6. Family learning environments and child outcomes
Section summary
The family environment plays a central role in young children's socialisation and learning. To a large extent, young children learn by interacting with family members in a variety of activities at home and in the community. Important family environment predictors for a higher Outcome Index for 4 to 5 year-old children, after controlling for child and family characteristics, included:
- a family member read to the child on three or more days per week
- there were 10 or more children's books in the family home
- the child enjoyed being read to by a family member for more than 10 minutes at a time
- the child had access to a computer at home
- the child had medium or high engagement in out-of-home activities with family members.
Children who watched more hours of television during the week or on the weekend had lower Outcome Index scores. This effect was apparent for children who averaged three or more hours of television on weekdays and five or more hours of television on weekend days.
6.1 Introduction
Children begin school with different levels of preparation for learning which are strongly determined by learning opportunities afforded to them in the family. The nature and frequency of shared activities between adults and children constitute important variations in children's early learning experiences and competence in the early years of school (Bradley et al. 2001; Tudge et al. 2003). Children's exposure to literacy materials in the home and their engagement with adults in a range of family activities provide cognitive stimulation and promote skill development. The communication that occurs between adults and children during such shared engagement in activities is particularly important. Martini and Mistry (1993) found that children who did better in their early schooling had parents who consistently responded to children's communicative initiations, read to them frequently, and engaged in shared activities. Bennett, Weigel and Martin (2002) reported that family values and practices that reflected an orientation of 'family as educator' were most predictive of children's higher achievement in the early years of school.
In this section the following research questions are addressed in relation to the Wave 1 LSAC data for the child cohort only:
- What is the nature of the early literacy environment in the home for these children?
- What home and out-of-home learning activities do family members share with children?
- How much television do children view at home?
- What access do children have to computers and how much do they use them?
- Do these learning experiences and opportunities in the family relate to children's outcomes?
In this section, children's early literacy experiences in the home are described as well as the nature of home and out-of-home learning activities between children and family members. The information is presented in Table 23. The nature of children's experiences is then related to their positive and negative overall Outcome Index scores (comprising the top and bottom 15 per cent of the distribution). Results for these are given in Figures 13 and 14. Finally, regression models evaluating the impact of the various home learning opportunities and experiences on the Outcome Index and learning domain scores are presented in Table 24.
6.2 Findings
The family learning environment variables
Early literacy experiences
Individual differences in children's early literacy skills emerge before they begin formal schooling and are reasonably stable across the early school years (eds Shonkoff & Phillips 2000). Children who begin formal schooling with adequate language skills are more likely to become fluent readers by Year 3 of school (de Jong & Leseman 2001; Senechal & LeFevre 2002). In the home, parents' beliefs and practices about reading influence both the extent to which literacy experiences and activities are available to the child and the manner in which they occur. Young children whose parents read to them regularly develop stronger literacy-related skills before starting school (Bus, van Ijzendoorn & Pellegrini 1995; Molfese, Modglin & Molfese 2003; Senechal et al. 2001). The number of children's books in the home and visits to the library are also indicators of the opportunities afforded to children to access reading materials and to learn the value of reading as an activity. Aside from the literacy resources and opportunities afforded to children at home, child characteristics, such as a child's level of interest and capacity to listen when adults read to them, also play a part.
Four questions on the LSAC questionnaire measured children's early experiences of literacy in the family: In the past week, on how many days have you or someone in your family read to [child's name] from a book?; About how many children's books does [child's name] have in your home now?; For about how many minutes does [child's name] enjoy being read to at a sitting?; In the past month, has [child's name] visited a library with you or another family member?
Overall, a positive picture emerges of children's early literacy experiences in the family (see Table 23):
- 75 per cent of children were read to by a family member on three or more days per week
- 89 per cent of children had 10 or more children's books in the family home
- 50 per cent of children had visited a library in the last month with a family member
- 68 per cent of children enjoyed being read to by a family member for more than 10 minutes at a sitting.
Features of the early literacy family environment were also examined according to the percentages of children who had a positive and negative Outcome Index and are shown in Figures 13 and 14. In summary:
- Outcome Index scores (that is, fell in the top 15 per cent of the distribution on the overall Outcome Index) and 25 per cent had negative Outcome Index scores (that is, in the lowest 15 per cent).
- For children who had less than 10 children's books in the home, 5 per cent had a positive Outcome Index and 35 per cent had a negative Outcome Index.
- For children who had not visited a library in the last month, 11 per cent had a positive Outcome Index and 18 per cent had a negative Outcome Index.
For children who did not like being read to for more than 10 minutes at a time, 7 per cent had a positive Outcome Index and 28 per cent had a negative Outcome Index.
Shared home activities
Shared activities in the home, aside from specific literacy-related practices, also constitute important variations in children's early learning experiences that impact on communicative and academic competence in the first years of school (Bradley et al. 2001; McClelland, Kessenich & Morrison 2003; Morrison & Cooney 2002; Tudge et al. 2003). The amount of verbal interaction with young children and the extent of their exposure to age appropriate experiences influence children's communicative competence. In their interactions with children, engaged parents use language in ways that resemble literacy discourses (Martini 1995). In such exchanges, expressive language is more elaborated (for example, events and actions are described and explained); more complex language forms are used which are grammatically and syntactically complex; and accounts of events are structured as narratives (unfold in specific stages). All children, regardless of participation in early childhood programs prior to school, benefit from home literacy environments that foster their language and literacy skill development (Bennett, Weigel & Martin 2002).
The LSAC questionnaire asked about the frequency of participation, across a week, by their child and family members in six home activities which were rated on a scale of 'no participation' in such activities to 'everyday participation'. The activities were: told child a story (not from a book); drew pictures or worked on art or craft activities; engaged in musical activities; played with toys or games indoors; involved children in everyday activities, such as cooking or caring for pets; played games outdoors or exercised together (see Table 23).
On three or more days per week:
- 28 per cent of children were told a story (not read from a book)
- 57 per cent of children engaged with a family member in drawing or other art/craft activities
- 60 per cent of children engaged with a family member in music, singing, or other musical activities
- 52 per cent of children played with toys or games indoors with a family member
- 67 per cent of children engaged with family members in everyday activities
- 59 per cent of children engaged in games or other physical activities outdoors with a family member.
The ratings for the six home activities were summed and a mean item score was obtained, which was then divided into approximate tertiles for frequency of participation in shared home activities. There was low engagement in shared home activities for 27 per cent of the children, medium engagement for 41 per cent of the children, and high engagement for 33 per cent of the children. Figures 13 and 14 show the percentages of children with a positive (top 15 per cent) and negative (bottom 15 per cent) overall Outcome Index for each level of engagement of children with family members in shared home activities. In summary:
- 11 per cent of children who had low engagement with family members in shared home activities had a positive Outcome Index (compared to 13 per cent who had medium engagement and 17 per cent who had high engagement); and 20 per cent of children who had low engagement in shared home activities had a negative Outcome Index (compared to 16 per cent of children who had medium engagement and 14 per cent who had high engagement in shared home activities).
Television viewing and use of computers
Beside opportunities for developing print-based literacy, children's exposure to television and computers at home can also serve to stimulate learning. However, watching television can take time away from reading and other learning activities. A body of evidence from the United States indicates that while educational television programs can teach academic and prosocial skills, viewing extensive general entertainment is associated with lower levels of school readiness and academic performance (Anderson et al. 2001; Zill, Davies & Daly 1994).
Parents rated the hours of television (and video) viewing by children for a typical weekday and a typical day on the weekend. The categorised ratings for the number of hours of television (and video) that children watched each week are presented in Table 23. In summary:
- 20 per cent of children watched television (or videos) at home for three or more hours each week day
- 22 per cent of children watched television (or videos) at home for three or more hours each day on a weekend.
Comparisons of positive (top 15 per cent) and negative (bottom 15 per cent) values for the overall Outcome Index against the categories for the number of hours of television that children watch on weekdays or on weekends are shown in Figures 13 and 14. In summary:
- 10 per cent of children who watched three to five hours and 5 per cent who watched five or more hours of television on a typical week day had a positive Outcome Index; and 23 per cent of children who watched three to five hours and 39 per cent who watched five or more hours of television on a typical week day had a negative Outcome Index.
- 11 per cent of children who watched three to five hours and 6 per cent who watched five or more hours of television on a typical day on the weekend had a positive Outcome Index; and 22 per cent of children who watched three to five hours and 36 per cent who watched five or more hours of television on a typical day on the weekend had a negative Outcome Index.
Parents were asked whether the child had access to a computer at home and to rate the number of hours children used the computer on a typical day during the week and on any day on the weekend. The responses on access to a computer and number of hours of use are shown in Table 23. In summary:
- 75 per cent of children had access to a computer at home
- 10 per cent of children who had access to a computer used it for one or more hours each day during the week
- 14 per cent who had access to a computer at home used it for one or more hours each day on a weekend.
While a high proportion of children had access to computer, the proportion of children using it on a regular basis for more than an hour per week was small. Consequently, only the variable of access (or not) to a computer is subsequently discussed. Comparisons of the overall Outcome Index (positive and negative bands) for children who did, or did not, have access to a computer are shown in Figures 13 and 14. In summary:
- 8 per cent of children who did not have access to a computer had a high Outcome Index (compared to 16 per cent of children who had access to a computer); and 26 per cent of children who did not have access to computer had a low Outcome Index (compared to 13 per cent of children who had access to a computer).
Out-of-home activities
The family learning environment includes activities in the home, as well as activities outside the home in which children engage with family members (Payne, Whitehurst & Angell 1994). Foster et al. (2005) found that enrichment activities in the community, taken with family members, contribute to children's emergent literacy skills and social development. Family outings provide cognitive and language stimulation that enhance children's knowledge and experience of the world. Parental time spent with the child in such activities is a measure of parental involvement and is a significant predictor of later educational achievement (Flouri & Buchanan 2004).
Parents were asked whether the child had engaged in any of seven activities with a family member in the previous month. The findings on the number and nature of the activities which children shared with family members outside the home are presented in Table 23. In summary:
- 38 per cent went to a movie
- 93 per cent went to a playground or swimming pool
- 42 per cent went to a sporting event in which the child was not a player
- 24 per cent went to a live performance for children
- 51 per cent attended a school, cultural or community event
- 34 per cent attended a religious service
- 15 per cent visited a museum or art gallery.
Affirmative responses to the items on the various out-of-home activities were totalled to obtain a participation summary score. A categorisation of low, medium and high engagement of children with family members in out-of-home activities was made using approximate tertile cut-offs. Engagement by family members with children in out-of-home activities was low for 14 per cent, medium for 52 per cent, and high for 34 per cent of the children. Comparisons of positive and negative values on the overall Outcome Index by level of engagement in out-of-home activities are shown in Figures 13 and 14. In summary:
- 8 per cent of children who had low engagement in out-of-home activities in the previous month had a positive Outcome Index (compared to 13 per cent who had medium engagement and 17 per cent who had high engagement); and 26 per cent of children who had low engagement had a negative Outcome Index (compared to 16 per cent who had medium and 12 per cent who had high engagement).
| Family learning environment variables | n | Distribution (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Early literacy experiences | ||
| Length of time child enjoys being read to by others (minutes) | 4,979 | |
0–10 |
22.1 | |
11–20 |
37.0 | |
20 or more |
40.9 | |
| Number of children's books in the home | 4,981 | |
0–9 |
11.5 | |
10–29 |
8.8 | |
30 or more |
79.7 | |
| Child has visited library with family member in the last month | 4,981 | 50.2 |
| Days in the past week someone in the family read to child | 4,980 | |
0–2 |
24.8 | |
3–5 |
30.3 | |
6–7 |
44.9 | |
| Shared home activities | ||
| Number of days in past week that some one in family engaged in home learning activities with the child | ||
Told child a story |
4,979 | |
0–2 |
71.9 | |
3–5 |
16.7 | |
6–7 |
11.5 | |
Drawn pictures or other art/craft activities |
4,976 | |
0–2 |
43.4 | |
3–5 |
35.4 | |
6–7 |
21.3 | |
Played with music, sang or other musical activities |
4,976 | |
0–2 |
40.3 | |
3–5 |
32.5 | |
6–7 |
27.7 | |
Played with toys or games indoors |
4,979 | |
0–2 |
48.8 | |
3–5 |
30.1 | |
6–7 |
21.5 | |
Involved child in everyday activities |
4,978 | |
0–2 |
32.6 | |
3–5 |
26.5 | |
6–7 |
40.9 | |
Played games outdoors or other physical outdoor activities |
4,977 | |
0–2 |
40.7 | |
3–5 |
36.6 | |
6–7 |
22.7 | |
| Overall family engagement in shared home activities | 4,970 | |
Low |
26.8 | |
Medium |
40.5 | |
High |
32.7 | |
| Television viewing | ||
| Number of hours child spends watching television or video on a typical week day | 4,980 | |
‹1 |
16.2 | |
1–‹3 |
64.0 | |
3–‹5 |
15.8 | |
5 or more |
4.0 | |
| Number of hours that child spends watching television or video on a typical day on the weekend | 4,969 | |
‹1 |
21.1 | |
1–‹3 |
56.8 | |
3–‹5 |
17.5 | |
5 or more |
4.6 | |
| Computer access and usage | ||
| Child has access to a computer at home | 4,982 | 74.8 |
| Number of hours that child spends using a computer on a typical weekday | 4,975 | |
‹1 |
89.7 | |
1–‹3 |
9.8 | |
3 or more |
0.5 | |
| Number of hours that child spends using a computer on a typical weekend day | 4,974 | |
‹1 |
86.4 | |
1–‹3 |
12.9 | |
3 or more |
0.8 | |
| Out-of-home activities | ||
| Child has done the following activities in the past month accompanied by someone in the family | ||
Gone to a movie |
4,981 | 38.1 |
Gone to a playground or swimming pool |
4,981 | 92.9 |
Gone to a sporting event where the child was not a player |
4,980 | 42.0 |
Gone to a live performance for children |
4,978 | 23.7 |
Attended a school, cultural or community event |
4,981 | 51.0 |
Attended a religious service |
4,981 | 33.6 |
Visited a museum or art gallery |
4,981 | 14.8 |
| Overall level of family engagement in out-of-home activities | 4,977 | |
Low |
13.8 | |
Medium |
52.1 | |
High |
34.1 |
Figure 13: Low Outcome Index: percentage of child cohort
Figure 14: High Outcome Index: percentage of child cohort
Summary of descriptive analyses
On the above comparisons, children with less supportive early literacy environments were less likely to have positive Outcome Index scores and more had negative Outcome Index scores. These findings have implications for promoting children's emergent literacy at home through drawing attention, in particular, to reading to children regularly and providing reading resources for children to access. Overall, children were engaged with family members in a range of shared home activities; children with low engagement in shared home activities had less positive Outcome Index scores and more negative Outcome Index scores than children with medium and high engagement.
In line with previous research, the data from these analyses suggest strong negative associations between high levels of television viewing and a negative Outcome Index score. Children without access to a computer at home also had less positive Overall Index scores and learning domain scores. Differences in child outcomes related to access to a computer may relate to family resources. Children with lower engagement in out-of-home activities were less likely to have Outcome Index scores in the top 15 per cent and these children were also more likely to have scores below the 'low' Outcome Index cut-off point, suggesting that child outcomes are enhanced by shared participation of children with family members in a range of activities outside the home.
Impact of family learning environment on child outcomes: multivariable analyses
Family socioeconomic circumstances are known to affect the quality of the family learning environment (Brooks-Gunn & Duncan 1997; Hoddinott, Lethbridge, & Phipps 2002; Yeung, Linver & Brooks-Gunn 2002). Children benefit from the human capital available within the family when parents have higher levels of income which may be invested in material goods for the child, such as books and toys, and through the influence of higher levels of parental education. Gershoff (2003) reported that 20 per cent of children from low-income families were lagging in the development of cognitive skills on standardised measures and teacher ratings when they began kindergarten, while 31 per cent had delays in social and emotional adjustment. Parents of these children had lower levels of education, and children with significant delays tended to live in single-parent families. However, research findings do not exclusively support this position that social disadvantage leads to poorer outcomes. Christian, Morrison and Bryant (1998) found that children at 4 to 5 years whose mothers had lower levels of education but who provided richer family learning literacy environments had higher levels of learning competencies at entrance to kindergarten than children of mothers with more formal education who focused less on literacy in the home. Denton, Reaney and West (2001) also reported that children who lived in families with income above the poverty threshold were more likely to have richer home literacy environments than children whose family income was below the poverty line. However, children with richer home literacy environments, regardless of whether family income was above or below the poverty threshold, demonstrated higher levels of reading knowledge and skills at the beginning of school.
Multivariable regression analyses were used to assess the extent to which family learning environments predicted child outcomes. The analysis adjusted for the set of nine demographic characteristics known to affect the learning outcomes of young children which are described in Section 2 (Foster et al. 2005; Hoddinott, Lethbridge & Phipps 2002; McClelland, Kessenich & Morrison 2003).
A range of family learning environment variables was incorporated into each of two models to assess their effect on the continuous Outcome Index and learning domain scores, respectively. All family learning environment variables were entered into each model together, so that the contribution of each variable to children's learning outcomes could be assessed independently of the contribution of all other variables in the model. The findings of these regression analyses are presented in Table 24.
The first model, investigating relationships between family environment variables and the overall Outcome Index accounted for 21 per cent of the variability in the outcome. Over and above the contribution of the child and family factors, 7 per cent of the variability in Outcome Index score was accounted for by the set of family learning environment variables. There was very strong evidence (p<0.001) that the following characteristics were positively associated with higher Outcome Index scores: child is read to by a family member on six to seven days per week; there are 10 or more children's books in the home; child enjoys being read to for more than 10 minutes at a time; child has access to a computer at home; and child's family shows a medium or high level of engagement in out-of-home activities. There was also strong evidence for an association between overall Outcome Index scores and hours spent television viewing on weekdays, with Outcome Index scores tending to decrease as time spent viewing television increased (p=0.002). There was weaker evidence for a similar trend with weekend television viewing (p=0.03). There was little evidence that two variables (child visited a library in the last month, and the categorised scale score for shared home activities) were associated with the overall Outcome Index.
In the second model, relationships between family learning environment variables and the learning domain score were analysed. This model accounted for 19.5 per cent of variability in learning domain scores, with 5.8 per cent of the variability in learning domain score accounted for by the set of family learning environment variables. There was strong evidence that the following characteristics were positively associated with child learning outcomes: child is read to by a family member on three or more days per week (p‹0.001); there are 10 or more children's books in the home (p=0.04); child has visited a library with a family member in the last month (p‹0.001); child enjoys being read to for more than 10 minutes at a time (p‹0.001); child has access to a computer at home (p‹0.001); and child has a medium or high level of engagement in out-of-home activities (p‹0.005). Surprisingly, there is evidence to suggest that children who had medium or high engagement in shared home activities had lower learning domain scores (p=0.02). This may reflect the diverse and discrete activities that comprise this scale, which may not, therefore, be a truly useful predictor of child learning outcomes. There was no evidence that television viewing on weekdays or on weekends were associated with the learning domain, despite their strong contribution to the overall Outcome Index. This suggests that excessive television viewing may more strongly predict physical and social–emotional outcomes than learning outcomes.
| Family learning environment variables | Outcome Index score |
Learning domain score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coefficient (95% CI) |
p-value(a) | Coefficient (95% CI) |
p-value(a) | |
| Early literacy experiences | ||||
| Days in past week family member read to child from book (relative to 0–2 days) | 0.002 | ‹0.001 | ||
3–5 |
1.1 (0.2, 1.9) | 0.02 | 1.4 (0.5, 2.2) | 0.002 |
6–7 |
1.5 (0.7, 2.4) | ‹0.001 | 2.4 (1.6, 3.3) | ‹0.001 |
| Number of children's books in home (relative to 0–9) | ‹0.001 | 0.04 | ||
10–29 |
2.9 (1.5, 4.3) | ‹0.001 | 1.4 (0.0, 2.9) | 0.05 |
30 or more |
2.7 (1.4, 3.9) | ‹0.001 | 1.7 (0.4, 3.0) | 0.01 |
| Child has visited a library with a family member in the past month | 0.1 (-0.4, 0.6) | 0.76 | 1.3 (0.7, 1.8) | ‹0.001 |
| Length of time which child enjoys being read to (relative to 0–10 minutes) | ‹0.001 | ‹0.001 | ||
11–20 |
2.8 (2.0, 3.7) | ‹0.001 | 2.3 (1.5, 3.1) | ‹0.001 |
20 or more |
3.5 (2.7, 4.4) | ‹0.001 | 3.3 (2.5, 4.1) | ‹0.001 |
| Shared home activities | ||||
| Overall level of family engagement in shared home activities (relative to low) | 0.17 | 0.02 | ||
Medium |
–0.3 (–0.9, 0.4) | 0.46 | –1.0 (–1.7, –0.3) | 0.005 |
High |
0.4 (–0.4, 1.2) | 0.33 | –0.9 (–1.7, –0.1) | 0.03 |
| Television viewing | ||||
| Number of hours watching television on typical week day (relative to ‹1 hour) | 0.002 | 0.19 | ||
1–‹3 |
–0.5 (–1.3, 0.3) | 0.20 | –0.5 (–1.3, 0.3) | 0.21 |
3–‹5 |
–1.8 (–3.0, –0.7) | 0.002 | –1.0 (–2.1, 0.2) | 0.10 |
5 or more |
–3.1 (–5.1, –1.1) | 0.002 | –1.6 (–3.4, 0.1) | 0.06 |
| Number of hours watching television on typical weekend day (relative to ‹1 hour) | 0.03 | 0.26 | ||
1–‹3 |
0.4 (–0.3, 1.2) | 0.26 | 0.6 (–0.1, 1.3) | 0.10 |
3–‹5 |
–0.3 (–1.4, 0.8) | 0.55 | 0.1 (–0.8, 1.1) | 0.80 |
5 or more |
–1.7 (–3.6, 0.3) | 0.09 | 0.0 (–1.7, 1.7) | 0.97 |
| Computer access and usage | ||||
| Study child has computer access at home | 1.9 (1.2, 2.6) | ‹0.001 | 2.2 (1.4, 2.9) | ‹0.001 |
| Out-of-home activities | ||||
| Overall level of family engagement in out-of-home activities (relative to low) | ‹0.001 | 0.005 | ||
Medium |
1.7 (0.8, 2.7) | 0.001 | 1.1 (0.2, 2.0) | 0.02 |
High |
2.7 (1.7, 3.7) | ‹0.001 | 1.6 (0.7, 2.6) | 0.001 |
6.3 Discussion
The purposes of analyses in this section were to explore the nature of the early home literacy environments for 4 to 5 year-old Australian children, as well as the nature of activities these children share with family members at home and out of home. Analyses also considered the extent of children's television viewing and access to a computer at home. Features of family learning environments that showed strong evidence of being positively associated with higher learning outcomes on the overall Outcome Index and the learning domain were: child is read to on three or more days per week; there are more than 10 children's books in the home; child enjoys being read to for more than 10 minutes at a time; child has access to a computer in the home; and child has medium to high engagement in out-of-home learning activities with family members. The analyses suggest that access to a computer in the home may be a proxy for an educational home environment that leads to improved learning outcomes. While a computer in the home may be related to adults' own requirements for work-related or information needs, nevertheless there was evidence of a 'digital divide' in its effects on child outcomes. The findings indicate different effects in each model for the impact of television viewing on child outcomes. In particular, children who watched three or more hours of television on week days or five hours or more on the weekend were more likely to have a lower Outcome Index score (encompassing physical, social–emotional and learning domains), while these effects were not evident in the model that used the learning domain as the outcome variable.
The multivariable findings attest to the importance of these family environment features to child outcomes. While much of the diversity in knowledge and skills which children bring to school has been linked to social background, these findings indicate that the differences in learning and developmental outcomes related to the family learning environment are apparent irrespective of the social and economic circumstances of the family. Implications of the findings from this research for social policy should be to ensure greater awareness of the impact of the quality of the family learning environments on child outcomes. The effects of quality family learning environments, prior to school, on children's achievement in the early years of school is well established (Bennett, Weigel & Martin 2002; Bradley et al. 2001; Martini & Mistry 1993; Tudge et al. 2003). Thus, attention to children's learning environment in the family warrants significant attention.