Word by Word: Everyday Math Talk in the Homes of Hispanic Families

ABSTRACT

Children learn math concepts long before they enter school. Across all cultures, children are exposed to number and spatial language to varying degrees during everyday home routines. Yet most studies of math talk occur in the lab and target non-Hispanic, English-speaking families. We expanded inquiry to the spontaneous math language (i.e., number and spatial language) of Spanish-speaking mothers and their 1- to 2-year-olds (N = 50) during home activities. Mothers varied enormously in their use of math language, and mother math language related to toddler math language, whereas mother non-math language did not. Children’s math language both preceded and followed mother math talk, suggesting imitation and reinforcement as important processes in children’s math language learning. Children also produced math language outside the context of mother input. Findings advance an understanding of children’s early math language in natural settings and have implications for interventions aimed at promoting math skills in toddlers from diverse backgrounds.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the children and parents who participated in the research. This work was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (Award 1761053) and Robin Hood Foundation (Grant a1n310000030ObnAAE) to Catherine Tamis-LeMonda. We are indebted to Fernanda Robelo and Mariana Colmenares, whose assistance with home visits, transcription and coding made this research possible. We also thank Diane Ruble, Phil Costanzo, and members of the Play & Language Lab at NYU (https://wp.nyu.edu/catherinetamislemonda/) for feedback on earlier versions of the paper. We acknowledge funding from IES-PERT for supporting Daniel Suh’s doctoral work.

Disclosure statement

The authors whose names are listed below certify that they have NO affiliations or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Alexandra K. Mendelsohn

Catalina Suárez-Rivera

Daniel D. Suh

Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available on Databrary at https://nyu.databrary.org/volume/1403.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the NSF [1761053]; Robin Hood Foundation [a1n310000030ObnAAE].