Chapter 5: School Readiness Skills of Latinx Children: Building on the Strengths of the Home Learning Environment

This chapter reviews research on school readiness skills displayed by children growing up in Latinx immigrant families in the United States. These children are a large and growing percentage of the U.S. population (Hernandez et al., 2007; Shuey & Leventhal, 2020). One in four U.S. children is Latinx, and about half of those children are growing up in immigrant families (Bustamante & Hindman, 2020; Fry & Passel, 2009). Latinx parents strongly value education, with many families immigrating to the United States to provide their children better educational opportunities (Cycyk & Hammer, 2020; Reese, 2002). However, children from immigrant families face numerous challenges when entering the U.S. school system, and, as such, many of these children struggle academically as they progress through school (Jensen et al., 2020; National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM], 2017; Pew Hispanic Center, 2021). This chapter will describe the important value that Latinx parents place on school readiness skills and the varying levels of school readiness skills that Latinx children have when they enter school. It addresses how the home learning environment, that is, parents’ beliefs and practices, facilitates children’s acquisition of relevant skills.