The activities parents undertake with their children are significantly related to their children’s cognitive and social-emotional development. Disadvantaged children with strong home learning environments have early learning outcomes that are well above the mean for all children (Figure 4.1. 4.1). These children have every chance of success in schooling and later in life. While disadvantaged children are less likely than their more advantaged peers to experience positive home learning environments, much can be done to support their families to create such environments.
Elements of children’s home learning environments that are strongly associated with children’s learning include:
parents and caregivers regularly reading books with their children Figure 5.1.
having children’s books at home Figure 5.2. ), and
parents and caregivers regularly having back-and-forth conversations with children (Figure 5.3).