Many studies have shown that early math skills are beneficial to further school math performance, as well as the importance of parents's role in their children's numeracy development; however, the link between early math activities and math abilities remained unclear. A new study conducted by researchers at Leuven Katholieke University (KU Leuven), in Belgium, now confirms that mathematic activities undertaken by parents at home can effectively increase their children's early number processing and calculation skills.
"We found that the more parents engaged in activities such as identifying numerals, sorting objects by size, color, or shape, or learning simple sums, the higher the children performed on skills like counting," said Belde Mutaf Yıldız, the study's lead author. Activities such as measuring ingredients in the kitchen or talking about money at the store were related to a better estimation of the position of a digit on an empty number line, for example. Last but not least, the KU Leuven research also showed that playing card and board games with children is a great way to increases their mathematical capacities.
Picture: Arcanys Early Learning Foundation
