The Role of Home Numeracy in the Development of Language and Numerical Skills in Toddlers
Ambra Romagnoli, Antonio Puligheddu, Alice Benuzzi, Anna Dalla Montà, Annamaria Porru, Daniela Lucangeli
Numerical intelligence consists in an individual’s ability to understand and reason about the environment through the cognitive system of numbers. Numerical and mathematical learning requires a stimulating family environment — a home numeracy environment — in order to best express its potential. In this study we investigated whether it is possible to verify the presence of domestic numerical activities in toddlers, and the relationship between the home numeracy environment, domain-general abilities (language) and domain-specific abilities (counting and enumeration) in preschool children. The sample, made up of 115 children aged between 20 and 46 months (M = 32,74; ds = 6,15), completed an interactive task to evaluate numerical skills. Regarding the data relating to home numeracy (HN) and language development, the parents (Mother = 105; Father = 6; Unknown = 4) completed an online questionnaire, adapted for this study. Our analysis confirmed that our questionnaire shows good validity in measuring the investigated areas (α > 0,8). It also emerged that the practice of numerical activities in the home environment is significantly correlated with linguistic skills (non-verbal communication and simple sentence production) and enumeration skills, suggesting that these activities can play a supporting role in the development of the child’s abilities, both in the domain-general and domain-specific areas.
Keywords
Numerical intelligence, Childhood, Home numeracy, Language, Counting.
