Hispanic Family Facts: Promoting Latino boys’ academic skills at home

In this edition of Hispanic Family Facts, we highlight our research on how low-income Hispanic parents support their young sons’ academic skills at home prior to entering kindergarten.

Center Co-investigator Natasha Cabrera and her colleagues find that many low-income Hispanic parents engage in activities that support the literacy of their young boys, including having books in the house, reading to their children, telling stories, and singing. However, in these low-income households:

• Latino boys are read to or told stories by a parent less frequently than white boys.
• Latino boys have fewer children’s books in their homes than white boys.

These findings suggest that programs and policies interested in addressing the achievement gap among boys of color should consider the home environment of children, even those who are very young. These efforts can support parents’ education and encourage parents to interact with their children in ways that support early cognitive and social development.