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

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.