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Investigating the Potential of the Home Learning Environment for Early Mathematics Learning: First Results of an Intervention Study with Kindergarten Children

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Mathematics Education in the Early Years

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Abstract

The context of the study reported in this chapter is a combined family literacy and family numeracy project for preschoolers and their parents, which aims to foster early mathematical competencies and its relevant language for children in the year prior to school enrollment, i.e., Grade 1. Special attention is given to children from families with a low socioeconomic and educational background that in Germany frequently correlates with a migration background. In preparation for a large-scale intervention study, a pilot study has been conducted with 57 preschoolers and their families from 3 kindergartens. The study followed a pre-/post-test design with a follow-up test. First results suggest that the majority of the sample demonstrated benefits from the intervention, irrespective of migration background or nationality. However, at the end of Grade 1, these positive results only had a lasting effect on the performance of children from families without migration background.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For details about the ENTER project see http://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bamberg/frontdoor/index/index/docId/5697.

  2. 2.

    Information about the level of education, the German language skills (based on a self-assessment and assessment by the kindergarten teachers), and the duration of the parents’ living in Germany had been obtained by a parent questionnaire at the start of the project. Kiga 2 and Kiga 3 are located in a suburb with predominantly social housing, available only for families with a low income.

  3. 3.

    The EMBI provides two kinds of information for each child. Firstly, a (numerical) point score between 0 and 11 that shows how many of the 11 items of first subtest (mathematical precursor skills) have been solved correctly and secondly with respect to the second subtest (counting), a (ordinal) growth point that identifies his/her level of counting skills on a range between 0 and 6. These two measures are called “EMBI values.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mathematics, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

    Julia Streit-Lehmann & Andrea Peter-Koop

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  1. Julia Streit-Lehmann
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  2. Andrea Peter-Koop
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway

    Tamsin Meaney

  2. NCM, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Ola Helenius

  3. Luleå Technical University, Luleå, Sweden

    Maria L. Johansson

  4. Bergen University College, Bergen, Norway

    Troels Lange

  5. Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

    Anna Wernberg

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Streit-Lehmann, J., Peter-Koop, A. (2016). Investigating the Potential of the Home Learning Environment for Early Mathematics Learning: First Results of an Intervention Study with Kindergarten Children. In: Meaney, T., Helenius, O., Johansson, M., Lange, T., Wernberg, A. (eds) Mathematics Education in the Early Years. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23935-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23935-4_6

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23933-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23935-4

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