THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTAL BACKGROUND AND PRESCHOOLERS' NUMERACY SKILLS IN OGBA/EGBEMA/NDONI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS STATE

The parental background of preschoolers serves as a compass to the preschoolers' numeracy skills. This study examined the relationship between parental background and preschoolers' numeracy skills in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State. It made use of two research questions and corresponding hypotheses. Thepopulationforthisstudycomprisedallthe parents of the Nursery Three (Transition class) in ECCDE CentresinOgba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, summing up to 3,760. The sample for the study was 376 pupils from the five selected ECCDE centres in the said Local Government Area. The Sample was obtained through random sampling technique. The instrument used for data collection was a checklist designed by the researcher entitled, “The Relationship between Parental Background and Preschoolers' Numeracy Skills Checklist"(RPBPNSC) which was administered and tested using mean and standard deviation. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the sample size. The study implored a correlational design. It was face and content validated by three experts. It has a reliability coefficient of 0.52. The findings indicated that parental educational and income levels related to the preschoolers' numeracy skills. Therefore, it was recommended among others that parents, should been courage to engage in numeracy-related activities with their children while the care givers should provide targeted supports and resources for preschoolers from disadvantaged backgrounds to enhance their numeracy skills.