This project focuses on parents’ funds of knowledge about how they use
mathematics in informal, practical ways (for example in the home
economy, in their work, and in planning activities), and how these funds
of knowledge can be used to support children's mathematical
development. Research suggests that there are close connections between
children's mathematics learning, their economic literacy, and the support
that they receive from parents and/or carers. We see this as an opportunity
to take an innovative approach to school-home partnerships: developing
the means to empower parents to make use of the everyday mathematics
that they know and understand to support their children's learning. In this
paper we report our project to investigate parents' beliefs and feelings
about their own knowledge and understanding of mathematics, and their
current perceptions of their role in their children's mathematics learning.
This investigation informs a series of workshops designed to help parents
find ways to support their children's mathematics learning, drawing on
parents’ social and cultural funds of knowledge.