A text message-based home numeracy pilot intervention for parents of preschoolers

Children's exposure to early numeracy activities in the home is associated with mathematics development. Importantly, the home numeracy environment (HNE) has been shown to be malleable, with interventions successfully increasing the frequency of numeracy activities. The aim of the current study was to pilot an HNE intervention with preschool-aged children (M = 3.90 years; 59.5 % male; 70.7 % White). Parents (n = 42; 92.8 % mothers) were randomly assigned to the HNE intervention or an active comparison condition (focused on general development). Both groups of parents attended an informational meeting and received daily text messages for four weeks. Findings indicate that parents who participated in the intervention reported more frequent direct HNE activities and their children showed greater improvement on numeracy skills. There were no group differences on beliefs of importance, self-efficacy, or engagement in indirect HNE practices. The study provides initial evidence that a brief HNE intervention may be feasible for some families and may improve preschool children's numeracy skills.