Research into the academic skills of five-year-old children shows that parents' beliefs and cooperation with their kindergarten are more important than the abundance of parental activities at home in supporting the academic skills of five-year-old children.
The study, conducted by Anne-Mai Meesak, Doctorate in Educational Sciences, involved more than 500 five-year-old children and 300 parents. The study assessed children's cognitive processes (i.e. attention and perception, working memory, thinking) and learning, language and mathematical skills individually on a tablet using an e-assessment tool for child development (LAHE). At the same time, parents answered a questionnaire about their beliefs, expectations, cooperation with their kindergarten and activities at home.
To verify the suitability of the assessment tool for assessing children's early skills, the children's results were also compared with teachers' assessments of the same areas. The teachers' assessments and the children's actual results were found to be largely similar. The exception was study skills, which may be more difficult for teachers to assess, as they were based on children's own assessments of their own interest, perceived ability and confidence levels.
The results showed that although children's early cognitive, learning, language and mathematical skills are interlinked, they can also be distinguished and assessed separately. Children's academic skills were significantly predicted by their own cognitive processes and learning skills. Although girls performed slightly better in language skills and Russian-speaking children scored slightly higher in study skills, the skills of Estonian five-year-olds were generally quite similar.
Parental beliefs and behaviour
The study’s most telling finding concerns parents' beliefs about their children. Parents who perceived their children as having cognitive difficulties engaged in the least amount of activities at home that supported their children’s skills. This means that the children who needed the most support received the least at home. At the same time, the amount of home activities did not depend on the parents’ educational level.
The study also revealed an interesting connection. Although higher parental expectations regarding the skills children need for school were associated with more frequent home activities, neither parental expectations nor home activities were linked to children's actual performance in language and mathematics. Instead, the parents’ active participation in kindergarten activities proved to be important. This supported both the children's academic skills and encouraged parents to contribute more to shared activities with their child at home.
What do the results show?
The results suggest that early childhood education in Estonia plays an important role in supporting children's early skills. Most five-year-olds in Estonia attend kindergarten, where learning and educational activities are play-based and follow the national curriculum, which allows children with different home backgrounds to achieve similar academic results. This ensures the equality and quality of early childhood education in Estonia.
From the societal aspect, the research highlights two findings that help ensure a child’s holistic development. Firstly, it is important to support parents in recognising their children's strengths and weaknesses, so that they can better support their children's early learning. Secondly, parents should be actively involved in kindergarten activities. Therefore, the research confirms that a child’s development is best supported by strong cooperation between home and kindergarten.
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