Gintautas Silinskas

The transition from kindergarten to formal schooling is an important period for examining children's developing mathematical performance. We studied reciprocal associations among children's mathematical performance, parent factors (i.e., numeracy activities, beliefs about children's mathematical skills), and child factors (i.e., mathematics liking). Lithuanian children ( N = 341; 180 girls) and their parents participated at three time points: end of kindergarten (T1; M _age = 6.87 years), beginning of Grade 1 (T2), and end of Grade 1 (T3). Reciprocal cross‐lagged associations between parent‐ and child‐related factors showed that children's mathematical performance positively predicted parental beliefs [ β _T1–T2 = 0.247, β _T2–T3 = 0.280] and negatively predicted numeracy activities [ β _T1–T2 = −0.227, β _T2–T3 = −0.110] during the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1, and during Grade 1. Children's mathematical performance positively predicted their mathematics liking at the end of Grade 1 ( β _T2–T3 = 0.138). The results emphasise the role of children's mathematical performance in shaping parents' involvement and beliefs about children's mathematical learning and their children's mathematics liking.

We investigated the extent to which different aspects of home literacy environment (HLE) relate to literacy skills among Grade 2 students in Lithuania. The participants were Lithuanian second-graders (n = 522; 48% girls; Mage = 8.29 years, SD = .32) and their parents (88.3% mothers). Children were tested in their language and literacy skills; whereas parents completed questionnaires concerning HLE. We ran three hierarchical regression models to predict children’s sentence reading fluency, spelling to dictation, and reading comprehension. Control variables (parental education, child gender, vocabulary and word reading fluency) were entered at the first step; the four variables of HLE (teaching of literacy, reading to a child, access to literacy resources, child’s own independent reading) were entered at the second step. The results showed that HLE variables added a significant amount of explained variance to the regression models (5.4% for sentence reading fluency, 4.8% for spelling, and 4.9% for reading comprehension). Overall, the results suggest that in order to promote children’s literacy skills in Grade 2 most effectively, parents should provide access to literacy resources and create opportunities for children’s independent reading. When considering all HLE factors together in one analysis, children’s actual independent reading of the reading materials emerged as an important factor in their success in reading and spelling.

This study investigated differences in teachers’ and parents’ perceptions about homework and their correlations with children’s achievement in Grade 4 – the end grade for primary school in Lithuania. Data were collected at the end of Grade 4 (February–March 2024). Teachers (n = 39) answered online questionnaires on homework frequency and expected homework time; parents (n = 525) completed paper questionnaires about homework frequency, time, and help. Children (n = 576) completed tests measuring literacy and math skills, and school administrations provided children’s Grade 4 grades and results from national standardized testing. Most parents and teachers reported that homework was assigned daily. Teachers reported that children should spend around one hour daily on homework; parents reported children spending on average one hour and ten minutes daily on homework and a great variation in the amount of weekly homework help children received. Compared to teachers, parents reported more frequent homework and more homework time. Only parental reports of time spent and help received for homework significantly correlated to children’s academic performance measures, albeit negatively. Overall, parents and teachers perceived homework time differently. Additionally, the less well Grade 4 students did academically, the more time they spent on homework, and the more help they required from family.