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https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2016.1262362

1

Trajectories of Parent Involvement in Home Learning Activities across the Early Years:

Associations with Socio-demographic Characteristics and Children’s Learning

Outcomes

Nicole Hayes1a, Donna C Berthelsen1, Jan M Nicholson2, 1, and Sue Walker1

1School of Early Childhood, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

2Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

aNicole Hayes is now at Mater Research Institute-University of Queensland, Brisbane,

Australia

Acknowledgement

Jan M Nicholson is funded by the Australian Communities Foundation through the

Roberta Holmes Chair for the Transition to Contemporary Parenthood Program (Coronella

sub-fund).

2

Author Contact Details

Dr Nicole Hayes (Corresponding Author)

Mater Research

Level 3, Aubigny Place

Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane, Queensland, 4101, Australia

Telephone: +61 7 3163 2554; Email: nicole.hayes@mater.uq.edu.au

Professor Donna C Berthelsen

Adjunct Professor in the School of Early Childhood

Queensland University of Technology

Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia

Telephone: +61 7 3138 3173; Email: d.berthelsen@qut.edu.au

Professor Jan M Nicholson

Inaugural Roberta Holmes Professor

Judith Lumley Centre, La Trobe University

Level 3, 215 Franklin St, Melbourne, Victoria, 3000, Australia

Telephone: +61 3 9479 8810; Email: j.nicholson@latrobe.edu.au

Professor Sue Walker

Professor in the School of Early Childhood

Queensland University of Technology

Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Queensland, 4059, Australia

Telephone: +61 7 3138 3195; Email: sue.walker@qut.edu.au

3

Short Biographical Notes

Nicole Hayes is a Research Officer at Mater Research Institute-University of

Queensland. She has a PhD in early childhood education and development. Her research

focus includes parenting and home environment influences on children’s early learning and

development.

Donna Berthelsen is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Early Childhood at

Queensland University of Technology. She is a developmental psychologist engaged in

research that focuses on children’s early learning, early childhood education programs, and

the transition to school. The outcomes of her research inform social and educational policy

and practice.

Jan Nicholson is the Inaugural Roberta Holmes Professor in the Judith Lumley Centre

at La Trobe University. She has a PhD in psychology with post-doctoral training in public

health. Her research examines the influence of contemporary family, social and

organisational environments on children's healthy development with a focus on vulnerable

families.

Sue Walker is a Professor in the School of Early Childhood at Queensland University

of Technology. She has a PhD in early childhood education. Her research foci include early

childhood social development, child outcomes in relation to inclusive early childhood

education programs, early intervention, and the transition to school.

4

ABSTRACT

This study examined socio-demographic factors associated with trajectories of parental

involvement in shared book reading and other home activities for children aged 2 to 6 years.

The study uses data from 3836 families participating in Growing Up in Australia: The

Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Latent growth curve models were estimated to

describe associations between trajectories of parental involvement, socio-demographic

factors and children’s learning outcomes. Higher levels of parental involvement at 2 years

were associated with better learning outcomes at 6 years. On average, frequency of parental

involvement in home learning activities decreased over time. Family socioeconomic

disadvantage and being a male child were associated with lower levels of parental

involvement at age 2 years, and more rapid decreases in parental involvement in home

activities over time. Continued attention is needed to identify effective strategies that can

address inequalities in children’s home learning opportunities before children begin school.

Key words: home learning environment; shared reading; early childhood; parent

involvement;

5

INTRODUCTION

Children enter school differentially prepared to take advantage of the learning

opportunities available to them in the early years of formal education (Bradbury, Corak,

Waldfogel, & Washbrook, 2015). Parental involvement with children at home provides many

interactional opportunities that foster language growth and the development of early literacy

and numeracy skills. The purpose of the current study is to examine longitudinal trajectories

of parental involvement in book reading and other home activities with children aged from 2

to 6 years, using data from an Australian longitudinal study. The analyses explore the nature

of the trajectories of parental involvement and the associations of those trajectories with

family socio-demographic factors. It also examines how changes in involvement across the

preschool years impact on children’s academic-related outcomes when children begin school.

Early Home Learning Experiences and Child Outcomes

The term, home learning activities, is used to denote a range of formal and informal

activities in which parents and children engage. These activities provide opportunities for

communicative exchanges and interpersonal interactions that facilitate learning (Foster,

Lambert, Abbott-Shim, McCarty, & Franze, 2005; Melhuish et al., 2008). The most common

home learning activity reported by parents is shared book reading. How often parents read to

their young children has consistent positive correlations with the development of vocabulary

and comprehension skills (Farrant & Zubrick, 2013; Sénéchal, Pagan, Lever, & Ouellette,

2008). Book reading exposes children to new and novel sounds, words, and phrases that are

not typically encountered in day-to-day conversations, often with accompanying illustrations

and pictures that aid understanding (Sénéchal et al., 2008; Wasik & Hindman, 2010).

Beyond shared reading, there are a range of other home activities in which parents

and children may be involved. For example, number games including counting and naming

6

shapes expose children to early mathematical concepts (Skwarchuk, Sowinski, & LeFevre,

2014). In a study with Canadian families, LeFevre et al. (2009) found that the mathematical

skills of children in the early years of school correlated with the frequency with which

parents reported engagement with their young children in activities, such as board and card

games, as well as shopping and cooking. Engagement in home learning activities has been

positively linked to the development of children’s learning-related skills including

cooperation, competence motivation, attention, and persistence (Baker, 2013; Foster et al.,

2005; Hindman & Morrison, 2012).

Other early home learning experiences include oral storytelling, musical and craft

activities. Oral storytelling activities provide a context for children to develop an

understanding of narratives and gain familiarity with decontextualized language (Shoghi,

Wilersdorf, Braganza, & McDonald, 2013). Songs and rhymes introduce children to the

rhythms of language, including sensitivity to rhymes, onsets and syllables (Nord, Lennon,

Liu, & Chandler, 2000; Wasik & Hindman, 2010). Interactions that occur during home

learning activities require joint attention and cooperation and provide children with

opportunities to learn from their more competent adult partners (Farrant & Zubrick, 2013;

Wasik & Hindman, 2010).

Influences of Socio-Demographic Factors on Home Learning Activities

Parental and family factors may motivate parents to provide stimulating early home

learning environments in different ways. Bradbury et al. (2015) reported in comparative

analyses across four countries that children living in socially-disadvantaged circumstances

fare less well on most developmental and learning outcomes when they begin school than

children in more advantaged circumstances. Families experiencing high levels of

disadvantage (i.e., low income, low parental education, and minority groups within the

dominant culture) are less likely to have the financial, psychological and social resources to

7

provide a stimulating home environment for their children (Cooper, Crosnoe, Suizzo, &

Pituch, 2010). Financial strain limits parental abilities to invest in cognitively stimulating

materials and experiences for their children (Yeung, Linver, & Brooks-Gunn, 2002). Longer

work hours may also limit the time that many parents can spend with their children.

Additionally, parents with higher levels of educational attainment may place a higher value

on, and have more positive beliefs, about education (Augustine, Cavanagh, & Crosnoe, 2009)

leading them to prioritise services and experiences that foster their children’s early academic

competencies.

The level of engagement in home learning activities may also vary according to the

sex of the child. It has been reported that families may engage more frequently with girls than

with boys in home educational activities (Raikes et al., 2006; Westerlund & Lagerberg,

2008), while other researchers have found no difference (Rodriguez et al., 2009). Recent

national indicators in Australia have shown that boys are significantly more likely to have

poorer developmental and academic skills at school commencement than are girls (Australian

Government, 2013). Such gender differences may reflect different levels of exposure to early

home learning activities.

Parental Involvement in Home Learning Activities over Time

While there is a significant body of research that indicates the importance of parental

involvement in a range of home learning activities with young children, less is known about

how the levels of parent involvement in these activities may change across time. Raikes et al.

(2006), using data from a large national study in the United States, reported that daily reading

by low income mothers to their young children increased from 14 months, to 24 months, to

36 months, while Bradley, Corwyn, McAdoo and García Coll (2001), in a nationally

representative study conducted in the United States reported cross-cohort declines in

involvement in home learning activities from preschool (3 to 5 years) to middle childhood (5

8

to 8 years). Decreases in levels of parental involvement over time may reflect children’s

increased independence to generate their own activities or that children’s increased

engagement in child care or other early education programs reduces the time available for

parents and children to engage in such activities at home.

In this context of change in overall levels of parental involvement, there is evidence of

‘relative’ or ‘rank-order’ stability between families across childhood. Parents who provide a

more stimulating home environment relative to other parents in the early years are more

likely to provide a highly stimulating environment when children are older (Sy, Gottfried, &

Gottfried, 2013). What is less clear from the existing research is whether there are intra-

individual differences in how parental involvement changes over time in addition to inter-

individual differences. Different patterns of change in the level of parent involvement could

have different implications for early childhood education policies on how to support family

involvement in children’s early learning. For example, it is possible that all parents show a

similar rate of decline in home learning activities across the preschool years, irrespective of

their initial starting levels. Alternatively, those parents who started at the highest initial levels

of involvement may show a more rapid rate of decline, so that by school commencement,

differences in parental engagement remain but have narrowed. Finally, it is possible that

parents who started with the lowest levels of engagement may show a more rapid rate of

decline, so that the differences in the level of involvement in home learning activities widen

over time.

The Current Study

In the current study, we explore the trajectories of parent involvement in home

learning activities for families with children aged 2 to 6 years and the degree of change from

for any specific parent. We also examine whether the different trajectories contribute to

9

children’s academic outcomes when they begin school, independent of parents’ initial levels

of engagement.

‘Growth curve’ modelling techniques provide a means for examining change over

time between families, as well as within families, so that valid inferences can be made about

‘inter-individual’ differences as well as ‘intra-individual’ differences (Curran & Wirth, 2004).

Using such modelling, this study will assess how the mean level of parental involvement in

home learning activities changes from 2 to 6 years by examining within-family trajectories as

well as differences between families defined by socio-demographic factors.

In summary, this study addresses three research questions: Are there differences

within families on the initial level of parental involvement and the rate of change over time in

shared reading and home activities from age 2 to 6 years? Are these differences associated

with specific child and family socio-demographic factors? And finally, what is the relation

between the initial levels of parental involvement and the rate of change over time in shared

reading and home activities from age 2 to 6 years and young children’s oral language, literacy

and numeracy skills, and approaches to learning at age 6 years?

METHOD

These analyses use longitudinal data from Growing Up in Australia: the Longitudinal

Study of Australian Children (LSAC). This is a large-scale nationally representative study

tracking the health and development of Australian children and their families from birth to

adolescence (Gray & Smart, 2009). LSAC uses a cross-sequential longitudinal research

design to follow two cohorts of children, an infant cohort (aged 0-1 year, at recruitment) and

a kindergarten cohort (aged 4-5 years, at recruitment). Data have been collected biennially

from children and their families since 2004. Data collection at each wave includes parent and

child computer-assisted interviews conducted in the home, direct child assessments, and

10

parent- and teacher-completed questionnaires. A two-stage clustered sampling design was

used for recruitment of children into the study (Soloff, Lawrence, & Johnstone, 2005).

Stratification was used to ensure the number of children in each Australian state/territory and

within and outside each capital city was proportionate to the population of children in these

areas. The sampling frame was derived from the Medicare Australia (health insurance)

database, in which >90% of infants and 98% of 4-year old children were likely to be enrolled

(Hull, Lawrence, MacIntyre, & MacIntyre, 2001).

Participants

These analyses use data collected for the Infant Cohort of LSAC for whom Parent 1

(designated as the primary parent) interview data were available at the three data points of

interest (Waves 2, 3 and 4, when children were ages 2-3, 4-5 and 6-7 years, respectively).

The sample was restricted to biologically related or adoptive female informants, who

remained the same informant across the three waves of data collection to minimize

confounding factors.

A total of 3836 participants met the inclusion criteria for the current study. Sample

demographics of selected and excluded participants are presented in Table 1. Children

included in this sample in the current study were slightly younger at each wave of data

collection than children in excluded families. Included mothers were less likely to be

Indigenous or to speak a main language other than English at home compared to excluded

mothers and were more likely to have completed a post-secondary educational qualification.

They were also more likely at each data collection wave to have a higher weekly household

income.

Measures

11

Home learning activities. Two separate constructs were used in the current study to

represent parental involvement in home learning activities: shared reading and home

activities. Home learning activities were measured by parent report when children were aged

2, 4 and 6 years (Waves 2, 3, and 4). The items were drawn from item sets used in large

scale, longitudinal studies in the United States [e.g., National Household Education Survey

Program (National Center for Education Statistics, 1993-2007); Early Childhood

Longitudinal Study (National Center for Education Statistics, 1999-2007), and the Head Start

Family and Child Experiences Survey (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

1997-2005)].

Shared reading. This single item measured frequency of exposure to books. Mothers

were asked, “In the past week, on how many days have you or an adult in the family read to

[study child] from a book?” Responses were coded as 1 (not in the past week), 2 (1 or 2

days), 3 (3-5 days), or 4 (6-7 days). This single item measure has established predictive utility

related to children’s learning outcomes (Farrant & Zubrick, 2013; Raikes et al., 2006) and is

significantly correlated with other measures of shared book reading (Mol & Bus, 2011).

Home activities. This scale included five activities that provided opportunities for

learning through interpersonal interactions. Mothers were asked, “In the past week, on how

many days have you or an adult in the family told a story (not from a book); drawn a picture

or did other art/craft activities; played music, sung songs or did other musical activities;

played with toys or games indoors; and played games outdoors or did other physical outdoor

activities with [study child]?” Responses were coded as 1 (not in the past week), 2 (1 or 2

days), 3 (3-5 days), or 4 (6-7 days). Items were examined in a confirmatory factor analysis to

test the robustness of a latent construct for home activities (see Hayes, 2015). The fit indices

showed good model fit for this latent construct: χ2(5) = 9.98, p>0.05 at Wave 2; χ2(5) =

12.05, p<0.05 at Wave 3; χ2(5) = 28.77, p<0.05 at Wave 4; RMSEA <0.05; CFI and TFI

12

>0.95. Additional longitudinal confirmatory factor models revealed full metric measurement

invariance across Waves 2 to 4. This longitudinal latent variable measurement model was

retained for the analyses.

Socio-demographic variables. Socio-demographic variables were child gender (0 =

male, 1 = female); maternal Indigenous status (0 = no, 1 = yes); maternal language spoken at

home (0 = English, 1 = language other than English); maternal post-secondary educational

attainment (0 = no, 1 = yes); and weekly household income (measured at Wave 2, 3 and 4 by

a numerical response).

Child outcomes at age 6-7 years

Language. Language was measured by direct assessment using an adapted version

(Rothman, 2005) of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III) (Dunn & Dunn, 1997).

Items were stimulus words given orally by the examiner and four numbered picture plates,

each with a simple black and white illustration. The child’s task is to indicate which picture

best represents the meaning of the stimulus word. A core set of 20 items were administered to

all children. Children who made 15 to 20 errors were administered an additional basal set of

10 items and children who made 0 to 6 errors were administered an additional ceiling set of

10 items. Scores were the total number of correct answers summed from a possible 40 picture

plates, created using Rasch Modelling to ensure that changes in scores represented real

changes in functioning, rather than changes in position relative to peers (Rothman, 2005).

Pearson product-moment correlations of between 0.93 to 0.97 were found between the full

PPVT-III and the Adapted PPVT-III in separate samples of 215 children aged from 41 to 66

months and 421 children aged 67 to 95 months (Rothman, 2005). The Pearson separation

reliability of the adapted PPVT-III was 0.76. Higher scores indicated higher receptive

vocabulary.

13

Literacy and numeracy. Literacy and numeracy were measured using the Academic

Rating Scale (ARS) (National Center for Education Statistics, 1999), a teacher-rated

questionnaire adapted for LSAC to ensure that the skills, knowledge and behaviours reflected

Australian curriculum standards (Rothman, 2009). The ARS has two subscales (Language

and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking). The Language and Literacy subscale has 10 items

assessing children’s proficiency in various communication, reading and writing tasks. The

Mathematical Thinking subscale comprises eight items assessing children’s proficiency in

numeracy, understanding of measurement and spatial concepts. Items were rated on a five-

point proficiency scale (1 = not yet, 2 = beginning, 3 = in progress, 4 = intermediate, 5 =

proficient). Scale scores were the mean of the items. Internal consistency on Cronbach’s

alpha was 0.96 for the Language and Literacy subscale and 0.95 for the Mathematical

Thinking subscale.

Approaches to learning. Approaches to learning was measured by the Approaches to

Learning subscale of the Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS) (Gresham & Elliott, 1990). As

used in LSAC, the Approaches to Learning scale comprises six teacher-rated items that rates

children’s attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence,

flexibility, and organization. The response scale ranges from 1 = never to 4 = very often. The

scale score was the mean of the six items, with a Cronbach’s alpha = 0.91.

Data Analytic Approach

Missing data. All mother-reported variables had complete data, with the exception of

household income which had missing data ranging from 1.3% (Wave 2, n = 51) to 3.4% of

cases (Wave 4, n = 132). For the direct assessment of children’s receptive vocabulary, 1.1%

of cases (n = 43) had missing data. Around one in five children had missing data on the

outcome variables measured via teacher report because of non-return of teacher

questionnaires [ARS Language and Literacy (n = 715, 18.6%); Mathematical Thinking (n =

14

727, 19.0%); Approaches to Learning (n = 720, 18.8%)]. Children with complete teacher data

were younger, F (1, 3835) = 18.02, p <0.01, and were less likely to have a non-English

language spoken at home, χ2 (1, n = 3836) = 14.81, p <0.01, compared to children with

missing teacher data. No other significant demographic differences were found.

Missing data were imputed using the Expected Maximization (EM) algorithm

available in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program Version 20 (SPSS) (IBM

Corp, 2011). This algorithm is based on the Maximum Likelihood (ML) method, which uses

all available data (both complete and incomplete) and a log likelihood function to estimate

population parameters that have the highest probability of producing the sample data (Baraldi

& Enders, 2010). The ML method is widely recommended and has been shown to produce

accurate parameter estimates for variables with up to 25% of data missing (Enders &

Bandalos, 2001). All analyses were conducted with both the imputed and non-imputed data

sets and yielded similar results. Statistics using the imputed data are presented here.

Statistical analysis. Latent Growth Models (LGMs) were estimated, using repeated

measures data on the variables for shared reading and home activities. Such modelling infers

existence of unobserved growth trajectories based on a set of observed repeated measures.

The characteristics of a trajectory are described by the mean of the intercept (i.e., initial

starting point for the trajectory at the first time point) and by the mean of the slope (i.e., rate

of change over time in the trajectory); as well as by the variances estimated around those

means through which larger variances reflect greater variability in the intercept or slope

(Preacher, Wichman, MacCallum, & Briggs, 2008). In these analyses, three waves of data

were used to estimate the trajectories for involvement in shared reading and home activities,

when children were aged 2, 4 and 6 years.

First, unconditional LGMs were estimated to investigate two trajectories (parent

involvement in shared reading and parent involvement in home activities). Second,

15

conditional LGMs were estimated that included the repeated parent involvement variables

and socio-demographic variables as covariates. These analyses examined the unique

contribution of each socio-demographic variable on the intercept and slope of the trajectories

for time-invariant covariates of child gender, maternal Indigenous status, Non-English home

language, and maternal education. Household income was also included as a time-varying

covariate in these analyses because its value changed significantly for families across the

three time points (see Table 1). Finally, outcome variables were added to the conditional

LGMs to examine how the intercept and slopes were associated with children’s

developmental outcomes at age 6 years for language, literacy, numeracy, and approaches to

learning.

Mplus Version 7 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998-2012) was used to perform the latent

growth curve analyses. To estimate the model parameters, the recommended weighted least

squares estimator (WLSMV) was used (Bollen & Curran, 2006). For data measured on an

ordinal scale, this estimator sets the mean of the intercept factor at zero. This gives a

reference point from which the mean of the slope factor, and the variances and covariance of

the intercept and slope factors can be estimated (Muthén & Muthén, 1998-2012). The fit of

each model was assessed based on multiple indictors: the Chi-square likelihood ratio test,

RMSEA (values ≤ 0.06 indicate good fit; 0.05 – 0.08 indicate satisfactory fit), CFI (values ≥

0.96 indicate good fit; 0.90 – 0.95 indicate satisfactory fit), and TLI (values ≥ 0.95 indicate

good fit; 0.90 – 0.94 indicate satisfactory fit) (Hu & Bentler, 1999).

RESULTS

Preliminary Statistics

Table 2 presents descriptive statistics on the shared reading and home activities

variables across the three data collection points. Table 3 presents the correlations across time

by child age with the four learning outcomes measured at age 6 years.

16

[INSERT TABLE 2 AND 3 HERE]

Trajectories of Parental Involvement in Shared Reading and Home Activities

Model parameters and model fit statistics for the two linear unconditional latent

growth curve models are presented in Table 4. The trajectory of change was similar across

the two parental involvement measures. On average, parental involvement in shared reading

and parental involvement in home activities declined significantly from age 2 to 6 years. The

significance of the variability for the intercept and slope estimates indicated that individual

families had different initial levels of involvement in shared reading and home activities

when children were aged 2 years, and also different rates of decline in involvement in shared

reading and home activities from age 2 to 6 years.

[INSERT TABLE 4 HERE]

Socio-demographic Predictors of Parental Involvement

Time-invariant predictors. The time-invariant predictors were child gender,

maternal Indigenous status, maternal home language, and maternal education. As shown in

Table 5, there were small to moderate associations between child gender and trajectories of

parental involvement. Female children were read to more frequently at age 2 years than were

male children. The frequency of shared reading also declined at a slower rate from age 2 to 6

years for female children than for male children. There was no difference in frequency of

engagement in home activities at age 2 years between female and male children; however,

17

engagement in these activities declined at a slower rate from age 2 to 6 years for female

children than male children.

[INSERT TABLE 5 HERE]

There were moderate to large associations between maternal Indigenous status and

trajectories of parental involvement. Indigenous mothers read to their children significantly

less often at age 2 years than did mothers who did not identify as Indigenous. Indigenous

mothers also decreased the frequency with which they read to their children from age 2 to 6

years at a significantly faster rate compared to mothers who did not identify as Indigenous.

There was no difference in the frequency of home activities at age 2 years between

Indigenous and non-Indigenous mothers; however, Indigenous mothers decreased the

frequency with which they engaged in these home activities with their children from age 2 to

6 years at a significantly faster rate than did mothers who did not identify as Indigenous.

There were moderate to large associations between maternal home language and

trajectories of parental involvement. Mothers with a non-English home language read to their

children less often when their children were aged 2 years and engaged in home activities

significantly less frequently than mothers who spoke English as their main language at home.

Mothers with a non-English home language also decreased the frequency with which they

read to their children and engaged in home activities from age 2 to 6 years at a faster rate,

compared to mothers who spoke English as their main language at home.

The associations between maternal educational attainment and trajectories of parental

involvement were moderate in size. Mothers who had completed a post-secondary

educational qualification read to their children and engaged in home activities significantly

more often at age 2 years than did mothers who had not completed a post-secondary

18

educational qualification. Mothers who had completed a post-secondary educational

qualification also decreased the frequency of shared reading with their children from age 2 to

6 years; however, this was at a significantly slower rate than did mothers who had not

completed a post-secondary educational qualification. There was no difference in rate of

decline in engagement in home activities from age 2 to 6 years between mothers who had

completed a post-secondary educational qualification and mothers who had not.

Time-varying predictors. Total weekly household income was a time-varying

predictor at each data collection wave that was included in the analyses. Higher income at

ages 2 years and 6 years was associated with more frequent shared reading, while lower

income at age 2 years was associated with more frequent involvement in home activities.

However, these estimates were small.

Associated Child Outcomes of Parental Involvement

Separate models were estimated for each of the four child outcome measures. In these

models, intercept and slope factors were regressed onto each child outcome. Model

parameters and model fit statistics for these linear conditional latent growth curve models are

presented in Table 6.

[INSERT TABLE 6 HERE]

Language abilities. Children who were read to more frequently and whose parents

had higher involvement in home activities at age 2 years had higher receptive language

abilities at age 6 years. However, for those children for whom the frequency of parental

involvement in shared reading and home activities decreased at a faster rate from 2 to 6 years

then those children had poorer receptive language abilities at age 6 years.

19

Literacy skills. Children who were read to more frequently and involved in home

activities more frequently at age 2 years had higher literacy skills as rated by teachers at age 6

years. However, for those children for whom the frequency of parental involvement in shared

reading and home activities decreased at a faster rate from 2 to 6 years then those children

had poorer early literacy abilities at age 6 years.

Numeracy skills. Parental involvement in shared reading and home activities at age 2

years was not significantly related to children’s numeracy skills at age 6 years. However, for

those children for whom the frequency of parental involvement in shared reading and home

activities decreased at a faster rate from 2 to 6 years then those children had poorer early

numeracy abilities at age 6 years.

Approaches to learning. Children who were read to more frequently and involved in

home activities more frequently at age 2 years had more positive approaches to learning at

age 6 years. However, the rate of decline in the frequency of parental involvement in shared

reading and home activities from age 2 to 6 years was not significantly related to children’s

approaches to learning at age 6 years.

DISCUSSION

Using data from a large Australian sample, this study examined the initial levels of

parental involvement in home learning activities with 2 year-old children and the rate of

change in that involvement across the early childhood years. The analyses also examined

associations between parental involvement and children’s academic outcomes at the

beginning of school. Overall, levels of involvement in shared reading and home activities

declined from baseline, when children were 2 years, to age 6 years. Parents of boys and

parents with more disadvantaged family circumstances had lower initial levels of

involvement in shared book reading and other home activities and a greater rate of decline in

involvement from 2 to 6 years. There were moderately significant associations between

20

parents’ initial levels of involvement and the rate of change from age 2 to 6 years and

children’s early academic outcomes. The findings suggest that family support policies need to

be targeted to encourage parental involvement in home learning activities for more

disadvantaged families. Such policies may reduce early academic skill differences for

children when they begin school.

Consistent with previous research (Bradley et al., 2001; Raikes et al., 2006; Rodriguez

et al., 2009), male children, families with an ethnic-minority background, lower income

families and those in which the mother has low levels of formal education were, on average,

involved in shared reading and other home learning activities less frequently. Inequalities in

opportunities for cognitive stimulation at home were evident when children were 2 years old

and the gaps widened from age 2 to 6 years.

After adjustment for key covariates, baseline levels of parental involvement in shared

reading and other learning activities in the home at 2 years showed modest, but statistically

significant associations with child outcomes four years later. More rapid decreases in parental

involvement in home learning activities across the early years had a moderate but significant

negative impact on children’s language, literacy and numeracy skills when those children

began school. Bradbury et al. (2015) noted in their analysis, using data from four national

contexts, that early learning disparities at the beginning of school continue to widen across

the school years. Strategies that seek to increase initial levels and slow the decline in parental

participation in home learning activities may provide the means to reduce the ‘gender gap’

and the socio-economic inequalities in children’s early educational outcomes.

Strengths and Limitations

A key strength of this study lies in the use of a large sample and longitudinal panel

data. In tracking the same families across time, the current study was able to capture a picture

of levels of initial parental involvement when children were young and the rate of change

21

until children began school. The analyses were also able to use a number of different sources

of data including parent-report, teacher-report and direct child assessment, to minimise

influence of shared method variance in the predictive analyses that is not possible with a

reliance only on parent report data, which can be often the case.

However, the range of home learning activities measured in this study were limited

and represented only a relatively small set of possible activities in which parents and children

could engage in the home setting; additionally, shared reading was only assessed with a

single item. This might account for the small to moderate effect sizes observed in relation to

early academic outcomes. Previous studies have shown stronger associations using other

measures of specific home literacy activities, such as teaching of the alphabet, letters and

numbers (Hood, Conlon, & Andrews, 2008). The quality of interactions such as parental

sensitivity and responsiveness during home learning interactions (Rodriguez et al., 2009) is

also important but not measured in this study.

Finally, the study sample consisted predominantly of families from the majority

culture and included only small percentages of Indigenous mothers and mothers with a non-

English home language. Average weekly household income was in the middle to high income

range for the Australian population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). These

characteristics may explain why only small effects were observed for the associations

between household income and parental involvement in home learning activities. Other

studies have reported larger family differences by income with samples from the United

States where there is wider income diversity which enabled comparisons to be made between

families living above and below the poverty threshold (Bradley et al., 2001). The current

study may not have adequately captured the home learning experiences of families in

Australia who have a low or very low household income or families from minority cultures.

Implications for Policy and Practice

22

In the Australian context, there have been relatively high levels of policy and media

attention on the importance of parents reading to their young children. However, these

findings suggest that greater effort is needed to reduce gender and socio-economic gaps in

parent involvement at home. Early intervention strategies should be targeted and tailored

towards the most vulnerable groups. However, these intervention should be respectful and

responsive to families’ capabilities, needs and circumstances (Boag-Munroe & Evangelou,

2012). Increased attention is needed focused on what services can be delivered in cost-

effective ways to support behavioural change amongst the most vulnerable / at-risk parent

groups.

In different countries, large administrative datasets and longitudinal studies such as

LSAC are invaluable in order to inform policy directions through the identification of

subgroups in the population who may require additional support. In developed countries,

parental programs that focus on the long term value of improving the quality of the home

learning environment and responsive parent-child interactions are particularly important.

Higher proportions of women are returning to paid employment when their children are

young and families are increasingly time poor. To prioritise their time to home learning

activities, parents need to value the impact of the interactional time spent with young children

and the longer-term benefits that will accrue for their children across the school years.

Successful behaviour change is most likely to be achieved with practical learning

opportunities afforded to parents to receive feedback on the quality of their interactions with

children in ways that also increase parenting self-confidence. Using a strengths-based

approach to assist parents to build engagement opportunities into the rhythm of daily family

routines could be an important strategy. In circumstances where there are identifiable

differences according to social or cultural background, group programs and the use of peer-

models may also be valuable strategies.

23

Conclusion

The analyses presented in this paper contribute new understandings about children’s

early learning experiences in families and the level of parent involvement within families

over time. Parental involvement for shared reading and home activities was highest at 2 years

of age and the frequency of such involvement declined significantly from 2 to 6 years.

Between individuals, there was a high degree of variability in parent involvement at age 2

years, particularly, in shared reading. Variability in family trajectories was associated with

various socio-demographic factors. This research analysed trajectories of change in young

children’s experiences. Advances in analytic techniques that have been extensively adopted

in the last decade have provided versatile tools for studying longitudinal change which have

many advantages over more traditional methods. Researchers interested in children’s home

learning environments can now gain better understanding about how the patterns of change

within and between families vary. These analyses have also pointed to the continued

importance of providing many families with additional supports in order to enhance

children’s early learning home experiences across the early childhood years to ensure

successful transitions into school.

Acknowledgements

This paper uses unit record data from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal

Study of Australian Children (LSAC). The LSAC study is conducted in partnership between

the Department of Social Services (DSS), the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS)

and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The findings and views reported in this paper

are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the DSS, AIFS, or the ABS.

24

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Tables

Table 1

Sample Demographics of Selected and Excluded Participants

Sample

Individual Characteristics Included

(n = 3836)

Excluded

(n = 770)

Statistic Significance

Child n (%) χ2 p

Female 1864 (49) 392 (51) 1.38 0.25

M (SD) F p

Age in months (at Wave 2) 33.85 (2.91) 34.30 (3.00) 15.24 0.00

Age in months (at Wave 3) 57.53 (2.80) 58.18 (3.24) 24.58 0.00

Age in months (at Wave 4) 81.84 (3.50) 82.15 (3.68) 2.78 0.10

Maternal/family n (%) χ2 p

Indigenous 73 (2) 55 (7) 65.17 0.00

Non-English home language 454 (12) 166 (22) 52.05 0.00

Post-secondary education 2828 (74) 499 (65) 24.44 0.00

M (SD) F p

Income (at Wave 2) 1576.09 (1019.36) 1368.82 (1077.76) 25.47 0.00

Income (at Wave 3) 1843.97 (1345.88) 1681.61 (1350.84) 6.78 0.01

Income (at Wave 4) 1965.79 (1359.35) 1896.74 (1863.64) 0.84 0.36

31

Table 2

Parental Involvement in Shared Reading and Home Activities on 3 or More Days in the Past Week at Age 2, 4

and 6 Years.

2-3 years 4-5 years 6-7 years

Home Learning Activities n (%) n (%) n (%)

Read (from a book) 3261 (85) 3100 (81) 3040 (79)

Home activities

Told a story 1049 (27) 1081 (28) 734 (19)

Drew pictures 2390 (62) 1903 (50) 925 (24)

Played musical activities 2815 (73) 2142 (56) 1461 (38)

Played with toys indoors 3166 (83) 1925 (50) 1403 (37)

Played games outdoors 2665 (70) 2228 (57) 1729 (45)

32

Table 3 Correlations between Parental Involvement in Home Learning Activities and Child Outcomes

Child Outcomes Variables Language Literacy Numeracy Approaches to Learning M (SD) 74.49 (5.08) 3.59 (1.03) 3.47 (1.01) 3.26 (0.69) Range 35.66-91.58 1-5 1-5 1-4 Home learning activities Age 2-3 years Read (from a book) 0.27 0.25 0.19 0.15 Told a story 0.13 0.10 0.09 0.07 Drew pictures 0.11 0.10 0.07 0.09 Played musical activities 0.08 0.08 0.05 0.04 Played with toys indoors 0.12 0.04 0.04 0.03 Played games outdoors 0.10 -0.01 0.00 -0.01 Age 4-5 years Read (from a book) 0.26 0.20 0.16 0.11 Told a story 0.10 0.07 0.07 0.05 Drew pictures 0.06 0.04 0.01 0.06 Played musical activities 0.02 0.03 -0.02 0.03 Played with toys indoors 0.07 0.06 0.04 0.02 Played games outdoors 0.10 0.01 0.02 0.03 Age 6-7 years Read (from a book) 0.10 0.06 -0.00 0.08 Told a story 0.07 0.04 0.01 0.03 Drew pictures 0.02 -0.04 -0.07 0.02 Played musical activities 0.03 0.05 0.02 0.02 Played with toys indoors 0.07 -0.01 -0.03 -0.01 Played games outdoors 0.06 0.03 0.04 0.07 Child outcomes (age 6-7 years) Language 1 Literacy 0.32 1 Numeracy 0.29 0.83 1 Approaches to Learning 0.14 0.57 0.49 1

33

Table 4

Unstandardized Parameters for Unconditional Latent Growth Curve Models of Parent Involvement in Shared

Reading and Home Activities

Shared Reading1 Home Activities2

Model Parameters Estimate p-value Estimate p-value

Mean

Intercept (initial level at 2 years) 0.00 - 0.00 -

Slope (rate of change from 2 to 6 years) -0.18 0.00 -0.34 0.00

Variance3

Intercept (variability in initial level) 0.75 0.00 0.19 0.00

Slope (variability in rate of change) 0.14 0.00 0.03 0.00

Intercept-Slope Covariance -0.22 0.00 -0.02 0.00

Note. 1Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 28.66 (3), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.05; CFI = 0.99; TLI = 0.99.

2Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 458.26 (95), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.98.

3Significant and / or large variances for intercepts and slopes reflect the extent of individual differences

in the magnitude of the trajectory parameters around the mean values (i.e., some individuals are

reporting higher or lower intercepts, or steeper or less-steep slopes relative to others).

34

Table 5

Standardized Parameters for Conditional Latent Growth Curve Models of Parental Involvement in Shared

Reading and Home Activities

Shared Reading1 Home Activities2

Model Parameters Estimate p-value Estimate p-value

Time-invariant predictors

Intercept (initial level at 2 years)

Female (child) 0.14 0.00 0.05 0.28

Indigenous -0.84 0.00 -0.19 0.07

Non-English home language -0.64 0.00 -0.30 0.00

Post-secondary education 0.46 0.00 0.31 0.00

Slope (rate of change from 2 to 6 years)

Female -0.20 0.00 -0.31 0.00

Indigenous 0.43 0.02 0.56 0.03

Non-English home language 0.60 0.00 0.22 0.03

Post-secondary education -0.22 0.00 -0.14 0.06

Time-varying predictors

Income Wave 2 0.07 0.02 -0.07 0.02

Income Wave 3 0.01 0.06 0.02 0.54

Income Wave 4 0.07 0.01 0.03 0.41

R2 intercept 0.10 0.03

R2 slope 0.06 0.03

Note. 1Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 58.12 (13), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.96.

2Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 816.78 (189), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.97.

35

Table 6

Standardized Parameters for Conditional Latent Growth Curve Models of Parental Involvement in Shared Reading and Home Activities with Associated Child Outcomes

Language1 Literacy2 Numeracy3 Approaches to Learning4

Model Parameters Estimate p-value Estimate p-value Estimate p-value Estimate p-value

Shared Reading

Intercept (initial level at 2 years) 0.25 0.00 0.18 0.00 0.06 0.06 0.14 0.00

Slope (rate of change from 2 to 6 years) -0.08 0.03 -0.12 0.02 -0.21 0.00 0.04 0.26

R2 0.14 0.14 0.10 0.11

Home Activities

Intercept (initial level at 2 years) 0.14 0.00 0.07 0.01 0.04 0.08 0.07 0.00

Slope (rate of change from 2 to 6 years) -0.09 0.03 -0.08 0.03 -0.14 0.00 -0.00 0.91

R2 0.09 0.09 0.07 0.10

Note. 1Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 70.71 (14), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.94 for shared reading and χ2 = 857.48 (202), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.97;

TLI = 0.97 for home activities. 2Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 63.36 (14), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.95 for shared reading and χ2 = 875.37.48 (202), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI =

0.97; TLI = 0.96 for home activities. 3Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 68.11 (14), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.97; TLI = 0.94 for shared reading and χ2 = 869.97 (202), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.97;

TLI = 0.96 for home activities. 4Model fit statistics are: χ2 = 60.48 (14), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.95 for shared reading and χ2 = 863.45 (202), 0.00; RMSEA = 0.03; CFI = 0.97;

TLI = 0.97 for home activities.