Parental estimates of children's receptive vocabulary

Samples of 13 mothers and fathers of normal preschool children and 11 mothers of high-risk preschool children estimated their children's vocabulary ability by predicting their child's responses to individual PPVT-R items and by making a global rating of their child's vocabulary ability. Prior to the parental estimations, the children had been administered the PPVT-R. Accuracy of parental estimates, as measured by d', was low, although the mothers' average estimates were significantly higher than zero and higher than fathers' estimates. Accuracy of estimation was similar for mothers of normal preschoolers and for mothers of high-risk preschoolers. Time spent reading to the child, mothers' employment, and children's ability level were not related to parental accuracy. Although correlations between the children's scores and parental estimates all were significant, parents tended to overestimate their children's abilities by approximately 9 to 10 points on the average. Overall, parental estimates of their children's vocabulary ability, using a global rating scale, provide a somewhat useful measure for placing their children in a broad classification range.     

Understanding Associations Between Low-Income Mothers' Participation in Education and Parenting

Maternal education is one of the strongest predictors of children's academic outcomes. One possible explanation for this is that more highly educated mothers more frequently engage in parenting practices that may promote children's later cognitive development; however, most of this evidence is correlational. This study uses Head Start Impact Study data (N = 1,953) to explore whether low-income mothers' participation in education affects their parenting practices and beliefs. Principal scores, which predict maternal educational participation based on covariates, were used for analysis. Principal score matching was used to identify mothers who we predicted participated in education because their children were randomly assigned to Head Start. We compared these mothers' outcomes to those of mothers we predicted would have participated in education if they were assigned to Head Start. For these mothers, participation in maternal education was associated with children watching fewer hours of TV, having more types of printed media at home, and more frequent participation in cultural activities, but it was not associated with a host of other parenting outcomes. Changing parenting is one potential pathway by which maternal educational participation may influence children's later academic outcomes.     

Txt msg n school literacy: does texting and knowledge of text abbreviations adversely affect children's literacy attainment?

This paper reports on two studies which investigated the relationship between children's texting behaviour, their knowledge of text abbreviations and their school attainment in written language skills. In Study One, 11–12‐year‐old children provided information on their texting behaviour. They were also asked to translate a standard English sentence into a text message and vice versa. The children's standardised verbal and non‐verbal reasoning scores were also obtained. Children who used their mobiles to send three or more text messages a day had significantly lower scores than children who sent none. However, the children who, when asked to write a text message, showed greater use of text abbreviations (‘textisms’) tended to have better performance on a measure of verbal reasoning ability, which is highly associated with Key Stage 2 (KS2) and 3 English scores. In Study Two, children's performance on writing measures was examined more specifically. Ten to eleven‐year‐old children were asked to complete another English to text message translation exercise. Spelling proficiency was also assessed, and KS2 Writing scores were obtained. Positive correlations between spelling ability and performance on the translation exercise were found, and group‐based comparisons based on the children's writing scores also showed that good writing attainment was associated with greater use of textisms, although the direction of this association is nor clear. Overall, these findings suggest that children's knowledge of textisms is not associated with poor written language outcomes for children in this age range.     

Family and social risk,and parental investments during the early childhood years as predictors of low-income children's school readiness outcomes

Using data from the National Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project (N = 1851), the current study examined relations among cumulative family and social risk, assessed during infancy and the preschool years, and children's prekindergarten achievement, self-regulatory skills, and problematic social behavior, testing if these associations were mediated through two sets of family processes–responsive parenting practices and the provision of language stimulation and literacy practices. Structural equation modeling results highlight the significance of the timing of children's experience of risk in predicting school readiness competencies. Risk exposure during infancy was observed to be most detrimental for children's school readiness skills and was partially mediated by risk exposure during the preschool years and family processes, assessed during toddlerhood and the preschool years. Moderation analyses revealed no difference in the strength of relationships among the study variables by EHS assignment or by race/ethnicity.     

Predicting elements of early maternal elaborative discourse from 12 to 18 months of age

To date, much of the research investigating maternal–child discourse has focused on the preschool period of children's development, with little attention paid to how these styles develop. The current study aimed to assess whether maternal elaborative discourse elements seen in preschool are also evident during the toddler years, and whether the use of these elements is predicted by children's temperament, maternal mind mindedness, and attachment security. Results revealed that elaborative discourse elements are used by mothers during discourse with 12- and 18 month-old children, and that child temperament, attachment security, and maternal mind mindedness at 12 months predicted maternal use of these elements when children were 18 months old. These results provide evidence that elements of maternal discourse style begin forming prior to children's active involvement in discourse interactions and that child, maternal, and relationship characteristics assume important roles in shaping early discourse styles.     

Mothers' Cognitive References to 2‐Year‐Olds Predict Theory of Mind at Ages 6 and 10

Mothers' mental‐state references predict individual differences in preschoolers' false‐belief (FB) understanding; less is known about the origins of corresponding variation in school‐age children. To address this gap, 105 children completed observations with their mothers at child ages 2 and 6, three FB tasks and a verbal comprehension test at age 3, and five FB tasks at age 6. Seventy‐seven of these children completed five Strange Stories at age 10. Individual differences in mothers' cognitive references at child age 2 predicted variation in children's FB understanding at age 6 and Strange Stories scores at age 10 (controlling for number of mothers' turns and children's mental‐state references, verbal comprehension and FB understanding at age 3, and mothers' cognitive references at child age 6).     

Effective behavior management in preschool classrooms and children's task orientation: Enhancing emergent literacy and language development

This study investigated the relations among preschool teachers’ behavior management, children's task orientation, and children's emergent literacy and language development, as well as the extent to which task orientation moderated the relation between teachers’ behavior management and children's emergent literacy and language development. Participants included 398 children and 67 preschool teachers from preschool programs serving an at-risk population. Teachers’ behavior management was observationally assessed and children's task orientation was measured via teacher-report. Children's language and emergent literacy skills were directly assessed in the fall and in the spring of the preschool year. Hierarchical linear models were used to predict children's residualized gain in emergent literacy and language (i.e., Spring scores with Fall scores as covariates) from their task orientation and their teachers’ behavior management. Task orientation and behavior management each positively predicted children's emergent literacy development, but not language development. There was a significant interaction between teachers’ behavior management and children's task orientation in predicting children's language development, such that high scores on both variables were associated with the most optimal language outcomes. Implications for research and early education are discussed.     

Mother-Child Play in Italy: Regional Variation,Individual Stability,and Mutual Dyadic Influence

Objective. This longitudinal study assessed similarities and differences in exploratory, symbolic, and social play in mother-child dyads in the south and north of Italy. Design. Altogether, 89 mothers and their children were observed and recorded at home when children were 13 and 20 months of age. From videotapes, exploratory, symbolic, and social play were coded and analyzed. Results. Children did not differ in their play with mothers across region and play type, but they played less in exploratory and more in symbolic modes as they grew. At 13 months, mothers in the south did not differ from mothers in the north in engaging in exploratory or symbolic play with their children; at 20 months, mothers in the south engaged in more demonstrations of exploratory and mothers in the north more demonstrations of symbolic play. Mothers in the south and north engaged in equivalent social play at the two ages, but northern mothers verbally praised their children more at the two ages. Child play was not stable, and mothers' play only irregularly stable. In both regions at both ages, individual variation in children's exploratory and symbolic play was specifically associated with individual variation in mothers' exploratory and symbolic play, respectively, but mothers' play did not predict children's play, nor did children's play predict mothers' play. Mothers' social play was not predictive of child play, although verbal praise was associated with child play. Conclusions. These data highlight the universality of general developmental processes in play as well as specific intra-cultural variation in parenting and child development.     

Early child care experiences and their association with family and child characteristics during middle childhood

Long-term correlates of early child care and maternal employment were examined in a representative sample of 333 6- to 12-year-old middle-class children. Intellectual, social, and behavioral development and parent-child relationships were related to nonparental infant care, center or preschool experiences, and maternal employment. Contextual analyses included child, parent, and family covariates related to choice of child care and children's development. Preschool and center day care was associated with slightly higher Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) Vocabulary scores and externalizing t scores on the Child Behavior Checklist. In addition, for African American children, center preschool experience was associated with 10-point-higher verbal intelligence scores and better ratings of positive behavioral attributes by parent and observers. Nonparental care during infancy and maternal employment patterns during the preschool years were not consistently related to the outcomes. The results of this study further support the growing consensus that the effects of early child care experiences must be considered in the context of parent, family, and child characteristics.     

Do early care and education services improve language development for maltreated children? Evidence from a national child welfare sample

Young children under 6 years old are over-represented in the U.S. child welfare system (CWS). Due to their exposure to early deprivation and trauma, they are also highly vulnerable to developmental problems, including language delays. High quality early care and education (ECE) programs (e.g. preschool, Head Start) can improve children's development and so policymakers have begun calling for increased enrollment of CWS-supervised children in these programs. However, it is not a given that ECE will benefit all children who experience maltreatment. Some types of maltreatment may result in trauma-related learning and behavior challenges or developmental deficits that cause children to respond to ECE settings differently. The current study uses data from a nationally representative survey of children in the U.S. child welfare system, the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II, to assess whether young CWS-supervised children (N = 1,652) who were enrolled in ECE had better language development outcomes 18 months later than those not enrolled in ECE. We also explore whether the type of maltreatment that brought children to the CWS’ attention moderates the relationship between ECE and children's language development. After controlling for children's initial scores on the Preschool Language Scale (PLS-3), type(s) of maltreatment experienced, and child and caregiver demographics, we found that ECE participation predicted better PLS-3 scores at follow-up, with a positive interaction between ECE participation and supervisory neglect. ECE seems to be beneficial for CWS-involved children's early language development, especially for children referred to the CWS because they lack appropriate parent supervision at home.     

Conflict Resolution in Japanese Social Interactions

The aim of this study was to examine Japanese preschool children's social conflicts and methods of conflict resolution in order to shed light on existing cultural characterizations of Japanese preschool education and social development. Japanese preschool-age children were observed during school-time free-play and they and their mothers were interviewed about teacher methods of conflict resolution in the preschool setting. The results showed that Japanese children's conflicts stemmed from a wide range of issues, including concerns about justice, rights, and fairness. Moreover, teachers encouraged children to work out conflicts on their own, stressing self-reliance and autonomy. Japanese children and mothers chose resolution choices which pertained to the intrinsic consequences of the acts. Japanese children and mothers, however, preferred teacher-directed nonintervention over punishment as a form of teacher response. This was in contrast to previous research which has shown that American children and mothers prefer punishment over nonintervention. The results indicated that issues of independence (e.g., autonomy) and interdependence (e.g., group orientations) were both present in Japanese children's social interactions and in children's and mothers' judgments about teacher methods of conflict resolution.     

Schooling effects on preschoolers’ self-regulation, early literacy, and language growth

The present study examined the influence of schooling during children's first and second years of preschool for children who experienced different amounts of preschool (i.e., one or two years), but who were essentially the same chronological age. Children (n = 76) were tested in the fall and spring of the school year using measures of self-regulation, decoding, letter knowledge, and vocabulary. Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), preschool was not associated with children's development of self-regulation in either year. For decoding and letter knowledge, children finishing their second year of preschool had higher scores, although both groups of children grew similarly during the school year. Thus, our results suggest that the first and second years of preschool are both systematically associated with decoding and letter knowledge gains, and the effects are cumulative (two years predicted greater gains overall than did one year of preschool). Finally, children's chronological age, and not whether they experienced one versus two years of preschool, predicted children's vocabulary and self-regulation outcomes. Implications for preschool curricula and instruction are discussed, including the increasing emphasis on literacy learning prior to kindergarten entry and the need to address self-regulation development along with academic learning.     

Chaos,poverty, and parenting: Predictors of early language development

Studies have shown that distal family risk factors like poverty and maternal education are strongly related to children's early language development. Yet, few studies have examined these risk factors in combination with more proximal day-to-day experiences of children that might be critical to understanding variation in early language. Young children's exposure to a chronically chaotic household may be one critical experience that is related to poorer language, beyond the contribution of SES and other demographic variables. In addition, it is not clear whether parenting might mediate the relationship between chaos and language. The purpose of this study was to understand how multiple indicators of chaos over children's first three years of life, in a representative sample of children living in low wealth rural communities, were related to child expressive and receptive language at 36 months. Factor analysis of 10 chaos indicators over five time periods suggested two factors that were named household disorganization and instability. Results suggested that after accounting for thirteen covariates like maternal education and poverty, one of two chaos composites (household disorganization) accounted for significant variance in receptive and expressive language. Parenting partially mediated this relationship although household disorganization continued to account for unique variance in predicting early language.     

Association between mothers' education and grade six children numeracy and literacy in Kenya

The objective of the paper is to re-examine the mother–child education achievement hypothesis, by re-examining the effect of mother's education, on math and literacy test scores of children in Kenya. Data come from the classroom Education Research Programme at the African Population and Health Research Centre which was collected between January and March 2012. Since pupils are nested within schools, we fitted a two-level random intercept model. Our findings show that mothers' and fathers' education has a positive and significant independent association with literacy and numeracy achievement. After interacting mothers' and fathers' education and controlling for school and pupil characteristics, we observed two significant findings: (1) mother's education remains statistically significant but is negatively associated with the pupil's score in both literacy and numeracy; and (2) the interaction of both parents' education is significant and positively associated with pupil scores in literacy and numeracy. This study underscores the importance of the complementarity between mothers' and fathers' education in order for children to acquire and learn literacy and numeracy in schools. In as much as mothers' education is important in the children's literacy and numeracy, the importance of fathers in children's literacy and numeracy cannot be ignored.     

Planning in Middle Childhood: Early Predictors and Later Outcomes

Data from 1,364 children and families who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were analyzed to track the early correlates and later academic outcomes of planning during middle childhood. Maternal education, through its effect on parenting quality when children were 54 months old, predicts their concurrent performance on sustained attention, inhibition, and short‐term verbal memory tests. This performance predicts planning in first grade, which predicts third‐grade reading and mathematics attainment, but not the rate of growth in academic skills from first to fifth grades. This path was also found when the same parenting, cognitive, and academic constructs were measured at later time points.     

Mutual Relations Between Mothers' Depressive Symptoms and Hostile-Controlling Behavior and Young Children's Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Problems

Objective. This study considered the role of mothers' depressive symptoms and hostile-controlling behavior in young children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Pathways of influence between mothers' depressive symptoms and hostile-controlling behavior and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems also were examined. Design. Data were collected at child ages 4 and 6 years from a nonclinical, community sample of 51 mothers and their children. At both assessments, mothers' behavior was observed during a structured mother - child play activity, and mothers completed questionnaires to assess their depressive symptoms and children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Results. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed different patterns of findings across the 2 assessments as well as different patterns of findings for children's externalizing versus internalizing behaviors. At age 4, mothers' depressive symptoms and hostile-controlling behavior predicted children's externalizing behaviors; at age 6, only mothers' hostile-controlling behavior predicted children's externalizing behaviors. Regarding children's internalizing behaviors, mothers' depressive symptoms were significant predictors at child age 4; however, by age 6, mothers' depressive symptoms were no longer significant predictors. When longitudinal modeling was applied to the data, some support for both maternal and child effects was found. Conclusions. Findings highlight the importance of considering mothers' depressive symptoms and hostile-controlling behavior in predicting children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems and suggest different etiological pathways for externalizing versus internalizing expressions of dysfunction.     

Authoritative and Authoritarian Mothers' Parenting Goals,Attributions, and Emotions Across Different Childrearing Contexts

Objective. The central goal of this study was to explore how childrearing contexts might moderate relations between parenting styles and mothers' parental beliefs and emotional responses. Design. Participants were 76 mothers of children (41 boys, 35 girls) ranging in age from 30 to 70 months. Mothers completed a global measure of parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative). Self-reports of parental beliefs (parental goals, attributions) and emotional responses (angry, embarrassed, happy) were assessed in response to hypothetical vignettes depicting a variety of children's behaviors (aggression, misbehavior, shyness, prosocial behavior). Results. In situations depicting children's negative behaviors, authoritarian mothers were less focused on empathic goals and attributed child aggression and misbehaviors to less external sources than their more authoritative counterparts. Authoritarian mothers were also more likely to respond with greater anger and embarrassment across all childrearing scenarios. Conclusions. Results suggest that authoritarian and authoritative mothers differ in their affective response patterns consistently across childrearing contexts, but that more challenging childrearing situations accentuate differences in the cognitive reactions of authoritative versus authoritarian mothers. Implications for understanding how general parenting styles may be translated into specific parental responses are considered.     

Putting parents in the picture: Maternal reports of preschoolers' literacy as a predictor of early reading

Emergent literacy research has demonstrated that children begin constructing notions of literacy during the preschool years and that early experiences support children's literacy growth. Given that parents may have valuable insight into their preschool children's literacy development, we examined the hypothesis that parental reports from the preschool years could be good predictors of early literacy development once their children enter school. Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of literacy development among low-income children, we correlate reports prepared by parents when their children were three and four years old with the children's subsequent performance on individually administered tests in kindergarten and grade one and grade one teachers' evaluations of children. Correlational analyses reveal significant correlations between parental reports and grade one teacher reports and assessments. Regression models reveal that parental reports account for about a quarter of the variance in kindergarten tests and grade one teacher assessments and over a third of the variance in a decoding assessment given near the end of first grade.     

Family Structure and Parental Involvement in the Intergenerational Parallelism of School Adversity

Abstract

A theoretically informed model in which the effects of negative junior high school experiences of mothers on the junior high school experiences of their children were examined. The model was estimated with the LISREL VIII program using panel data from 1,144 mother–adolescent child pairs. Mothers were first tested in 1971 when they were 7th graders, and both mothers and their children were subsequently interviewed in the 1990s. Results reveal the existence of a significant relationship between mothers' negative junior high school experiences and those of their children, which is partially mediated by family structure, mothers' educational attainment, and level of mothers' involvement in their children's school activities and interest in their progress at school.     

Beginning readers' use of talking books: styles of working

This paper examines young children's working styles when they are engaged with a peer on a computer‐based reading task. Two types of pairing were investigated: (i) ‘Equal’ pairs, where the children were of equal reading attainment and (ii) ‘Unequal pairs’, where there was a disparity between the children's reading attainment. The results suggest that the children's reading attainment and/or their gender may be more significant factors in determining the nature of children's collaborative activity than pair type. The implications of these results for practitioners who wish to use talking books as a classroom resource are discussed.