Academic Socialization of Young Black and Latino Children ― Building on Family Strengths

This book offers a strengths-based, family-focused approach to improving the educational performance and school experience of struggling Black and Latino students. The book discusses educational challenges faced by low-income families of color and the different strengths within Black and Latino family life that can affect these challenges. It focuses building on these strengths within the children’s home environments that can serve as a foundation for subsequent learning. The chapters describe a wide range of family practices and beliefs, including development of interventions to support families that promote early language and literacy, early mathematics, and social skills. The chapters also present quantitative and/or qualitative studies using a strengths-based approach to parents’ socialization of their children’s early academic skills.

Topics featured in this book include:

• Latino and Black parental resources, investments, and beliefs
  
• Academic socialization in the homes of Black and Latino preschool children
  
• Development of culturally-informed interventions to promote children’s school readiness skills
  
• Family-school partnerships as a tool for improving educational opportunities.
  
• Directions for future research
  

Academic Socialization of Young Black and Latino Children is a must-have resource for researchers, educators, clinicians and related professionals, and graduate students in diverse fields including education, developmental and school psychology, family studies, counseling psychology and social work, and sociology of culture.

Susan Sonnenschein, Ph.D., is a developmental and educational psychologist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a professor and graduate program director of the Applied Developmental Psychology program. Her research focuses on ways to promote at home and school the educational success of children from different demographic backgrounds. She is particularly interested in home experiences of children often at risk for difficulties in school (e.g., immigrants, low income, ELL, minority groups).