Associations between parents' number talk and management language with young children

Linking parents' play strategies with their preschoolers' STEM skills: The mediating roles of child STEM talk and self-regulated learning

Previous studies document associations between parents' use of guided-play strategies and children's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills. We extend existing research by exploring mediating mechanisms that may account for these links. Parents played with their preschool children (N = 75; 49% girls and 51% boys; 94% White, 3% Black, 1% biracial, 1% Asian, and 1% Native American; Mage = 4.82 years) in undertaking a building challenge. Videotaped play was coded for parents' guiding STEM talk (density of math, spatial, and scientific inquiry language) and management strategy (high vs. low directiveness). Mediators included children's STEM talk during play and self-regulated learning (assessed by executive function tests and examiner's ratings of children's task orientation). Structural equation models confirmed hypothesized mediated paths from parent STEM talk to child math (but not spatial) skills via child STEM talk and from parent STEM talk and directiveness to child math and spatial skills via child self-regulated learning. We discuss implications for future research and intervention design.

Associations between parents' autonomy supportive management language and children's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics talk during and after tinkering at home

We conducted a time series analysis of parents' autonomy supportive and directive language and parents' and children's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) talk during and after a problem-solving activity (i.e., tinkering). Parent and child dyads (N = 61 children; Mage = 8.10 years; 31 boys; 54% White) were observed at home via Zoom. After tinkering, a researcher elicited children's reflections, and approximately 2 weeks later dyads reminisced together about the experience. During tinkering, the more autonomy supportive STEM talk parents used in 1 min, the more children talked about STEM in the next minute. During reminiscing, parents' autonomy support was also associated with children's STEM talk. Results suggest the importance of considering how both the content and style of parents' talk can support children's STEM engagement.

Socioeconomic Variations in the Frequency of Parent Number Talk: A Meta-Analysis

Using data from 12 studies, we meta-analyze correlations between parent number talk during interactions with their young children (mean sample age ranging from 22 to 79 months) and two aspects of family socioeconomics, parent education, and family income. Potential variations in correlation sizes as a function of study characteristics were explored. Statistically significant positive correlations were found between the amount of number talk in parent-child interactions and both parent education and family income (i.e., r = 0.12 for education and 0.14 for income). Exploratory moderator analyses provided some preliminary evidence that child age, as well as the average level of and variability in socioeconomic status, may moderate effect sizes. The implications of these findings are discussed with special attention to interpreting the practical importance of the effect sizes in light of family strengths and debate surrounding "word gaps".

Facilitating young children's numeracy talk in play: The role of parent prompts

Previous research has demonstrated the contribution of parents' number language to children's own engagement with numbers and later mathematical achievement. Although there is evidence that both the quantity and complexity of parent number talk contribute to children's math learning, it is unclear whether different forms of parents' number talk-statements versus prompts-offer unique contributions to how children engage in math. We examined parent number talk among 50 dyads of parents and 2- to 4-year-olds during pretend play, coding parents' provisions of informative number statements and prompts inviting children to engage in number talk. The total amount (tokens) and diversity (types) of children's number words were analyzed separately. Parents' number utterances, particularly prompts about number, were infrequent. Both parents' number statements and their prompts were uniquely related to children's number word tokens. Only prompts were associated with children's number word types. Follow-up analyses indicated that prompts were associated with lengthier parent-child conversations about number than parent statements and that children used larger number words when responding to parent prompts than when they themselves initiated number talk. These findings highlight the importance of parents' prompts for enhancing the quality of parent-child math exchanges by providing opportunities for children to advance their current use of numerical language. Consequently, parents' use of number-related prompts may play an important role in children's early math engagement.