Verbal and nonverbal scaffolding in parent-child interactions: links to mathematics ability in middle childhood

Parental scaffolding during parent-child interactions plays a critical role in children's academic ability. However, limited studies have examined the costs and benefits of specific parental scaffolding behaviors. This study examined how parental verbal and nonverbal scaffolding relates to elementary school children's mathematics ability across three domains: computation, fluency, and problem-solving. Participants included 78 children (6.47-11.17 years, Grades 1-5) and their father or mother. Twelve parental scaffolding behaviors (verbal/non-verbal) were coded during two parent-child dyadic tasks (map/block-building task). Verbal scaffolding mainly included open-ended questions, multiple choice questions, closed-ended questions, observational leading questions, explanatory questions, and procedural questions. Nonverbal scaffolding mainly included manual help, demonstration, pointing, asserts control, onlooking, and off-task. Results showed that, after controlling for child gender, parent gender and parental education, pointing was negatively associated with both computation and problem-solving. Moreover, children's age negatively moderated the relationships of both open-ended and procedural questions with math fluency: procedural questions were negatively associated with fluency for older children, while open-ended questions showed a negative relationship for older children but a positive one for younger children. This study contributes to our understanding of the functions of scaffolding in children, highlighting that directive scaffolding behaviors (e.g., pointing and procedural questioning) may hinder rather than support children's mathematical learning.