cooking and learning math together · • a single page of general learning tips at the front of...
TRANSCRIPT
Cooking and Learning Math Together: The effects of learning tips on parent number talk
with their preschoolers
Eric Dearing
Boston College
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Acknowledgements
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• This work was supported by a grant from the Heising-Simons
Foundation to the Development and Research in Early Math
Education (DREME) Network. https://dreme.stanford.edu/
Acknowledgements
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• This work was supported by a grant from the Heising-Simons
Foundation to the Development and Research in Early Math
Education (DREME) Network. https://dreme.stanford.edu/
• At the Boston site of DREME, this work is part of an ongoing
partnership with three preK-5 schools, and was completed in
collaboration with an amazing team of graduate and
undergraduate students:
• Meghan Coughlan
• Lindsay Clements
• Hope Dragelin
• Rebekah LeMahieu
• Francesca Longo
• Ariadne Nelson
Parent number talk
§ Amount of parent number talk is predictive of both current and later math skills, prior to and after school entry (Casey et al., 2018; Elliott et al., 2017; Gunderson & Levine, 2011; Levine et al., 2010; Ramani et al., 2015; Susperreguy & Davis-Kean, 2016 )
§ Some types of parent number talk during early childhood may be particularly strongly related to later math skills:
• Counting out objects, labeling set sizes, and comparing set sizes (e.g., Casey et al., 2018; Gunderson & Levine, 2011)
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Naturalistic observations of parent-child interactions in the home (e.g., during play, meal times, book reading) have documented large variations in the amount of number talk parents engage in with their children (e.g., Levine et al., 2010; Susperreguy & Davis-Kean, 2016)
Parent number talk
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Can we increase the quantity and quality of number talk at home to help improve socially disadvantaged children’s early math skills?
Parent number talk
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Can we increase the quantity and quality of number talk at home to help improve socially disadvantaged children’s early math skills?• Intervening in the context of work-family demands, economic
stress, and limited access to learning materials
Parent number talk
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Can we increase the quantity and quality of number talk at home to help improve socially disadvantaged children’s early math skills?• Intervening in the context of work-family demands, economic
stress, and limited access to learning materials• The potential of weaving number talk into daily activities (Hirsh-Pasek &
Golinkoff, 2015)
• Are there daily activities that are particularly conducive to number talk, during which there are either greater opportunities for number talk and/or greater “requirements” for number talk?
• Cooking and meal time (Leyva et al., 2018; Susperreguy & Davis-Kean, 2016; Vandermass-Peeler et al., 2002; 2003; 2012)
Parent number talk
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Parent number talk during cooking and meal time:• Susperreguy & Davis-Kean (2016):
• Naturalistic audio recordings of number talk during two days of breakfast and dinner times for 40 3-5 yr old children (middle income families, 65% European American)
• Number talk frequency predicted math skills (TEMA) 1 year later
Parent number talk
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Parent number talk during cooking and meal time:• Susperreguy & Davis-Kean:
• Naturalistic audio recordings of number talk during two days of breakfast and dinner times for 40 3-5 yr old children (middle income families, 65% European American)
• Number talk frequency predicted math skills (TEMA) 1 year later
• Leyva et al. (2018):
• Comparison of low-income 4-6 yr old Latino children (68) whose parents attended (versus not) a four-week program teaching how to integrate number learning (e.g., counting, writing/reading numerals, comparing quantities) into grocery shopping and cooking.
• No main effect on children’s number skills (counting, cardinality, numeral id), but post-test effects for less skilled children (at pretest)
Parent number talk
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Parent number talk during cooking and meal time:• Vandermass-Peeler et al (2012):
• Experimental comparison of middle-class European-American parents and 4-yr old children (25) randomly assigned to receive (or not) numeracy activities while cooking “crispy rice bars.”
• Scripted activities were integrated into the recipe steps focused on one-to-one correspondence, labeling set sizes, simple addition, and shape recognition
• Increases in parent number talk – particularly for asking numeracy questions -- and somewhat higher (but not sig) immediate post-test differences for numeracy skills (TEMA)
Our study
Can cookbooks with number talk tips increase the quantity and quality of parent number talk when parents and children are cooking together? If…
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Our study
Can cookbooks with number talk tips increase the quantity and
quality of parent number talk when parents and children are
cooking together? If…
• Tips are presented as suggested activities rather than scripted
additions to recipe steps
• Explanations of children’s developing number skills
• Predominantly low- to middle-income families of color
• Minimize researcher intrusion (e.g., encouraging family recipe choices
and using audio recordings rather than videos)
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Our study
Can cookbooks with number talk tips increase the quantity and quality of parent number talk when parents and children are cooking together? If…
• Tips are presented as suggested activities rather than scripted additions to recipe steps
• We provide short explanations of “Why talk about numbers?”
• Predominantly low- to middle-income families of color
• Minimize researcher intrusion (e.g., encouraging family recipe choices and using audio recordings rather than videos)
• Following families across multiple (6) cooking sessions
• Two- and six-month follow-up on child number skills
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Sample
Families of preschool-age children (3-5 yrs) were recruited from three preK-5th urban Catholic elementary schools in socioeconomically and racially diverse communities:
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Sample
Families of preschool-age children (3-5 yrs) were recruited from three preK-5th urban Catholic elementary schools in socioeconomically and racially diverse communities:• 36 families (39 children) consented to participate and were
randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions, stratified by: • school• child age • child gender• sibling status
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Sample
Families of preschool-age children (3-5 yrs) were recruited from three preK-5th urban Catholic elementary schools in socioeconomically and racially diverse communities:• 36 families (39 children) consented to participate and were
randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions, stratified by: • school• child age • child gender• sibling status
• 31 families (33 children) have participated, thus far.• 17 children in treatment condition
• 16 children in control condition
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Sample
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Control TreatmentLowincome
37.5%
53.9%
Black/AfricanAm
25.0%
43.8%
Latinx
43.8%
25.0%
Girl
56.3%
64.7%
MeanAge(months)
49.5
48.5
SiblingPairs
1
1
Pre-test scores on the REMA Counting Learning Trajectory did not significantly differ (i.e., 5.2% of a SD difference favoring the control group, p = .91)
The cookbooks
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Spiral-bound collection of 15 recipes that were selected/modified from a variety of existing family-friendly recipe sources, plus:• Participation instructions• Allergy safety information• Kitchen safety information• “Choosing your own recipes”
The cookbooks
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Control condition:
• a single page of general learning tips at the front of the cookbook
“Cooking together can be a fun way to talk with your child about a lot of things they are learning such as letters, words, foods, colors, shapes, numbers, patterns, measurement, and even more.”
The cookbooks
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Control condition:
• a single page of general learning tips at the front of the cookbook
“Cooking together can be a fun way to talk with your child about a lot of things they are learning such as letters, words, foods, colors, shapes, numbers, patterns, measurement, and even more.”
• Ask lots of questions. • Help your child connect words, numbers, foods, or pictures to everyday life
and things that are important to your family.• Encourage your child to make predictions.• Don’t always worry about your child getting the right answer, but encourage
your child to explain.
• Follow your child’s interests.• Try experimenting.
The cookbooks
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Treatment condition:
• general learning tips at the front of the cookbook more heavily emphasize number learning
“…you can talk about letters, words, foods, colors, shapes, and patterns, and it is a great way to talk about numbers.”
The cookbooks
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Treatment condition:
• general learning tips at the front of the cookbook more heavily emphasize number learning
“…you can talk about letters, words, foods, colors, shapes, and patterns, and it is a great way to talk about numbers.”
• Learning to count objects one-by-one.
• Learning to count sets of objects.
• Learning to compare the sizes of sets of objects and estimate.
• Simple addition and subtraction.
The cookbooks
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Treatment condition: number talk/learning tips specific to each recipe• One-to-one correspondence “Have your child count the strawberries
one-by-one when adding them to the measuring cup.”
• Labeling, estimating, and comparing set sizes “After counting blueberries, ask your child ‘so, how many are there?’ and then have your child re-count to check.”
• Addition and subtraction “If we take away one chocolate chip and eat it, how many chocolate chips are left?”
Study design
• Parent survey (demographics, attitudes and beliefs)
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Study design
• Parent survey (demographics, attitudes and beliefs)
• Individualized pre-testing (at schools)
• Counting and basic arithmetic skills (REMA)
• Vocabulary (Woodcock-Johnson, Picture-Vocab)
• Executive functioning (Minnesota Executive Functioning Scale)
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Study design
• Parent survey (demographics, attitudes and beliefs)
• Individualized pre-testing (at schools)
• Counting and basic arithmetic skills (REMA)
• Vocabulary (Woodcock-Johnson, Picture-Vocab)
• Executive functioning (Minnesota Executive Functioning Scale)
• 6 audio-recorded cooking sessions across three months
• USB flash-drive recorder on a lanyard
• $30 gift card after upload/return 2nd, 4th, and 6th recordings
• Post-testing at two months
• Post-testing at six months
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Preliminary Coding
Parent Number Talk (“live coding” of first cooking session):
• Frequency of number utterances
• Frequency of encouraging child work with numerical concepts:• Prompts (e.g., “Let’s count the berries.”),
• Questions (“Who has more chocolate chips, me or you?”),
• Explanations (why there are 4 halves of cookie when you cut 2 cookies in half)
• Yes/No = did parents use prompts, questions, or explanations to engage children on topics: (a) one-to-one correspondence; (b) labeling, estimating, and/or comparing set sizes; or (b) addition/subtraction.
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Preliminary Results
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Preliminary Results
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Adjusted for child pre-test counting skills, p = .04
Preliminary Results
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Preliminary Results
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Discussion
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• Preliminary evidence indicates that tips can increase parent number talk, perhaps particularly their use of prompts, questions, and explanations of numerical concepts.• In terms of quality of number talk, discussions of the target concepts
(one-to-one correspondence, set sizes, and addition/subtraction) was more likely to occur for families given guidance in these areas
• The tips do not seem to substantively increase time spent cooking and interacting (at least compared to a control condition when parents were encouraged, more generally, to engage with their children).
• Limitations include:• Small sample• “live coding”
• Sustained effects on parent talk?• Child effects?