How Homes Influence Schools: Early Parenting Predicts African American Children's Classroom Social-Emotional Functioning

Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort were used to examine the extent to which early parenting predicted African American children's kindergarten social–emotional functioning. Teachers rated children's classroom social–emotional functioning in four areas (i.e., approaches to learning, self-control, interpersonal skills, and externalizing behaviors). Mothers completed self-report questionnaires assessing their home-based parenting practices (i.e., warmth and home learning stimulation). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mothers who engaged in more frequent home learning stimulation (e.g., shared book reading) had children with more positive teacher ratings of approaches to learning, self-control, interpersonal skills, and fewer externalizing behaviors. Notably, demographic characteristics also contributed to children's social–emotional functioning. Specifically, African American girls from more affluent, two-parent homes with highly educated mothers had the most positive ratings of classroom social–emotional functioning across all four dimensions.