Search

The home learning environment (HLE) that children experience early on is highly predictive of their later academic competencies; however, the bulk of this work is operationalized from mothers' perspectives. This study investigates the HLE provided by both mothers and fathers to their preschoolers (n = 767), with consideration for how parents' practices relate to one another as well as how these practices predict children's early academic outcomes. Using an SEM framework, results indicate that while, overall, mothers provide HLE activities more frequently than fathers do, both mothers (ß = 0.18, p < 0.05) and fathers (ß = 0.22, p < 0.05) make unique contributions to their preschooler's early academic skills, but only for families where mother has less than a bachelor's degree. For families where mother has a bachelor's degree or higher, the effect of father's HLE practices is not a significant predictor of children's academics when considering mother's HLE. For all families, fathers are providing a variety of HLE activities to their young children; and, although these may occur less frequently than mothers' practices, they are particularly important for the academic development of children whose mothers have less than a bachelor's degree. Practical implications are discussed.

The current study investigates associations among marital satisfaction, family emotional expressiveness, the home learning environment, and preschool-aged children's emergent literacy skills among 385 Midwestern mothers and their children. Path analyses examined how marital satisfaction related to emotional expressiveness in the home and whether this path was associated with the home learning environment and children's literacy skills. Higher maternal satisfaction was associated with higher levels of positive and lower levels of negative family emotional expressiveness. Additionally, family emotional environments characterized by mothers with higher positive expression were related to better home learning environments, which in turn were associated with higher literacy skills in children. Study findings underscore the importance of marital and family processes when considering young children's academic development. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Family involvement, an important resource for early learning among children in poverty, is a primary focus of the Head Start preschool program. The current study examined the extent to which families in Head Start were involved in children's learning at home, in the community, and at school, as well as the child, family, and center factors that predicted this involvement. In total, 2154 children and families, as well as the 165 directors of their Head Start centers, participated in the nationally representative Family and Child Experiences Survey (2003 cohort). Child and family background and involvement data, as well as center outreach information, were collected through self-report surveys and interviews. Descriptive analyses showed that families were regularly involved in children's learning in all three contexts, although no ceiling effects were observed. Inferential analyses revealed that family background and process factors were the most substantial predictors of family involvement at the beginning (i.e., fall) of the Head Start year, and many of these factors continued to predict involvement at the end (i.e., spring) of the year. However, effect sizes were generally small. Center factors, including goals and incentives for involvement, were not linked to family involvement in fall or spring. In sum, findings indicate that most Head Start families were regularly involved with children's learning in diverse ways, but that involvement could be further increased. Distinct patterns of modest family predictors emerged, with center outreach indicated as a factor that could potentially be enhanced. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)