Teachers' hand movements shape how children learn mathematics, but not all movements are equally effective. Gesture-based instruction on problems like 4+2+5=__+5—where a teacher forms a V-shaped hand under the 4 and 2 and points to the blank (“grouping strategy”)—promotes learning more than action-based instruction, where the teacher manipulates magnetic numbers to mimic the gestures. How do gestures facilitate learning? We tested 8- to 10-year-old children (N = 76) using fNIRS to measure neural activity as they watched gesture-based or action-based videotaped lessons. Gesture-based instruction elicited greater intersubject neural synchrony in the motor cortex and angular gyrus, a region implicated in arithmetic processing. Critically, synchrony in the right angular gyrus during gesture instruction predicted learning gains, whereas synchrony during action-based instruction did not. Our findings indicate that gestures foster shared representations in brain regions supporting arithmetic reasoning, and highlight fNIRS as a powerful tool for capturing how learning unfolds in children.

Overparenting—taking over and completing developmentally appropriate tasks for children—is pervasive and hurts children's motivation. Can overparenting in early childhood be reduced by simply framing tasks as learning opportunities? In Study 1 (N = 77; 62% female; 74% White; collected 4/2022), US parents of 4-to-5-year-olds reported taking over less on tasks they perceived as greater learning opportunities, which was most often the case on academic tasks. Studies 2 and 3 (N = 140; 67% female; 52% White; collected 7/2022–9/2023) showed that framing the everyday, non-academic task of getting dressed as a learning opportunity—whether big or small—reduced parents' taking over by nearly half (r = −.39). These findings suggest that highlighting learning opportunities helps parents give children more autonomy. © 2024 The Author(s). Child Development © 2024 Society for Research in Child Development.