A Multi-Informant Approach Testing an Expanded Home Numeracy Mode

Abstract

The role of home numeracy activities in the development of numeracy skills is receiving growing interest, although some mixed results highlight the need to consider models that include different contextual variables. The present study was aimed at investigating, using a multi-method and multi-informant approach, how parents’ educational levels, parents’ numerical attitudes, home numeracy, and expectations toward their offspring’s numeracy attitudes concurrently predict children’s early numeracy abilities as measured with early numeracy tasks and through teachers’ evaluations. The sample includes 430 preschoolers, their parents, and 56 teachers. The children’s early numeracy competence was assessed using digit recognition and digit-quantity association tasks and via a proxy-report questionnaire administered to their teachers. The parents were then administered a questionnaire investigating their educational levels, home numeracy activities, math attitudes, and expectations toward their child’s numeracy ability. The results of the structural equation models revealed that both children’s performance in numeracy tasks and the teachers’ evaluation of their math skills were directly predicted by their parents’ educational levels. In contrast, the parents’ math attitudes were indirect predictors via the mediation of home numeracy. These results contribute to understanding the relationships between the investigated environmental variables and the children’s early math skills. Additionally, the implications for early family-based interventions are discussed.

Home Learning Environment and Screen Time Differentially Mediate the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Preschoolers’ Learning and Behavioural Profiles

“…Previous studies have found positive associations between home literacy activities and literacy development [31][32][33][34][35], although diverse effect sizes and patterns of moderators have been reported [36]. Similarly, there is evidence of a relationship between home numeracy and numerical development [24,[37][38][39][40][41][42]. The home literacy and the home numeracy environment are cohesive parts of a global HLE [43], which was also found to predict higher secondary school tracks recommended by teachers at the end of primary school [44].…”

“…These early numeracy and literacy skills are related to the further development of, respectively, complex mathematical abilities [18][19][20][21] and mature literacy skills (decoding and reading comprehension) [22,23], which are taught at school. Early literacy and numeracy skills can be either evaluated by using objective tasks or through teachers' reports, the latter result in reliable tools [24,25]. In particular, teachers' reports seem more strongly associated with children's skills when considering cognitive variables [26].…”

“…Furthermore, the questions were qualitatively validated by groups of teachers who provided feedback on the items' clarity. Previous studies found good correlations between teachers' ratings and objective measures, at least for numeracy [24]. For each item, the name of the competence was accompanied by a short definition and some examples (e.g., phonological awareness: "It refers to the child's ability to perform fusion/ segmentation tasks, such as splitting or joining the pieces of the word banana: ba-na-na).…”