By Holly Kreider, Director of Family Math at NAFSCE, and Jeffrey Snyder, Research and Policy Associate at NAFSCE
We launched the Family Math Dissertation Fellows Program with the goal of strengthening the bridge between rigorous research and everyday practice with families. The inaugural cohort took that charge seriously. Each Fellow produced a research-to-practice brief grounded in their dissertation, examining how families across cultures, languages, and contexts engage with mathematics, and what educators, schools, and systems can do to support that engagement more equitably and effectively. Each brief is a gem, shining a light on an essential facet of Family Math. The individual briefs can be found here. Taken together, they illuminate a compelling vision of what Family Math is and can become.
Specifically, the Fellows’ research suggests that math learning is strongest when it is relational, culturally grounded, embedded in daily routines, and shaped by how adults and children interact. Rather than viewing families as needing to “add” more math, these studies show how families are already doing math, often in ways that schools and programs overlook. Below we share some common Family Math themes and insights for educators, designers, and family-facing organizations seeking to build on families’ strengths.
Math is Already Happening in Everyday Family Life
Across studies, families engaged in rich mathematical thinking through routine activities, without labeling them as “math.” Several Fellows documented how ordinary moments such as grocery shopping, cooking, budgeting, and outdoor play naturally elicited counting, measuring, comparing, and spatial reasoning.
For example, Linxi Lu found that informal math activities like counting objects while playing with toys or discussing prices while shopping built preschoolers’ math skills more than formal math activities. Similarly, Julie Kim discovered that families often drew from their family strengths, especially their family routines, when engaging in math with their children at home. This was facilitated by kits that included playful activities and journaling.
These findings reinforce that informal math contexts, especially those rooted in daily lives, often generate deeper engagement than worksheets or drills. When families recognize that math lives in routines they already value, confidence grows for both adults and children.
A key takeaway for family-facing practitioners is to help families notice math in everyday moments rather than asking them to add new tasks.
Culture and Language are Assets for Math Learning
Several Fellows centered families’ cultural practices as foundational, rather than supplemental, to math learning.
For her research, Vanessa Bermudez held design sessions with Latine families to co-create math activities rooted in cultural traditions. Families adapted La Lotería to emphasize counting and shapes, and created La Tiendita de la Esquina, a pretend corner store where children used play money, measured items, and practiced numerical reasoning. Because these activities reflected families’ lived experiences, engagement was high and sustained. Fany Salazar centered Mexican‑American mothers’ voices in her study, showing that mothers use day-to-day activities to help their children learn math, that mothers and children taught each other math, and that confianza (trust) between mothers and professionals (in her case, researchers) helped bring this to light.
A key takeaway from Fellows’ research is that effective Family Math initiatives start by asking families about their traditions, languages, and routines. In other words, designing programs and activities should happen with families, not just for families.
How Adults Talk about Math Matters
Several Fellows found that the quality and purpose of math talk mattered more than the sheer number of math words used.
LaTreese Hall, for example, examined parent–child interactions during Lego play time and found that supportive, autonomy‑affirming talk, such as asking children to explain their thinking, strengthened number and spatial reasoning, while correcting mistakes did not lead children to do more spatial or number talk. Tiffany (Qianru) Yang’s research reinforces this finding. Comparing families in China and the United States, she found that for Chinese families more diversity in the math topics discussed predicted children’s math skills, while quantity of math talk did not.
One key takeaway for practitioners is to encourage parents and caregivers to focus on curiosity, explanation, and encouragement, rather than just correctness.
Families’ Beliefs Shape Children’s Math Experiences
Families’ beliefs about math, including who math is for, what math looks like, and how math should be learned, influenced families’ math engagement with their children.
Shirley Duong conceptualized the home math environment is multi‑dimensional, made up of conversations, beliefs and activities. She found wide variation in families’ home environments and complexity in what that meant for children’s math learning. For example, parents’ high math anxiety tended to correlate with lower math skills among parents, lower levels of engagement in math activities with their children, and children’s lowered math skills, but not always. Meanwhile, believing in the importance of math predicted higher levels of math engagement with one’s children.
A key takeaway is that Family Math programs and practitioners should affirm families as knowledgeable partners and avoid deficit-based messaging.
Design Matters, especially for Family Access and Confidence
Several Fellows examined how design choices influence family participation, particularly for families navigating time constraints, language differences, or math anxiety. Across projects, families engaged most when activities were simple, flexible, and adaptable to their routines.
For example, Gillian Grose explored family engagement with digital math resources, finding that parents liked receiving additional tips and information about math games, and that they preferred these through short videos. Moreover, children in families who received more tips on how to use the learning resources generally fared better on learning outcomes. Across the Fellows’ various studies, families responded best to activities that were adaptable, low‑pressure, and integrated into existing routines.
A key takeaway for Family Math program designers is to create parent-facing resources that are short, clear, and easy to adapt, and that model interaction rather than providing only instruction.
Summing Up
Taken as a whole, the Family Math Research Fellows’ work expands how we think about Family Math. Their studies show that math learning thrives in relationships, that culture and language strengthen, rather than distract from, math understanding, that families already possess powerful math knowledge, that supportive talk builds confidence and reasoning, and that thoughtful design increases access and equity.
For educators, researchers, and organizations committed to family engagement, these findings point toward a shared responsibility to recognize, elevate, and build on the math that families are already doing. When we do, math learning becomes the joyful relevant experience that all children and families deserve.
