Mathematics, vocabulary, and reading development in Chinese American and European American children over the primary school years.

Abstract

Forty European American (EA; 20 girls, 20 boys) and 40 second-generation Chinese American (CA; 20 girls, 20 boys) preschool and kindergarten children (mean age at Time 1 = 5.7 years) and their mothers, fathers, and teachers participated in 3 data collections (1993,1995, and 1997) to investigate sociocultural and family factors that contribute to children's academic achievement. CA children outscored EA children in mathematics at all 3 times. Initially, EA children outscored CA children in receptive English vocabulary, but CA children caught up to EA children at Time 3. CA children were better readers than EA children at Time 3. According to parental self-reports, CA parents structured their children's time to a greater degree, used more formal teaching methods, and assigned their children more homework. Parents' work-oriented methods and child-specific beliefs at Time 1 influenced children's mathematics performance at Time 3.The much poorer mathematics performance of U.S. schoolchildren relative to that of European and East Asian nations has been noted for the last 30 years (e.g., Geary, 1996;Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993). In comparisons with East Asian students, the difference is evident as early as kindergarten and first grade (e.g., Geary, Bow-Thomas, Fan, & Siegler, 1993). Within the United States, Asian American children and adolescents outperform other American students in mathematics (e.g.,

Relations among parental acceptance and control and children’s social adjustment in Chinese American and European American families.

“…The lower ratings of athletic competence could reflect the fact that CA children spent considerably less time on team sports (e.g. Huntsinger, Jose, Larson, Krieg, & Shaligram, 2000;Schneider, Hieshima, Lee, & Plank, 1994). The lower self-ratings on social acceptance may be influenced by the fact that the children's immigrant parents expected their children to spend more time on academic pursuits and music practice, which left them less time for interaction with peers (e.g., Schneider et al, 1994).…”

How Do Parents Support Preschoolers’ Numeracy Learning Experiences at Home?

“…Researchers have concluded that exposure to numeracy concepts (including number sense concepts) at home is important (Blevins-Knabe and Musun-Miller 1996;Huntsinger et al 2000;LeFevre et al 2009bLeFevre et al , c, 2002Pan et al 2006). In home numeracy studies, parent questionnaire or interview data have been used to demonstrate retrospectively through self-report methods that involvement in mathematical-type activities is related to scores on mathematical achievement tests (Blevins-Knabe and MusunMiller 1996;Huntsinger et al 2000).…”

“…In home numeracy studies, parent questionnaire or interview data have been used to demonstrate retrospectively through self-report methods that involvement in mathematical-type activities is related to scores on mathematical achievement tests (Blevins-Knabe and MusunMiller 1996;Huntsinger et al 2000). Furthermore, studies have shown that differences exist for children as young as 3 to 4 years of age, living in varied environments, suggesting that the preschool environment is important for numeracy learning (Blevins-Knabe 2008).…”

“…The impetus of these suggestions originate from research on the importance of early enrichment (c.f., Rampon et al 2000), early intervention benefits (c.f., Melhuish et al 2008), suggestions to improve the home learning environment based on cross-cultural research (c.f., Aunio et al 2008;Huntsinger et al 2000), and societal pressures to ensure that young people are prepared for school entry. Parents are also influenced by philosophies to provide Developmentally Appropriate Practice, linking learning to developmental capabilities (NAEYC 2006).…”

Patterns of literacy and numeracy activities in preschool and their relation to structural characteristics and children’s home activities

“…For example, early literacy skills can be encouraged through a variety of activities, such as shared book reading, telling stories, and exposure to the alphabet (Beaty and Pratt 2007; see also Richgels 2003), while early numeracy skills can be encouraged through activities such as counting, comparing sizes, and learning numbers (Silinskas et al 2010;Kuger and Kluczniok 2008). Engaging children in these activities at home and in preschools has proven to be fundamental to childhood development (LeFevre et al 2010;Howes et al 2008;Huntsinger et al 2000). The extensive research on early literacy has led to varying models and frameworks for this concept.…”