ORLANDO, Florida (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Around six in ten children and teenagers worldwide do not meet the minimum proficiency in reading and math. How do our children stack up? How can busy parents support their children’s math learning?

A new study shows that having a parent’s support is vital when it comes to math achievement. Investigators looked at mothers’ support for their child’s math learning after 36 months and the child’s counting and calculating skills after four and a half and six to seven years. They found that more maternal support led to better math skills and better readiness for school. However, scientists are finding that supporting your children at home is more of a challenge for low-income families who may not be able to buy resources or spend so much time improving their skills.

So what can you do to give your preschooler an edge? Experts say parents of all incomes should keep their children busy whenever possible. One technique is to mark fixed sizes. For example, you can say, “Look, one, two, you have two pennies.”

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Also, choose toys that encourage higher numeracy skills, such as Legos, blocks, and puzzles, or count ingredients with your child while cooking or at the grocery store.

Other studies have found that students in the US are below eight other countries in reading but below 30 other countries in math.

Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Executive Producer; Milvionne Chery, field producer; and Roque Correa, editor.

Produced by Child Trends News Service in association with Ivanhoe Broadcast News and funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation

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