1 of 34

Family Maths Adds Up

THE ROLE OF FAMILY LEARNING ON NUMERACY DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN 0-12 YEARS

2 of 34

Holly Rumble

Image:

Performing 'mathemagic' tricks with Francesca Iezzi.

National Museum of Scotland

Maths Week Scotland 2025

�

2

5/20/2026

3 of 34

Maths Week Scotland 2025

“Could talk about number, shape etc more with my toddler”

“It encouraged me to discuss numbers with my 3 year old.”

“It was great seeing our kids using maths naturally and in a fun way. We'll do more of this at home now too!”

�

3

5/20/2026

First, I will give you some context from Maths Week Scotland 2025. Maths Week Scotland was established in 2017 to improve public enthusiasm for maths. It aimed to reach people who had decided maths was ‘not for them’ and create opportunities to experience the joy, value, beauty and relevance of maths in everyday life.

Last year, we recorded 183 public events across the country, over half of which were aimed at families. Some of these were hosted by National Museums Scotland, some were funded directly by MWS, and the rest were independently organised by third parties.

Of these 183 events, 116 took place in libraries and museums, so there is a healthy appetite for family maths engagement in public spaces. Participant comments suggest that these experiences have a positive impact on the parent-child relationship. They do this by encouraging shared experience and joint attention, and by scaffolding discussion. This effect can be seen in these quotes:

“Could talk about number shape etc more with my toddler”

“It encouraged me to discuss numbers with my 3 year old.”

“It was great seeing our kids using maths naturally and in a fun way. We'll do more of this at home now too!”

However, the proportion of participants taking part as a family is only just over 10% of the total audience for Maths Week Scotland. Most participation still takes place within schools, which suggests there is more work to be done engaging families in mathematical learning.

4 of 34

Early interactions

Belsky, J., Vandell, D. L., Burchinal, M., Clarke-Stewart, K. A., McCartney, K., & Owen, M. T. (2007). Are There Long-Term Effects of Early Child Care? Child Development, 78(2), 681–701.

�

4

5/20/2026

5 of 34

“It gave the parents the insight on how maths is taught at such an early stage and it also gave them ideas on how to support numeracy development at home.”

Image:

Lennoxtown Early Years Centre home-link activity pack

�

5

5/20/2026

Home numeracy links

Last year we partnered with Edinburgh Mathematical Society and Glasgow Mathematical Journal Trust to offer Small Grants to support activity during Maths Week. Around 10% of recipients were from nurseries and schools applying for funding to develop home-numeracy interventions.

These home learning activities included numeracy bags and leaflets, stay and play sessions, and parent workshops. To quote one of the grant recipients:

“It gave the parents the insight on how maths is taught at such an early stage and it also gave them ideas on how to support numeracy development at home.” So: information and inspiration.

In the example pictured, Lennoxtown Early Years Centre received a Maths Week Scotland Large Grant, to create ‘Wild Maths’ home-link activity packs. These included simple ideas, like counting birds, measuring puddles, and collecting and sorting leaves. They added a book to each pack, linking to literacy and created simple activity ideas to incorporate numeracy. Staff also read these books with the children throughout the week. Finally, they delivered a celebration event at the end of Maths Week in which parents were invited to share in their child’s enjoyment of maths.

6 of 34

Number sense

Image:

Counting objects using Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, 1969

�

6

5/20/2026

7 of 34

Language and numeracy

Zauche, L. H., Thul, T. A., Mahoney, A. E. D., & Stapel-Wax, J. L. (2016). Influence of language nutrition on children’s language and cognitive development: An integrated review. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36, 318–333.

Melhuish, E. (2010). Impact of the home learning environment on child cognitive development: Secondary analysis of data from 'Growing Up in Scotland'. Scottish Government.

�

7

5/20/2026

Let’s pick up on the implications of the literacy element of those home link packs.

The development of children’s language is dependent on the positive quality of early communication. To quote this first study: ‘quantity and quality of talking, interacting, and reading with a child in the first three years of life are strongly associated with language and cognitive development as well as school readiness and academic performance’ (Zauche et al., 2016). So the caregiver must have an understanding of what could be learned in a particular situation, but also about how best to engage the individual child based on their interests and developmental stage.

By age three, the richness of the home learning environment has a significant effect on children’s cognitive development (see the second study, Melhuish, 2010). This richness is provided by reading stories with the child, having children’s books available in the home, and playing games about recognising letters, words, shapes or numbers. This is where family learning projects, such as Bookbug, have potential for improving maths and numeracy outcomes. Many books introduce early maths concepts and bring them to life, and revisiting a favourite book consolidates these concepts.

8 of 34

Parental confidence

The Scottish Government (2016). Making Maths Count: Transforming Scotland into a Maths Positive Nation. The Final Report of the Making Maths Count Group. APS Group Scotland.

Barnes, J., & Freude-Lagevardi, A. (2002). From pregnancy to early childhood: early interventions to enhance the mental health of children and families. Project Report. The Mental Health Foundation, London, UK.

�

8

5/20/2026

However, the home learning environment is affected by socioeconomic factors including parent’s own education and income, and so we come to the issue of parental confidence in their own maths ability.

Many adults are happy to claim that they’re no good with numbers, as we see from the Making Maths Count report (The Scottish Government, 2016), and so this presents a barrier to them engaging in maths activities with their child.

Generally, the most successful early parenting interventions are those focussed on enhancing interactions between parent and child (as discussed by Barnes & Freude-Lagevardi, 2003). Many of these interventions focus on supporting parents' mental wellbeing as a precursor to positive interactions.

Parents need to be comfortable exploring a topic with their child, rather than feeling that they need to demonstrate expertise to the child. For this, we need broad concepts that are simple to grasp, but which lay the foundations for later mathematical understanding.

9 of 34

Precursor maths concepts

Attribute

Comparison

Change

Pattern

https://earlymath.erikson.edu/why-early-math-everyday-math/precursor-concepts/

�

9

5/20/2026

The Erikson Institute for Early Childhood have identified four ‘precursor’ maths concepts which develop in stages during the first three years. These are Attribute, Comparison, Change, and Pattern.

Attributes can be likened to adjectives, but with a specific mathematical property allowing us to group things.

Comparison is the understanding of how attributes are the same or different between individual objects or sets of objects. This is a precursor to precision in problem solving.

Change includes changes in quantity or in quality, and might be the result of joining or separating, and requires understanding of the difference between the original and changed state.

Pattern is a recurring structure which relies on an understanding of sameness and allows the child to develop prediction skills.

Caregivers can support their child’s learning by describing the child’s actions using mathematical attributes, using open-ended questions to scaffold the child’s independent investigations of comparison or change, and engaging in dialogic reading, where the parent and child hold a conversation about a book through taking turns, pointing and questioning. This can be a useful strategy to support learning about pattern and prediction: ‘What do you see? What do you think might happen next?’

10 of 34

The role of libraries and museums

https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-lists/books-about-numbers

https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/learning-resources/webinar-linking-maths-and-picture-books-in-early-years-settings-with-lynda-keith

Image:

Morningside Library adapted MWS poster to make a puzzle.

�

10

5/20/2026

11 of 34

Spatial reasoning

https://earlymaths.org/spatial-reasoning-toolkit/

https://earlymaths.org/spatial-books/

Polinsky, N., Perez, J., Grehl, M. & McCrink, K. (2017). Encouraging Spatial Talk: Using Children's Museums to Bolster Spatial Reasoning. Mind, Brain, and Education, 11, 144-152.

11

5/20/2026

Aside from numbers, picture books are also useful in developing spatial reasoning. The Early Childhood Maths Group have produced a Spatial reasoning toolkit – ECMG which discusses the role of lift-the-flap books, and those with routes and journeys. For 2-year-olds they recommend emphasising position, directional language, and size and shape properties. For 3-year-olds, introducing terms such as under, over, up, down, and upside down. For 4-5-year-olds, books can start to explore symmetry, comparing shape and scale, and directions in the context of journeys.

The Group also provide a list of books recommended for developing spatial concepts: Spatial Books – ECMG They point out that parents frequently use spatial talk with young children in their everyday lives, but may need support to recognise this and actively discuss the terms.

Crucially, when children are encouraged to use spatial language themselves, their performance in spatial reasoning puzzles is improved. Parents increase their own use of spatial language when supported to do so through prompts (Polinsky et al., 2017). These can simply be key words affixed to the covers of picture books. Take a look at this final study for more information.

12 of 34

19 – 27 September 2026

https://mathsweek.scot

�

12

5/20/2026

Get in touch with me for early years research chat:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/holly-rumble-48257615a

Next...

So, to sum up, by supporting parents to recognise and use language that supports early maths concepts, and to share in child-led exploration, young children stand to gain a genuine understanding and enjoyment of maths. Shared picture-book reading is an accessible method of introducing fundamental mathematical concepts, if parents are supported to do so with prompts and through workshops. And in general, fostering quality parent-child interactions in the early years also leads to higher academic attainment later in the child’s life.

Thank you for listening.

The next Maths Week Scotland programme will be delivered by Education Scotland in September.

I’ll pass over to Laura Kennedy then Alice Ruvera to present their experiences of family maths and numeracy projects, and then we’ll come together for a group discussion.

13 of 34

Play Along Maths

A Family Learning Project for Early, First and Second Level.

14 of 34

14

1994: It was developed by a Senior Teacher and Home Link Worker in Airdrie.

2019: GCC obtained the resources for Play Along Maths from its founders to ensure its longevity and development.

2022: A working party of Family Learning Practitioners, Early Years and Primary Staff and Leaders of Learning refreshed the resources.

2023-Present: 55 Glasgow Early Years, and 65 Primaries received funding to buy the full kit, and 398 Glasgow staff have been trained as facilitators.

Play Along Maths

History and Glasgow Context

15 of 34

How does it work?

Language – Based Maths Project

Good Quality Everyday Games

Simple Guide for Parents in the form of a ‘Chat Along Card’

Children taking responsibility for their own learning

Parents playing for 10 – 15 minutes at home for 5 days in the week over 6-week programme

Weekly Family ‘Coffee Catch Up’ Meeting

16 of 34

16

Presentation for staff
Task List
Resource Lists
Session Plans
Posters
Parent Invitation
Certificates
Parent and staff Evaluation Materials

Play Along Maths Toolkit

17 of 34

17

Outcomes of Play Along Maths

Snapshot in 2024 from 36 schools

97% parents responded Yes to:

✓ Taking part has been good for my relationship with my child

✓ I feel more confident in helping my children’s learning around maths

✓ I have spent more time having fun and learning together with my child

✓ PAM has helped me and my child understand and use maths words

18 of 34

18

’It sparked his interest. He has begun spotting numbers in the environment and will ask what the numbers are’ Grandpa, Cardonald Primary

‘Because of Play Along Maths, we are all spending quality time with our kids without gadgets’ Parent, Broomloan Nursery

‘Our family have learned to share, play different games matching colours, sizes and helps us count too, its so good’ Parent, Govanhill Family Café

‘I liked the language card- I didn’t know they were maths words. Maths doesn’t seem so scary now! Parent, St Roch’s Primary

‘I had a negative experience of maths at school and am enjoying the chance to watch my child enjoy maths rather than be scared of working with numbers’ Parent, Oakgrove Primary

‘This was the highlight of my year. Using PAM as a vehicle of connectivity between the school and our parents is invaluable’ PT, St Vincent’s Primary.

19 of 34

Thank You!

laura.kennedy@glasgowlife.org.uk

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/gc/glasgowfamilylearningteam/play-along-maths/

20 of 34

Family-focused mathematics play club

Curiosity Creativity Connection Joy

21 of 34

“Children learn not by starting anew, but by extending what they already know:

Thats an important life skill.”

22 of 34

Humble Beginnings: The Story of Number Berries

Help my kids

“I See Maths”

2020

23 of 34

Open invitation: Create the space

Oxgangs library

Morningside library

Pentland community center

2021 - 2026

24 of 34

Delivering Maths Through:

Maths Week Scotland

Family Maths Festival

Family Maths Competition

Maths Play Sessions

Summer Maths Activities

Birthday Parties

Parent Budgeting and Maths Support

25 of 34

Valued relationships

Anotida Madzvamuse Professor of Mathematics and Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Theoretical and Computational Biology at the University of British Columbia (UBC)

26 of 34

What We Do & How It Works

We learn by doing

Through games, challenges, building activities, and storytelling.

We keep it playful and low-pressure

Games and “have-a-go” tasks build confidence and encourage persistence.

We normalise maths in the real world

Children explore numbers, measure, patterns, and data through hands-on activities.

We make maths talk visible

We support parents and carers with simple prompts to build vocabulary and reasoning.

We create a whole-family learning space

From younger siblings to grandparents, everyone can join in, find something to do, and talk about the maths together.

27 of 34

Maths became part of everyday family life, not just school

Children experienced success and confidence without fear or competition

Families shared meaningful time together through simple, playful maths

Parents had space to engage, support, and reconnect with learning

Local outdoor setting reduced travel and time pressure on families

Free family learning removed cost barriers for low-income households

Impact Story: Union Canal (Maths Week Scotland)

28 of 34

Use what you have: step back, observe the maths, and think critically

The parents' job is not to be the expert,

it is to be a maths noticing partner.

What we have learned

29 of 34

Thank you very much

30 of 34

Group Discussion

31 of 34

When you were a child,

how did your family members

support your own maths learning

(or not!)?

32 of 34

What do you see as the main barriers for parents supporting their child in engaging with maths?

33 of 34

What tips do you have

for normalising maths in real-world contexts for both children and adults?

34 of 34

Can you give any examples of how play has assisted learning

in your projects?