A student's Home Learning Environment is the environment parents and caregivers provide to help learners gain early academic skills. Children can develop math skills before starting school through both direct math teaching and talk with caregivers, as well as indirectly through playing math-related games. This early exposure to language and numeracy can lead to greater arithmetic fluency in school. Providing extra classroom supports and resources for families that strengthen the Home Learning Environment can help create an equal foundation for all students.

The Home Learning Environment is critical for growth in early math skills before a child enters kindergarten. The Home Learning Environment involves many aspects of math:

The availability of reading and math materials in the home;

Time that parents and caregivers spend talking about math and numbers with their children;

The instruction and support parents and caregivers provide when their children are learning math facts;

Mathematical skills of parents and caregivers; and

The value parents and caregivers place on math, such as their past positive math experiences.

The Home Learning Environment is also related to the Home Literacy Environment, as the quality of the Home Literacy Environment also impacts early math acquisition.

Family Engagement: Topic that includes research on how schools can improve their family engagement on Digital Promise's Research Map