Talking with Toddlers

Good Stories, Good Math

By Julie J. Rehmeyer

Spinning a good yarn may seem to have little to do with mathematics, but a new study suggests otherwise. Preschoolers who tell stories that include many different perspectives do better in math two years later than those who stick to one simple perspective. The researchers believe that the study may highlight a deep connection between mathematical ability and narrative skills.

Daniela O'Neill and her colleagues at the University of Waterloo in Ontario gave 3- and 4-year-olds the picture book Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer. The wordless book shows a frog hopping around a restaurant, causing mayhem. The researchers asked the kids to tell the story to a puppet who'd never seen the book and measured the sophistication of each child's story. They also gave the children a test of general verbal ability. Two years later, they gave the children a test of academic achievement in a variety of areas.

Preschoolers who can tell stories from multiple perspectives often develop strong mathematical skills, according to research.

The scientists found that narrative ability in preschool was a good predictor of a child's later performance in mathematics. Simple measures, such as sentence length and diversity of vocabulary, had little relevance, however. The most important factor had to do with a child's ability to switch perspectives in the stories. For example, one child told the story as if the frog were the only character in the story, while another discussed the internal states of secondary characters, with comments such as, "The waiter was mad when the frog jumped in the soup."

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