403 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 M. Carlsen et al. (eds.), Mathematics Education in the Early Years, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34776-5_24 Chapter 24 Parents’ Valuing of Mathematics for Young Children Dorota Lembrér 24.1 Introduction In this chapter, parents, as well as other family members, are recognised as young children’s frst educators who contribute to their learning of mathematics knowl- edge and skills (Phillipson, Gervasoni, & Sullivan, 2017). From this perspective, parents’ views on mathematics education can be considered as assets that infuence children’s mathematical learning in their early years (Björklund & Pramling, 2017). However, there has been a limited amount of research that has taken parents’ views seriously concerning young children’s engagement in mathematical learning oppor- tunities at home. In this chapter, I explore the narratives of nine Norwegian parents in order to understand their views on children’s mathematics activities at home. From these views, I identify the values they hold about mathematics learning. I am interested in the values that are embedded in (LeFevre, Polyzoi, Skwarchuk, Fast, & Sowinski, 2010)—or emerge through (Aubrey, Bottle, & Godfrey, 2003)—the nar- ratives they tell about the children’s informal activities at home, rather than planned and goal-oriented mathematics activities in early childhood education institutions (Björklund, 2014). Although research studies in mathematics education highlight parents’ roles dif- ferently in regard to their children’s mathematics learning, knowledge and skills, most situate young children as capable of showing adults (parents, teachers and researchers) their understanding of mathematics (Aubrey et al., 2003; Wager & Whyte, 2013). In fulflling their roles as frst educators, parents are considered to be active participants in the construction of their children’s mathematics skills, which they interpret in many ways (Hawighorst, 2005). Some research has focused on why home environments are important for children’s mathematics development and learning (Brenner, 1998). Other studies have sought to understand how home D. Lembrér (*) Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway e-mail: dorota.lembrer@hvl.no