The Effects of Children’s Temperament and Parenting Behavior on Preschool Children’s School Readiness

This study aims to examine the effects of young children"s temperament and parents" parenting behaviors on school readiness during three years of early childhood to help young children smoothly transition to elementary school. The subjects of this study were 976 children who participated in the 5th-7th year of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC) of the Child Care Policy Institute, their parents, and homeroom teachers of child care support institutions. The results of multiple regression analysis are as follows. First, the temperament of children measured at the age of 4 had a positive effect on the school readiness of children at the age of 6 and had a significant effect on social emotional development and communication, which are sub-factors of school readiness. Second, among the parenting behaviors of the parents during the three years of infancy, only the mother"s controlled parenting behavior had a positive effect on the overall school readiness at the age of six, and also on the sub-factors of school readiness such as social emotional development, attitude toward learning, communication, cognitive development, and general knowledge. These results are expected to be useful data that can help parents of preschool children improve their children"s school readiness based on their understanding of school readiness.