The home mathematics environment and children’s early mathematical development in immigrant, refugee, and minority-language families: a scoping review

Early mathematics skills are among the strongest predictors of later academic achievement, with foundations established at home through families' mathematics-related activities, talk, beliefs, and practices. Research on the home mathematics environment (HME), however, draws predominantly on monolingual, majority-group, middle-class Western samples, leaving immigrant, refugee, and minority-language families understudied. This scoping review maps evidence on the HME and early mathematical development in culturally and linguistically minoritized families. Guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework and PRISMA-ScR, the review included 33 studies meeting Population-Concept-Context criteria, concentrated in the United States (mainly Latine/Hispanic families), Türkiye and Tanzania (refugee families), China (internal migration), and Europe. Findings synthesized under seven themes indicate a scarcity of culturally responsive and multilingual measures, a persistent deficit lens, limited longitudinal and intervention evidence, and underrepresentation of non-Latine populations. Strategies for more inclusive inquiry are proposed, including participatory measure development, home-language assessment, partnership-based recruitment, and funding for translation and community collaboration.

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Publication Details

Journal
Early Child Development and Care
Published
2026-09-18
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2026.2735635
Primary Topic
Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The home mathematics environment and children’s early mathematical development in immigrant, refugee, and minority-language families: a scoping review

Oğuz Serdar Kesicioğlu, Muhammed Fatih Küçükkara
Early Child Development and Care
Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
article

The home mathematics environment and children’s early mathematical development in immigrant, refugee, and minority-language families: a scoping review

Oğuz Serdar Kesicioğlu, Muhammed Fatih Küçükkara
article en

Abstract

Early mathematics skills are among the strongest predictors of later academic achievement, with foundations established at home through families' mathematics-related activities, talk, beliefs, and practices. Research on the home mathematics environment (HME), however, draws predominantly on monolingual, majority-group, middle-class Western samples, leaving immigrant, refugee, and minority-language families understudied. This scoping review maps evidence on the HME and early mathematical development in culturally and linguistically minoritized families. Guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework and PRISMA-ScR, the review included 33 studies meeting Population-Concept-Context criteria, concentrated in the United States (mainly Latine/Hispanic families), Türkiye and Tanzania (refugee families), China (internal migration), and Europe. Findings synthesized under seven themes indicate a scarcity of culturally responsive and multilingual measures, a persistent deficit lens, limited longitudinal and intervention evidence, and underrepresentation of non-Latine populations. Strategies for more inclusive inquiry are proposed, including participatory measure development, home-language assessment, partnership-based recruitment, and funding for translation and community collaboration.

Early Child Development and Care
Giresun University (TR), Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University (TR)
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills
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