Preschoolers can learn complex math topics. Here’s how to help them.

Most parents know how important it is to expose young children to letters, words and books. But math? Not so much. A new study has found many parents underestimate their child’s math ability, missing out on early opportunities to build skills. The study surveyed 63 parents of preschoolers about their support of numeracy, spatial and pattern skills at home. It was conducted by Erica Zippert, a postdoctoral scholar at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development and her co-author, Bethany Rittle-Johnson. They found many parents only focus on simple math concepts like counting and naming numerals, even though preschool-age children are capable of learning more complex topics like comparing and combining numbers, creating patterns and exploring dimensions. Activities that nurture these more complicated skills, like doing mazes and playing games that involve patterns, are far more rare at home, the parents reported.
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