A new study shows that a child’s success at school largely depends on how much time and how they spend with their parents.
Although parents may be tempted to lie on the couch after a hard day at work, scientists warn that it is better to spend some time with your own child. The results show that parents’ time with their children directly affects their performance at school, the Daily Mail reports.
A group of researchers from the University of Leeds has concluded that parents are able to exert a “unique influence” on the development of their children. At the same time, scientists have found that men often simply don’t have the energy to spend time with their children because they are tired at work.
The new study was conducted under the guidance of Helen Norman, a doctoral researcher at the University of Leeds Business School. In the study, researchers analyzed a sample of nearly 5,000 two-parent families in England who are still in a relationship. It should be noted that the study did not take into account single-parent families, children of divorcees living in different places, or same-sex couples with children.
The researchers note that the data were taken from the Millennium Cohort Study, which collected information on children born between 2000 and 2002 as they grew up.
The researchers analyzed the involvement of each parent at the ages of three, five, and seven. Parents were asked to answer a series of questions about how often they engaged in various activities with their child, such as singing, reading, playing with toys, telling stories, and other activities. Parents also told us how often they took their children to outdoor playgrounds. The recipients answered each question on a six-point scale, where “not at all” meant 1 point and “every day” was equal to 6 points. After that, the scientists summarized and analyzed the scores.
The results show that reading, playing, drawing, and even singing to children as young as three years old helps improve their academic performance by the age of five. This refers to the time spent by parents with their children. At the same time, mothers can also improve their children’s academic skills, but overall, the results show that they have a greater impact on the emotional and social behavior of young children.
According to Norman, in general, she and her colleagues have noticed that mothers are still more likely to take responsibility for spending time with their children. However, the results of the study clearly show that if parents are also actively engaged in childcare, this will significantly increase the likelihood that children will receive higher grades in primary school.
As a result, the authors of the study insist that it is extremely important to encourage and support parents in sharing care for their children, starting from the earliest stages of life. Scientists believe that fathers “bring something different” to a child’s development because they tend to interact with their children differently than mothers. For example, parents are more likely to favor more physical activity, which can further develop risk-taking and problem-solving behaviors in their children.
The authors of the study also note that more interaction between children and parents at a younger age led to higher math and grammar scores, and improved the child’s motor skills. At the same time, the participation of fathers in the life of a 5-year-old also helped improve his grades at the age of 7.
The team also notes that the positive impact of father-daughter interaction did not depend on the child’s gender, ethnicity, age in the school year, or family income.
