarteners were assessed for their numeracy skills and executive functions, whereas their parents completed a questionnaire about their perfectionistic tendencies as well as their children’s numeracy interest. Results showed that both forms of perfectionistic tendencies were associated with children’s numeracy competence via their executive functions and numeracy interest. Only perfectionistic concerns had a direct link with children’s numeracy competence. Our findings imply that parents need to be careful about the ways they convey their academic expectations to young children.

We explore the potential of merging numeracy and literacy, through using number stories to stimulate mathematical engagement with young, marginalized learners in their communities. Our data emerges from the Family Maths Storytime Programme (FMSP) run in partnership with teachers in two South African schools. The FMSP conducted sessions with caregivers of pre-Grade 1 learners that focused on supporting mathematical talk in the home centred around four number storybooks with linked activities and games. Drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and other socio-cultural theories emphasising opportunities for talk and reasoning for learning we explore: Did the FMSP enable the integration of home and school numeracy and literacy practices? If so, what evidence is there of such integrated practices? What is the nature of the described practices? Our analysis focuses on 20 caregiver interviews following their participation in the FMSP that was initially run after school in two English medium pre-Grade 1 classrooms. NVivo coding highlighted key themes across interviews. The findings show how modelling engagement with merged literacy and numeracy practices in the programme enabled changing practices, dispositions, and forms of capital in relation to engaging with these in the home. We highlight how supporting home-based and story inspired engagement with marginalised learners supports equity goals in contexts where learners from indigenous backgrounds often begin and remain mathematically behind grade expectations in school.

BackgroundThe working memory (WM) system is recognized as a crucial cognitive function that underpins the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of foundational skills during childhood. Children’s early literacy and numeracy skills lay the foundation for future academic success in reading and mathematics. While previous research has established a link between WM and early literacy as well as numeracy, the specific contributions of different WM components to the development of various skills in kindergarten-aged children remain unclear.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the associations between distinct profiles of WM and academic achievements in early literacy and numeracy among kindergarten children.MethodA battery of memory tests (simple WM and complex WM) were administered to a cohort of 250 kindergarten children aged between five and seven years. Additionally, a range of tasks assessing mathematical and language skills were administered.ResultsOur findings align with our initial hypotheses, revealing differences between profiles of simple WM and complex WM in relation to early mathematics and language skills. Generally, children who exhibited higher WM abilities outperformed their peers who had lower WM capabilities.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the critical role of WM in early childhood education. Children with limited WM function are at a heightened risk of academic underachievement. Furthermore, both components of WM—simple WM and complex WM—emerge as influential factors in shaping children's proficiency in early literacy and numeracy skills.

The home learning environment that parents provide for their children is an important context for mathematical development. This study describes the home numeracy environment of Argentinean 5-year-old children of low and high socioeconomic status (SES), specifically in the context of mother–child shared reading of a commercial counting book (Book 1) and a purpose-designed book (Book 2). Results show that the frequency and type of home numerical activities varied depending on SES. However, mothers in both SES groups reported reading to their children regularly, but rarely number books. The results also indicate differences in reading styles and number talk according to SES and book type. On the one hand, low-SES mothers gave more numerical responses than high-SES mothers, while high-SES children solved more utterances correctly than their low-SES peers. On the other hand, variations in number talk by SES were observed only during the reading of Book 2, including the total number of numerical utterances, counting large quantities, and comparing sets of different sizes. The findings contribute to research on the variability of learning activities that adults engage in with their children at home as precursors to numerical development.

The aim of this study was to investigate individual differences in mathematical problem-solving among 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 328; n3-year-olds = 115, n4-year-olds = 167, n5-year-olds = 46). First, we examined the extent to which children in this age group were able to solve open and closed non-routine mathematical problems representing a variety of mathematical domains. Second, we investigated the extent to which underlying academic and cognitive skills (i.e., expressive and receptive language, visuospatial, and early numeracy skills) were associated with individual differences in mathematical problem-solving concurrently and longitudinally (i.e., one year later). The results showed that 4- to 5-year-olds were able to solve a variety of non-routine mathematical problems. However, though 3-year-olds were also able to solve a variety of problems, the mathematical problem-solving measure did not meet the reliability criteria, resulting in excluding 3-year-olds from further analyses. Expressive and receptive language, visuospatial, and early numeracy skills were associated with mathematical problem-solving concurrently among 4-year-olds. Among 5-year-olds, only visuospatial and early numeracy skills were associated with mathematical problem-solving. Furthermore, only prior mathematical problem-solving skills and early numeracy skills predicted mathematical problem-solving skills longitudinally. These findings indicate that preschoolers are able to solve open and closed non-routine mathematical problems representing a variety of mathematical domains. Additionally, individual differences may stem not only from differences in mathematical problem-solving skills but also from early numeracy.

The cardinality principle (CP) is a conceptual basis of counting collections meaningfully and provides a foundation for understanding other key aspects of numeracy, such as the successor principle or counting-on to determine sums. Unfortunately, little research has focused on how best to teach the CP. One suggestion is that modeling the CP should be done with small collections children can subitize—that is, immediately recognize the total without counting. The present study was designed to investigate the following key, not fully resolved, questions: Is subitizing level associated with CP knowledge and is a particular level of subitizing critical for achieving the CP? Does fostering children’s subitizing ability improve CP knowledge? Which approach to modeling the CP with subitizable collections is most efficacious in promoting the CP and its transfer? Eighty 2- to 5-year-old participants first received instruction designed to promote the ability to subitize collections from 1 to 5. Subitizing instruction alone resulted in 31 participants learning the CP. The remaining 49 participants were randomly assigned to one of three CP interventions: count-first, label-first, and count-only. All interventions involved collections participants could subitize. Results revealed that the participants who could subitize at least three achieved partial success on the CP task. Those who could subitize four and were in the count-first intervention achieved general success on the CP task. The findings underscore the need for early childhood educators and parents to build on subitizing ability to teach the CP.

Although the acceptance of educational apps and their contributions to learning have been widely researched, none of these studies have examined links between teachers’ acceptance of apps and their students’ skills. The present study investigated this issue with respect to a new, French-language educational app for helping preschool children improve their early literacy and early numeracy skills. To this end, we measured the app’s acceptance by 33 French preschool ( école maternelle ) teachers, who used it in class for ten weeks, and the early literacy and early numeracy skills of their 353 students (aged between 3.92 and 4.91 years). Multilevel regression analyses revealed a significant link between the students’ post-test early literacy and early numeracy scores and their teachers’ perception of the app’s usability. These results show that taking teachers’ acceptance into account is an interesting opportunity to better understand the potential effectiveness of educational apps in school settings. Implications for teachers’ training are also discussed.