Initially, when we think of environmental influences, often we have a picture of the outside conditions. When it comes to environmental influences in early childhood literacy, there’s much more. The picture we see is apparent with the communities, the neighborhoods, and with what the government has provided to us as services and programs. Indeed, these are environmental influences, but there is another environmental influence that has even a greater impact on early childhood literacy. This environmental influence is at home and it is here where there is a large impact to the development of a child. This is so because before a child enters the educational system in kindergarten, a child’s brain is almost fully formed (Elliot, 1999).
Looking outside of the home at a more structured setting, we have the public-school system which covers its own environmental influence in early childhood literacy. With low-income families, too often parents feel that the educational system is responsible for their child’s educational performance (Gladwell, 2008). But when we have the problem of a child not being able to adequately speak or read English, it is difficult for the teachers to not only communicate effectively, but also to assess the minority child efficiently.
Home Influences
The home for a child is an important foundation and is the first introduction to developmental skills deemed necessary for adult life. The development of early literacy and language among children from low-income families and from families in upper-middle class neighborhoods differs. Home book programs for minority children increase the number of books in the home, which is a key positive predictor for later reading achievement (Chall, Jacobs, Baldwin, (1990). These programs are few and thin. With time being of the essence, the earlier the parents become involved in their children’s literacy practices, the more profound the results and the effects are long lasting
Parental involvement in their child’s literacy practices positively affects children’s academic performance (Fan & Chen, 2001). This involvement is a more powerful force for academic success than other family background variables, such as a child’s social class, family, size, and level of parental education (Flouri & Buchanan, 2004). When we look at a child’s academic success, we often place importance on the effort that a child has contributed to their success. While this may be true, we must wonder if this is only the surface of the success. Just as an oak tree is only as powerful as its roots, a child’s success in school is only as great as the support outside of school, as in this case, their home influence.
Parents of minority children often have a belief that the educational system in the United States is responsible for a child’s education. And that the parent’s responsibility lies with providing the basic of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; physiological needs (food, water, sleep) and safety (security, safety) (Maslow, 1954). We can also begin to enter the psychological needs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; love and belonging (family, friendship) (Maslow, 1954). If a child is not successful or a model student in school, then this problem does not lie with the parent, but with the educational system (Gladwell, 2008).
On the opposite end, Gladwell (2008) continues to note that parents of children that are from middle class families often contribute much more time to their success. When it comes to after-school programs, parents of these children are involved with their participation, often fighting to get their child enrolled in such programs that will benefit their child. These parents see the relationship of school and parental involvement as one of the same. It is because these parents pushed for their children to have these opportunities when low-income parents do not, that builds upon the separation of children’s achievement gaps across socioeconomic classes.
Influences in Public Schools
Public school is often a minority child’s first introduction to a formalized measure of learning. Minority students begin their formalized schooling without the economic and social resources that many other students received (Schhneider et al., n.d.). Language, as previously mentioned, has a significant impact to how easily and quickly a child can learn how to read English when their first language is not English. Parents of minority children turn to the public-school system to help with these challenges because they themselves lack the knowledge about the United States education system.
Schools are currently ill equipped to compensate for these disparities (Schhneider et al., n.d.). Hispanic students in the United States enter school at a disadvantage because of a lack of exposure to literacy activities at home and in early formalized school settings. The relationship between Hispanic students and their predominantly non-Hispanic teachers encourages disengagement from academic work (Schhneider et al., n.d.). This also shows there is a lack of connection.
Another form of influence that public schools have on children is a sense of being connected. According to Schheider et al. (n.d.), students who identify with their schools have an internalized sense of belonging; that is, they feel they are a part of the school community and that school constitutes an important aspect of their own experience. It is without doubt that when a child has this type of feeling of a sense of community for their school, their academic achievement skyrockets. Children are more likely to value and pursue academic or school-relevant goals and are more likely to participate in the classroom (Finn, 1989).
