ABCs of Change for Latino Children

That is exactly the kind of shift at home that educators seek to address a major academic challenge: Latino children nationwide tend to start kindergarten knowing less about letters and numbers compared with their non-Hispanic white peers. Many never catch up. Improving early childhood education is one of the best ways to narrow the achievement gap, educators say, citing such programs as the family book club. But many Latino families face economic, linguistic, educational and even cultural barriers...

About 40 percent of Latino 3- and 4-year-olds (and 5-year-olds not yet in kindergarten) are enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs, compared with about 60 percent of white and African American children, according to the District-based advocacy group Pre-K Now. In addition, a new report from Garcia's task force noted that Hispanic mothers generally read and talk less to their children compared with white parents. Hispanic families also tend to have fewer children's books at home...

Many educators say enrolling Hispanic children in quality preschools is the best way to ensure they start kindergarten ready to learn. But assisting parents in becoming better teachers also helps.

U.S. Department of Education data on the learning patterns of 12,000 children across the country, Lopez said, suggest some of the key factors linked to how well 9-month-old children learn to speak and develop motor skills. The amount of time parents spent reading and telling stories to their children and interacting with them mattered more, Lopez said, than the education level or income of the adults.

Source: Washington Post
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