This week we are highlighting a post from Education Week, a nonprofit organization with a mission to raise awareness and understanding of critical issues facing American schools.
The blog entry from Education Week is titled, “Early Learning Practices in Immigrant Families,” and is written by Lesli A. Maxwell. Below is an excerpt from the post and we encourage you to follow the entire story here.
Immigrant Mexican mothers report stable home environments and strong mental health, but are less likely to read to their young children than American-born white mothers.
Meanwhile, immigrant Chinese mothers are more likely to read to their young children than American-born white mothers, but report more household conflict and weaker mental health.
These insights into how families function in immigrant households in the United States come from a new study that examines how migration history, cultural practices, and social class impact social-emotional development and early learning practices in homes with young children. The findings challenge some of the conventional thinking on the disadvantages for children born into immigrant families.
For example, the researchers found that low-income Latino immigrant families often display parenting skills that contribute to strong social-emotional development in children and may counter the negative impacts of poverty. Specifically, Mexican-heritage mothers reported fewer conflicts with spouses and fewer depressive symptoms than their peers who were native-born whites and Asian-born immigrants.