Disadvantaged five-year-olds who are resilience have a number of factors in common, pointing to ‘what it takes’ to achieve early equity (Figure 4.1. ). The most significant early protective factor is the quality of children’s home learning environments. This is the nature and frequency of parents’ active engagement with their children, particularly in activities that develop children’s oral language skills.
Disadvantaged children’s participation in ECEC is significantly linked to higher learning outcomes, and this relationship is stronger than for advantaged children who participate in ECEC. Even more pronounced is the extent to which parents are involved in their children’s ECEC setting or school, as well as children’s early dispositions towards learning and the extent of their social-emotional development.
An accumulation of protective factors increasingly supports disadvantaged children to reach a level of development on a par with more advantaged children.
In the same way that multiple risk factors compound, an accumulation of protective factors increasingly supports disadvantaged children to reach a level of development on a par with more advantaged children.