Helping preschoolers build strong number skills and prevent math learning disability
Official title: Overview: Multisystemic Approach to Early Math Development and Math Learning Disability
Funded at University of Missouri-Columbia · NIH-11424705 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Trying a family-and-school approach to help preschool children build number skills and lower the risk of long-term math learning disability.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Missouri-Columbia NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbia, United States) |
| Project start | August 30, 2022 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $227,662 |
| NIH project number | 3P20HD109951-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11424705 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are preschool-age children (about 3–5 years old) who show weak early number skills or are considered at risk for later math difficulties, along with their parents and teachers.
✕Less likely to help
Children outside the preschool age range or whose math problems are driven by severe neurological conditions may not benefit from this early home-and-school focused program.
What this research studies
As a parent, this project would involve work with my preschooler, our family, and their classroom to support early number ideas like counting and cardinality. Researchers will collect detailed information about number talk and math activities at home, measure parents’ math skills, and observe children’s engagement in preschool classrooms. The team will combine child-focused activities with parent guidance and classroom support to see which mix helps children keep up with math over time. The goal is to create lasting improvements rather than short-term gains that fade.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help young children maintain stronger math skills and reduce the chance of long-term math learning disability.
How similar studies have gone: Child-focused early math programs often produce short-term gains that fade, while multisystemic interventions in other fields have shown sustained benefits, so applying multisystemic methods to early math is a relatively new but promising idea.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Geary, David C — University of Missouri-Columbia
- Study coordinator: Geary, David C
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.