Research focusing on parent-guided use of spontaneous focus on number (the frequency at which children focus their attention on the number of objects in a set) has shown that enhancing a child’s SFON may lead to increased math performance later in life.

In the study, Children’s Spontaneous Focus on Number Before and After Guided Parent-Child Interactions in a Children’s Museum, researchers examined the extend to which parents can foster the development of SFON in children while interacting with a play grocery-store exhibit in a children’s museum. Parents were given one of two prompts to guide their child’s play: a numerical prompt (budgeting) and a nonnumerical prompt (healthy eating), and were directed to play with their children for five minutes. Children were given SFON assessments before and after the parent-guided play to assess any changes in SFON. In these pre- and posttests researchers asked children to replicate a series of actions, and evaluated whether children accurately replicated the number of actions that were completed.

Overall, it was found that children whose parents were assigned to the numerical prompt scored higher on SFON in their posttest. Parents’ use of number talk is relatively simple and can aid children in focusing more on numbers and mathematical concepts in their play in a relatively short amount of time.

Kylie Robinshaw

Research Assistant, UConn KIDS

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