Understanding the Effects of Sibling Dynamics on Parents’ Math Talk at Home

Mathematical knowledge today is one crucial key for social mobility and past research has suggested a strong correlation between children’s early math achievement and their math outcomes later in life. Focusing specifically on children’s math learning at home, much less is known about the impact older siblings have on younger children’s interactions with their parents. Collecting data from 50 parents of children between the ages 3 to 7 years old, I investigated whether parents of children with an older sibling incorporated more complex math talk compared to parents of children without an older sibling. I also aimed to explore whether the complexity of parents’ math talk was associated with children’s gender. Parents were asked to complete an online Everyday Math Talk Elicitation Task and a Math Context Elicitation Task which measured hypothetical conversations that parents would engage in with their children. Responses were coded into 7 different math domain categories. Results suggested no significant difference in math talk between parents of children with and those without an older sibling. In addition, no significant difference was discovered between parents' math talk for girls and boys. The study also discussed limitations and future directions that could constructively guide researchers in the field to narrow the gap in the literature between siblings and math talk