Early Math Experiences in the Latine Homes: Relations between Math Definitions, Uses, and Language

• In Event: Developing Assessments for All Early Learners: Towards a More Equitable Understanding of Young Children’s Development

Abstract

Introduction: Children’s early math skills emerge as they participate in everyday family conversations, supporting the development of math vocabulary and concepts. Primary caregivers’ ideas and attitudes about math shape their verbal and nonverbal scaffolding during these formative interactions. Most of the existing work in the US, however, is based on the experiences of English-speaking, monolingual, culturally dominant groups. Work on the home math experiences of families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds has relied on surveys or observational contexts that might not necessarily be aligned with families’ everyday experiences, knowledge, and culture-specific practices. Thus, little is known about how families from CLD backgrounds, such as US Latine families, think, use and talk about math in their everyday interactions with their young children. The current study addressed this gap by examining the relation between Latine caregivers' definitions, reported uses of math, and the math talk during conversations with their preschool aged children.

Method: Participants were 92 low-income Latine caregivers and their Head Start children (Mage = 47 months, SD = 8.00; 53% girls). Caregivers were asked to engage with their child in two tasks and then interviewed (with open-ended questions) about their definitions of math and the ways in which they used math at home. The first task was a culturally informed household teaching activity; dyads were provided with a picnic basket containing supplies (e.g., tablecloth, plates, cups, pretend food) and caregivers were asked to teach their children how to set the table. The second task was a child-centered learning activity; dyads were asked to share a wordless picture book with their child. No other instructions were given to prevent priming for math. Interactions were videotaped and transcribed using ELAN and a standardized transcription system. All utterances were coded to identify non-math and math content. Interview responses were analyzed qualitatively using a variable-concept-indicator model (LaRossa, 2005), and coded for the number of unique math concepts and math uses caregivers mentioned.

Results & Discussion: Preliminary analyses explored the relations between the number of reported math concepts, uses, and frequency of math talk, controlling for total amount of caregiver talk and key demographic variables (i.e., caregiver work status, years of education, exposure to US culture, child age, child gender, and language of interaction). Results show that the number of math concepts and everyday uses reported were related to caregivers' math talk in the two contexts, but in unique ways. In the book sharing context, the number of math concepts caregivers mentioned was positively related to overall caregiver math talk (b = 3.84, p = 0.028). By comparison, in the household task, only the number of reported math uses was related to caregiver math talk but negatively so (b = -3.66, p = 0.053), pointing to differential relations between understanding, using and talking about math across contexts for Latine families. Results are discussed in relation to the need to diversify methods into tap family math for CLD populations and align measures to the knowledge and lived experiences of families.

Authors

• Nydia Prishker, St. Thomas Aquinas College
  Presenting Author

• Verónica Mesalles, New York University

• Gigliana Melzi, New York University