Math skill in early childhood is a key predictor of future academic achievement. Parental engagement in math learning contributes to the growth of children's math skills during this period. To help boost parent-child engagement in math activities and children's math skills, we conducted an RCT lasting 12 weeks with 758 low-income preschoolers (3-5 years old) and their primary caregivers. Parents were randomized into five groups: 1) a control group, and groups that received 2) a digital tablet with math apps for children; 3) analog math materials for parents to use with children, 4) analog math materials with weekly text messages to manage parents' present bias; and 5) analog math materials with weekly text messages to increase parents' growth mindset. Relative to the control group, neither the analog math materials alone nor the analog materials with growth mindset messages increased child math skills during the intervention period. However, the analog math materials combined with messaging to manage present bias and the digital tablet with math apps increased child math skills by about 0.20 standard deviations (p=.10) measured six months after the intervention. These two treatments also significantly increased parents' self-reported time engaged in math activities with their children.

幼儿期的数学技能是未来学业成就的关键预测因素。在此期间，家长参与数学学习有助于孩子数学技能的发展。为了帮助提高亲子对数学活动的参与度和儿童的数学技能，我们对 758 名低收入学龄前儿童（3-5 岁）及其主要照顾者进行了为期 12 周的随机对照试验。家长被随机分为五组：1）对照组，以及接受 2）带有儿童数学应用程序的数字平板电脑的组；3）供父母与孩子一起使用的模拟数学材料，4）带有每周短信的模拟数学材料，以管理父母当前的偏见；5）每周提供模拟数学材料和短信，以增强家长的成长心态。相对于对照组，在干预期间，单独的模拟数学材料和包含成长心态信息的模拟材料都没有提高儿童的数学技能。然而，在干预六个月后测量，模拟数学材料与消息传递相结合以管理当前偏差，以及带有数学应用程序的数字平板电脑使儿童数学技能提高了约 0.20 个标准差 (p=.10)。这两种治疗方法还显着增加了父母自我报告的与孩子一起进行数学活动的时间。