Home food practices and Latino kindergarteners’ academic skills

Latino parents support children's academic skills through their involvement in daily living activities. Prior work has focused on conventional literacy (e.g., book reading) and numeracy activities (e.g., teaching numbers). Less-visible home activities that are high-priority, high-value cultural practices in Latino communities are food sharing (e.g., eating together) and food-related household chores (e.g., grocery shopping together). This study examined whether food sharing and food-related household chores contributed to children's academic skills beyond conventional literacy and numeracy activities, in a sample of 152 Latino parents from low-income households and their kindergarten children (M age = 67.24 months; 51.32% female). At the beginning of kindergarten, parents completed a home learning activities questionnaire and children's literacy and math skills were assessed. We found that food sharing, but not food-related household chores, positively related to children's literacy skills (vocabulary), beyond conventional literacy and numeracy activities. Food sharing and food-related household chores did not relate to children's math skills. Findings suggest the need to consider food sharing and food-related household chores as part of the constellation of Latino home learning activities that are likely to support children's academic skills.