“Quarters Are What You Put into the Bubble Gum Machine”: Numeracy Interactions during Parent-Child Play

dc.creator	Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler
dc.creator	Jackie Nelson
dc.creator	Charity Bumpass
dc.date	2007-01-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:16:44Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:16:44Z
dc.identifier	1524-5039
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/c59c3c593f0942ccb37eb2d2f7a80b50
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/18610
dc.description	Literacy has been studied extensively in the context of children's play, but few studies exist of numeracy development through play. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency and type of numeracy exchanges that occurred spontaneously during parent-child play. Twenty-six 4-year-olds and their mothers played with a variety of toys, including a cash register and play money, for 15 minutes. Three types of numeracy interactions were examined, including cultural, procedural, and mathematical exchanges. Results indicated that approximately one-half of the numeracy interactions related to mathematical concepts, one-third to cultural exchanges, and one-sixth to procedural information. The majority of parents provided conceptual information through implicit teaching rather than direct, didactic teaching of number skills during play. Parents initiated significantly more numeracy interactions than children, but the 4-year-olds initiated about one-fifth of the exchanges. The present study has implications for preschool and kindergarten programs, parent education, and home-school partnerships. Connections between the home and literacy development are often studied, but numeracy connections and home environments have been ignored. Teachers can capitalize on the opportunity to reinforce numeracy concepts being taught more formally at school by including informal, home-based play activities as well as structured number activities with parental involvement. Parents and children in this study demonstrated that numeracy-related interactions occur naturally in discourse during play, and that play is an important social context for guidance of numeracy development.
dc.language	English
dc.language	Chinese
dc.language	Spanish
dc.publisher	ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, University of Illinois
dc.relation	http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v9n1/vandermaas.html
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1524-5039
dc.source	Early Childhood Research & Practice, Vol 9, Iss 1 (2007)
dc.subject	Numeracy
dc.subject	Young Children
dc.subject	Play
dc.subject	Parent Role
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	“Quarters Are What You Put into the Bubble Gum Machine”: Numeracy Interactions during Parent-Child Play
dc.type	article