FAMILY INFLUENCES
the home environment,
style of parent-child interaction,
and family's attitudes toward school and learning.
BENEFITS
From structure and flexibility where adults demonstrate positive attitudes and behavior toward school and learning.
higher school achievement rates,
higher attendance rates,
lower delinquency and dropout rates, and
increased high school completion and college university admission rates
THE HOME ENVIRONMENT
Providing Stimulation to Learn:
The availability of appropriate play materials throughout infancy and toddlerhood, has a positive effect on achievement in early elementary school, particularly in reading achievement
ItŐs especially important to have manipulatives that encourage the young child to have a variety of sensory experiences, and to be able to develop fine and gross motor skills.
Social/Cultural Exposure:
An array of enriching cultural and social experiences during preschool and early elementary school helps children perform better on achievement tests, and they are rated as more task oriented by their teachers
Social and cultural activities recommended includefrequent use of libraries, museums, zoos, historical sites, and other places of interest.
Problem-Solving Strategies:
Parents who expose their preschoolers to problem-solving strategies are more likely to have children who use them.
Mothers who interact with preschool children in problem-solving tasks, and expose them to open-ended questions about that task, have children who later demonstrate greater independent performance with similar tasks requiring problem-solving skills.
Literacy and Language Development Opportunities:
High-achieving children have parents who read to them frequently and help them attain phonemic awareness.
There is a strong relationship between children's early knowledge of nursery rhymes and later development of phonological skill.
In homes where children participate in family discussions, children are better prepared for the language they will hear in classrooms.
Parent-child interaction with reading materials is important during the preschool period because it is during these years that children become familiar with story structures, complex syntax, and vocabulary.
They will be better prepared to develop concepts that are prerequisites to reading and listening comprehension.
In order for reading ability to develop and remain constant throughout the elementary school years, children must hear and practice language from an early age.