From parent–teacher collaboration to young children's numeracy skills: An examination of the underlying mechanisms

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence shows that parent-teacher collaboration benefits parents and their children. Yet, there is limited understanding of whether and how parent-teacher collaboration contributes to children's early numeracy skills. AIMS: This study examined whether parent-teacher collaboration is linked to children's early numeracy skills via parents' stress from parent-child dysfunctional interaction, perceived importance of their role in early math learning, perceived behavioural control about helping children learn math and the frequency of home numeracy activities. SAMPLE: One hundred eighty-two kindergarteners in Hong Kong and their parents participated in the study. METHODS: The children were individually tested, whereas their parents completed a questionnaire. RESULTS: Structural equation modelling revealed that higher levels of parent-teacher collaboration were associated with better early numeracy skills in children via: (1) reduced parents' stress from parent-child dysfunctional interaction and then increased home numeracy activities; (2) increased parents' perceived behavioural control about helping children learn math and then increased home numeracy activities. The higher the level of parent-teacher collaboration, the more parents perceived themselves as playing an important role in early math learning. However, parents' perceived importance of their role was not a significant correlate of the frequency of home numeracy activities. CONCLUSIONS: This study sheds light on the importance of promoting a positive relationship between parents and teachers. It also demonstrates the necessity to promote parents' positive emotions towards their parent-child interactions and enhance parents' skills in supporting children's early math learning.