Özet:

Emerging evidence indicate that through sustained conversations with adults in everyday activities, children learn mathematical concepts in real life contexts. The present study was designed to investigate the kinds of math terms and concepts parents and children use and refer to when they engage in math conversations, specifically during dinnertime. The study sample consisted of 25 Turkish parents with children whose ages were between 36 months and 60 months. Participants were asked to audiotape their dinner conversations. All audio recordings were transcribed verbatim, and jointly coded by the researchers through content analysis. The coding schemes were developed specifically for the research context, based on the themes arisen in the conversations and the math categories (shape, size, quantity, number/counting, time) that are outlined by the Ministry of Education in Turkey. The results of the study indicated that majority of the participants’ conversations focused on children’s daily activities and importance of finishing meals. It was also revealed that mathematics concepts were only used or mentioned: (1) when parents asked clarifying questions about their child’s day or the activities they have done at school and (2) during child-initiated conversations. Math language used by the children and parents focused on concepts such as numbers (e.g., counting) and measurement (e.g., time, comparison).

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