Abstract
We sought to explore parental attitudes, behaviors, and barriers regarding school readiness in a county clinic serving low income, Latino children. Between December 2013–September 2014, we conducted a cross sectional survey of parents during 3–6 years well-child appointments about school readiness (SR) across: (1) attitudes/behaviors; (2) barriers; and (3) awareness; and (4) use of local resources. Most parents (n = 210, response rate 95.6%) find it very important/important for their child to know specific skills prior to school: take turns and share (98.5%), use a pencil and count (97.6%), know letters (99.1%), colors (97.1%), and shapes (96.1%). Over 80% of parents find education important and engage in positive SR behaviors: singing, practicing letters, or reading. Major barriers to SR were lack of knowledge for kindergarten readiness, language barriers, access to books at home, constraints on nightly reading, difficulty completing school forms, and limited free time with child. Awareness of local resources such as preschool programs was higher than actual utilization. These low-income, Latino parents value SR but lack knowledge to prepare their child for school and underutilize community resources such as free preschool programs. Pediatricians are uniquely positioned to address these needs, but more evidence-based interventions are needed.
Highlights
IntroductionChildren who enter school ready for kindergarten are more likely to succeed academically [1,2,3,4,5]
Children who enter school ready for kindergarten are more likely to succeed academically [1,2,3,4,5].The metric of “School Readiness” (SR) measures a child’s level of being ready for kindergarten across five domains: cognitive development, physical development, language development, self-help skills, and social–emotional development [6]
The health system serves as a referral source, linking parents to programs such as the Nurse–Family Partnership, Early Intervention, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Summary
Children who enter school ready for kindergarten are more likely to succeed academically [1,2,3,4,5]. The metric of “School Readiness” (SR) measures a child’s level of being ready for kindergarten across five domains: cognitive development, physical development, language development, self-help skills, and social–emotional development [6]. Society promotes school readiness [8,9,10] through the health and education systems. The child health system promotes physical and language development with near universal health coverage of children and pregnant women [11], as healthy children do better in school than children with acute or chronic disease [7,12]. The health system serves as a referral source, linking parents to programs such as the Nurse–Family Partnership, Early Intervention, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition
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