The role of environmental and individual factors in pre-academic achievement for kindergarten children

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of maternal and children’s resources on school readiness, literacy achievements, and reading motivation in children. The participants included children (N = 180) (124 girls; 56 boys) from 19 kindergartens, their mothers, and their kindergarten teachers. Mothers reported on their working hours, interaction quality, and learning stimulation range at home. Data on children’s literacy achievements and school readiness were gathered from the teachers. Data on reading motivation and task persistence were obtained directly from the children. Structural equation modelling analysis indicated that maternal working hours affect interaction quality, and the quality of maternal interaction affects children’s reading motivation. Children’s task persistence affects literacy achievement. Both maternal interaction quality and children’s task persistence affect their readiness for school. The analysis also revealed association between the pre-academic skills. Maternal availability and children’s reading motivation and persistence are critical factors in children’s development of academic skills.

KEYWORDS:

• Reading motivation
• persistence
• school readiness
• literacy
• maternal interaction quality
• maternal employment

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the parents, children, kindergarten tachers, and the research assistants who made this research possible.

Current themes of research

literacy achievements; school readiness; infant and child development.

Data statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [[email protected]], upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Edna Orr

Edna Orr, The head of the Quantitative Unit for Final project M.Ed. and M.Ed Thesis supervisor in ‘Gordon academic college of education’, Haifa. Her research focuses on the cognitive development of infants and children. The essential cognitive skills that she explored pertain to play, language, early literacy, and school readiness, which were examined from a dynamic perspective that considers the ecological and personal factors involved in the developmental process. This inclusive trajectory seeks a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in development.

Anat Adi Shapira

Anat Adi Shapira, Ph.D. A cognitive and educational Psychologist, lecturer, supervisor, and research coordinator. Fields of interest: human memory, cognition and metacognition, cognitive development, learning disabilities, executive functions, and self-regulated learning.

Rinat Caspi

Rinat Caspi, Ph.D. Over 16 years of teaching and studying early childhood education and special education. Currently works at the Givat Washington Academic College of Education. She is the head of the Department of Education and a member of the Research Authority in Givat Washington Academic College. Her fields of expertise: mediated learning experience, kindergarten teachers, kindergarten assistants, the process of training pre-service kindergarten teachers, and the implications of media consumption among children.