The Role of Parents and Pre-primary Education in Promoting Early Numeracy Development to Young Children in Dar es Salaam

Abstract

This study examined the role of parents and pre-primary education in the development of early numeracy skills in Dar es Salaam, drawing on a sample of 80 respondents including 36 pre-primary children, 10 pre-primary teachers, six primary school head teachers and 28 parents of pre-primary school children. Data were collected through interviews, observation of indoor and outdoor learning activities and documentary review. The findings revealed that the majority of the parents (92.8%) did not guide children to learn through home activities related to numeracy for different reasons including being too busy. It was also established that learning activities provided in most pre-primary education were inappropriate for the children, since the level of number activities stipulated in the syllabus were below children ' s level of number function and development. Overcrowded classes and poorly arranged sitting plans made teachers fail to interact closely with individual children. Learning materials relevant to the basic pre-counting skills were also lacking in most pre-primary classes. Children were generally taught counting instead of how to count. The study recommend that parents should learn how to create supportive children's learning environment at home; participate actively in children's learning activities and providing relevant learning materials to their children. The pre-primary education teachers should attend proper training to improve teaching and learning methodology for pre-primary learning. The pre-primary education should reinforce the teacher-parent relationship through school-parent meetings, parents ' day, class visit and close communication with parents.Key words: Early numeracy, pre-primary education, preschool, home learning environment