Abstracts - Earli

C 2529 August 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: 1.58SymposiumHome and preschool environments influencing young children’slanguage, literacy and numeracy developChair: Paul Leseman, Utrecht University, NetherlandsOrganiser: Paul Leseman, Utrecht University, NetherlandsDiscussant: Hans-Günter Rossbach, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, NetherlandsNational and international comparative studies consistently show that students from lower socioeconomicand immigrant background obtain lower reading, writing and math scores than sameagedpeers from other backgrounds. Particularly compelling is the finding that differences betweenstudents in school achievement at the end of primary school can be traced back directly todifferences in cognitive, language, pre-literacy and pre-numeracy competencies at the time ofprimary school entrance. The topic of this symposium is how education and socialization at homecombine with preparatory learning in preschool and kindergarten and, together, influencechildren’s emerging school competencies. More in particular, the symposium addresses to whatextent socioeconomic and cultural differences in informal education at home are moderated andcompensated or, instead, amplified by the socioeconomic composition of the preschool, staff-childratio, teachers’ professional knowledge and teaching. The symposium brings together recentfindings from Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, concerning large samples ofchildren, including children from low-income immigrant communities. The German contributionillustrates the relationships between environmental quality during the preschool years andchildren’s emerging cognitive and verbal competencies relevant for future school success. TheBritish study shows how the learning environment of the home is more important than social classin shaping the literacy development of children when they enter school. However, the pre-schoolenvironment, particularly deliberate teaching related to literacy, has a powerful impact as well.Two contributions from The Netherlands detail the transition from home to kindergarten (part ofthe Dutch primary school) around the age of 4. The first paper focuses on Dutch as secondlanguage development in a sample of low income Dutch and immigrant children. The secondpaper, involving a different sample of 4-7-year-olds, analyzes the impact of kindergarten on thedevelopment of verbal and fluid intelligence.Family and preschool: The influence of environmental quality on the development of schoolrelevant competenciesJutta von Maurice, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, GermanyKatharina Kluczniok, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, GermanyMinja Dubowy, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, GermanySusanne Ebert, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, GermanySusanne Kuger, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, GermanyHans-Günter Rossbach, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, GermanySabine Weinert, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, GermanyThe presentation illustrates the relations between environmental quality during preschool yearsand the child’s emerging cognitive and verbal abilities relevant for future school success. Using a– 186 –