Parent Beliefs About Early Mathematics Skills and the Role of Board Games in Promoting Mathematical Understanding

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Roundtable: Mathematics Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood

Abstract

This multiple case study employs ethnographic observations and parent interviews to describe the informal mathematics practices of three families with Kindergarten children. Part of a broader study examining home and school mathematics practices, this paper focuses on two themes: parents’ beliefs about mathematics prior to Kindergarten, and the role of board games in children’s development of mathematical understanding. We examine how parents’ beliefs about early mathematics influence, but do not determine, children’s exposure to and experience with mathematics content. We also describe the mathematical talk and practices that occurred while parent-child dyads played three popular board games. We conclude with a discussion about the importance of ethnographic work in this area and the broader implications of such work.

Author

• Pamela R. Gourley-Delaney, University of California - Davis