Playing Card Games with Parents Supports Children's Early Mathematical Skills

• In Event: 2-137 - A Broader Look at Parents' Early Informal Math Support

Integrative Statement

Parents support their children's early learning by engaging them in everyday, informal activities that provide new information and scaffold their skill development (Gauvain, 2001; Vygotsky, 1976). There is growing evidence that the type and quality of mathematical activities that families engage in at home relate to children's early mathematical knowledge (LeFevre et al., 2010; Levine et al., 2010; Niklas & Schneider, 2014; Ramani et al., 2015). However, most research to date has relied on self-report and observational measures, with fewer studies experimentally testing the effects of playful learning activities at home.

The present study examines whether playing card games with parents can benefit Head Start children's broad mathematical knowledge, including number, shape, and categorization skills. Previous research has shown that playing card games with an experimenter led to improvements in children's mathematical skills (Scalise, Daubert, & Ramani, 2017). Numerical cards can be used to support skills like counting, numeral identification, and magnitude comparison. These symbolic number knowledge skills are an area of difficulty for low-income preschoolers (Jordan et al., 2006), but are crucial for school-based mathematics learning like arithmetic. Cards with shapes and colors provide an opportunity for children to interact with geometric figures, allowing for practice labeling shapes and colors and categorizing based on multiple attributes. Knowledge of shapes and the ability to sort objects are components of early mathematical standards and relate to later geometric knowledge (Common Core State Standards, 2010; Rittle-Johnson, Fyfe, Hofer, & Farran, 2017). Thus, a stronger foundation with both symbolic number and geometric representations in preschool may support later mathematics achievement.

Head Start preschoolers (n=68; 50% female; Mage=60 months) were randomly assigned to play one of two mathematical card games at home with their parents. In the numerical magnitude comparison game, children counted symbols on cards, labeled the numerals, and made comparisons between pairs of cards to determine which quantity was greater. In the shape and color categorization game, children labeled and matched their cards to a center card by the shape or color. Families were asked to play twice a week for 15 minutes across six weeks. Children were administered five numerical knowledge measures and three geometric knowledge measures (Table 2.1).

Children's mathematical skills improved significantly from pretest to posttest (Table 2.2). Specifically, children who played the numerical card game improved their numeral identification skills (t(32)=1.71, p=.048 (1-tailed)), while children who played the shape card game improved their shape naming (t(34)=5.25, p<.001 (1-tailed)), shape finding (t(34)=5.02, p<.001 (1-tailed)), and card sorting skills (t(33)=2.23, p=.017 (1-tailed)). However, there was significant variability in the amount of time families spent playing the game (range: 0 – 491 minutes), as well as the type of support parents provided their children while playing the games. Audio recordings of parents and children playing the games were also collected and will be discussed in the presentation.

Overall, our results suggest that parents can directly promote children's broad mathematical learning with numerical and geometric card games, though improvements in children’s skills are likely mediated by the quality of parents’ support during gameplay.

Authors

• Nicole Scalise, University of Maryland, College Park
  Presenting Author

• Claire McCown, West Virginia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Geetha Ramani, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author