By integrating rudimentary math skills into play, mothers and other caregivers can help prepare children for math instruction during kindergarten and elementary school. Researchers from Boston College have published a study showing that children whose mothers added basic math and counting questions to play time out-performed other students on pre-school and first grade math assessments.
How Moms Can Raise Math Whizzes #dyscalculia
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Key math concepts are essential for learning mathematics.
The researchers identified three math concepts that were the keys to improving later math abilities: 1) naming numbers; 2) counting by numbers; and 3) using counting words to label groups of objects. This research builds on prior studies that showed that math assessment performance in early elementary school grade-levels is correlated with higher incomes as adults.
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And it appears the benefits stretch well beyond elementary school: Earlier research revealed that kids with high math skills when they start kindergarten not only perform better in school but go on to earn higher incomes.
"Key Takeaways:
1
Inserting educational questions into a child’s playtime is a good way to help them learn.
2
Toddlers whose parents asked them math questions during play often did better during their first two years of school.
3
In fact, children who perform better in math in their early years of school often make higher incomes once they graduate from school.
