Child‐rearing practices associated with the development of cognitive skills of children in low socioeconomic areas

Abstract

Parents of pre-school children with effective learning patterns in low socio-economic areas were studied in relation to four dimensions: parental philosophy and values, perception of the child, feelings of competence, and verbal interaction. In these families, parents maintained a helpful and encouraging attitude toward their children as curious adventurers, creative and independent learners, and often interacted with them in situations which were non-conflictual, thus providing a rich verbal environment This research adds to our knowledge about atypical parent-child interaction in low socio-economic areas which leads to effective learning, and may be helpful in planning optimal care for disadvantaged children.

Features of home environments associated with children's school success

“…Specific parenting practices continue to correlate strongly with school success even when SES, parent IQ, parent education, family size and the child's position in the family are controlled for. Low-income parents with limited education and numerous children who, nonetheless, act toward their children in the ways described below, tend to have children who succeed in school (Laosa, 1983(Laosa, , 1984Swan & Stavros, 1973).…”

“…Other work, however, indicates that children of poverty parents who consistently apply middle-class or comparable practices, tend to succeed in school and the "cycle of poverty" is sometimes broken (Laosa, 1983(Laosa, , 1984Swan & Stavros, 1973; also see review by Honig 1979, pp. 8-14).…”

“…8-14). Several researchers found that family process features, such as parenting practices, were more highly related to intelligence and achievement than was SES (Dave, 1963, Schaefer, 1972& Wolf, 1964, as reviewed by Honig, 1979, p. 9-14;Swan & Stavros 1973).…”

“…Children who organize oral discourse differently are often misunderstood by teachers; their stories remain unappreciated; and their esteem and motivation may be diminished (Cazden, Michaels & Tabors, 1985;Heath, 1983). Also, low SES children whose parents read to them daily and converse with them during dinner are found to be more successful in school (Swan & Stavros, 1973).…”

“…Swan & Stavros (1973) studied 27 low SES children with adaptive learning styles and found that their parents FEATURES OF HOME ENVIRONMENTS 53 were highly involved with them, encouraged individual expression, perceived their children as good and competent, felt confident in the parenting role and used authoritative rather than authoritarian techniques.…”