This research study begins to explore how the use of math games focused on foundation skills can potentially support parents and families in mathematics interactions. The primary goal was to examine parents' perceptions of the impact of math games on their engagement with their children. In addition, embedded guides were provided for parents to engage in mathematical discourse, and support specific math strategies. The qualitative study involved the families of six students who were entering fourth grade and attending a summer-school program. The students and their families engaged in a six-week intervention where they received two math board games and support guides for parents. The intermediate elementary age of the participants was chosen to explore how games involving foundational skills supported the engagement. Specifically, the games both involved finding the sum of two single-digit addends. At the start of the intervention, parents were interviewed regarding their prior experiences with math interactions at home. Following the intervention, parents were interviewed to share their perceptions of the experiences with the math games. There was a significant contrast in parents' perceptions of prior experiences with math activities at home and the engagements with the math games. Previously, families had negative experiences mainly with homework that commonly resulted in frustration and potential math anxiety. On the other hand, the experiences with the math games were overwhelmingly positive and also indicated that engagement was sustainable for the length of the intervention. In addition, parents perceived a noticeable increase in single-digit addition fact fluency, which was the embedded foundational skill. These findings support increased opportunities to engage families in math games. Findings also support the use of embedded foundational skills, instead of current grade level skills, as a target area for parents to potentially provide support.
","abstract_html":"<p>This research study begins to explore how the use of math games focused on foundation skills can potentially support parents and families in mathematics interactions. The primary goal was to examine parents' perceptions of the impact of math games on their engagement with their children. In addition, embedded guides were provided for parents to engage in mathematical discourse, and support specific math strategies. The qualitative study involved the families of six students who were entering fourth grade and attending a summer-school program. The students and their families engaged in a six-week intervention where they received two math board games and support guides for parents. The intermediate elementary age of the participants was chosen to explore how games involving foundational skills supported the engagement. Specifically, the games both involved finding the sum of two single-digit addends. At the start of the intervention, parents were interviewed regarding their prior experiences with math interactions at home. Following the intervention, parents were interviewed to share their perceptions of the experiences with the math games. There was a significant contrast in parents' perceptions of prior experiences with math activities at home and the engagements with the math games. Previously, families had negative experiences mainly with homework that commonly resulted in frustration and potential math anxiety. On the other hand, the experiences with the math games were overwhelmingly positive and also indicated that engagement was sustainable for the length of the intervention. In addition, parents perceived a noticeable increase in single-digit addition fact fluency, which was the embedded foundational skill. These findings support increased opportunities to engage families in math games. Findings also support the use of embedded foundational skills, instead of current grade level skills, as a target area for parents to potentially provide support.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Williamson, Greg M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Teacher Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Joe Bishop, PhD","Gabriela Dumitrascu, PhD","Michael McVey, EdD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:53Z","subjects":["engagement","family","games","math","parents","Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1311","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Joe Bishop, PhD","Gabriela Dumitrascu, PhD","Michael McVey, EdD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Williamson, Greg M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-10-08T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Teacher Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["engagement","family","games","math","parents","Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1311"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This research study begins to explore how the use of math games focused on foundation skills can potentially support parents and families in mathematics interactions. The primary goal was to examine parents' perceptions of the impact of math games on their engagement with their children. In addition, embedded guides were provided for parents to engage in mathematical discourse, and support specific math strategies. The qualitative study involved the families of six students who were entering fourth grade and attending a summer-school program. The students and their families engaged in a six-week intervention where they received two math board games and support guides for parents. The intermediate elementary age of the participants was chosen to explore how games involving foundational skills supported the engagement. Specifically, the games both involved finding the sum of two single-digit addends. At the start of the intervention, parents were interviewed regarding their prior experiences with math interactions at home. Following the intervention, parents were interviewed to share their perceptions of the experiences with the math games. There was a significant contrast in parents' perceptions of prior experiences with math activities at home and the engagements with the math games. Previously, families had negative experiences mainly with homework that commonly resulted in frustration and potential math anxiety. On the other hand, the experiences with the math games were overwhelmingly positive and also indicated that engagement was sustainable for the length of the intervention. In addition, parents perceived a noticeable increase in single-digit addition fact fluency, which was the embedded foundational skill. These findings support increased opportunities to engage families in math games. Findings also support the use of embedded foundational skills, instead of current grade level skills, as a target area for parents to potentially provide support.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["How math games engage parents with children"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Joe Bishop, PhD","Gabriela Dumitrascu, PhD","Michael McVey, EdD"],"dc:creator":["Williamson, Greg M."],"dc:date.available":["2025-10-08T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This research study begins to explore how the use of math games focused on foundation skills can potentially support parents and families in mathematics interactions. The primary goal was to examine parents' perceptions of the impact of math games on their engagement with their children. In addition, embedded guides were provided for parents to engage in mathematical discourse, and support specific math strategies. The qualitative study involved the families of six students who were entering fourth grade and attending a summer-school program. The students and their families engaged in a six-week intervention where they received two math board games and support guides for parents. The intermediate elementary age of the participants was chosen to explore how games involving foundational skills supported the engagement. Specifically, the games both involved finding the sum of two single-digit addends. At the start of the intervention, parents were interviewed regarding their prior experiences with math interactions at home. Following the intervention, parents were interviewed to share their perceptions of the experiences with the math games. There was a significant contrast in parents' perceptions of prior experiences with math activities at home and the engagements with the math games. Previously, families had negative experiences mainly with homework that commonly resulted in frustration and potential math anxiety. On the other hand, the experiences with the math games were overwhelmingly positive and also indicated that engagement was sustainable for the length of the intervention. In addition, parents perceived a noticeable increase in single-digit addition fact fluency, which was the embedded foundational skill. These findings support increased opportunities to engage families in math games. Findings also support the use of embedded foundational skills, instead of current grade level skills, as a target area for parents to potentially provide support.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1311"],"dc:subject":["engagement","family","games","math","parents","Education"],"dc:title":["How math games engage parents with children"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Teacher Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:53Z"}