Encouragement of Academic Skills in Young Children: Measuring and Investigating Parents' Efforts to Educate their Young Children

Abstract

The Encouragement of Academic Skills in Young Children (EASYC) is a new measure, used to investigate the benefits of parents using in-home educational activities with their young children. The overall goals of this study were to 1) validate the EASYC as a reliable instrument for measuring parents’ at-home education practices, and 2) demonstrate the importance of providing a stimulating home educational environment for young children. In general, the EASYC was demonstrated as applicable to 4 year old children and the US sample, with future development possible for other populations. Key findings illustrated 1) the fast development of children’s learning, 2) the co-dependence of literacy and numeracy in young children, 3) that formal activities are more influential than informal activities, 4) that parental involvement is maintained across time, and 5) that culture influences how parents teach their children. The EASYC was established as a measure of parent involvement in pre-school education with a scope not previously achieved and the potential to benefit learning outcomes and school preparation in pre-school children.