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Maternal parenting styles, homework help, and children’s literacy development in language minority and Finnish-speaking families

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An Erratum to this article was published on 04 October 2017

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the role of mothers’ (language minority mothers, LM, n = 49, and Finnish-speaking mothers, MP, n = 368) parenting styles and maternal help with their children’s homework in the children’s (mean age 11.43 years) literacy skills at fourth grade in Finland. In addition, the moderating effect of a child’s gender on this relationship was investigated. The results showed that the LM mothers used psychological control more than MP mothers. Furthermore, the more LM mothers used warmth and psychological styles of parenting, the more they helped their daughters, not sons, with homework. MP mothers’ parenting styles did not relate to their children’s reading and spelling skills. LM maternal behavioral control parenting styles were positively related, and psychological control was negatively related to children’s reading skills through help with homework. Maternal help negatively related to children’s reading skills in both groups. This research provides also new information to teachers and educators who work in multicultural teams. Because our findings could be applied in the educational settings of multilingual students, they are likely to be of great interest to the visionary scientists, researchers, teachers, and trainees.

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  • 04 October 2017

    In the original publication, some data were published incorrectly. The authors apologize for the errors.

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Acknowledgements

The preparation of this manuscript has been partly supported by Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland, grants awarded to Riitta Sikiö. This study has been carried out in the Center of Excellence in Learning and Motivation Research with grant from the Academy of Finland (Nr. 213486 for 2006–2011 and Nr. 125811 for 2008–2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophical Faculty, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 111, FI-80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Riitta Sikiö, Martti Siekkinen & Leena Holopainen

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Gintautas Silinskas & Jari-Erik Nurmi

  3. Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen

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  1. Riitta Sikiö
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  2. Martti Siekkinen
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  3. Leena Holopainen
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  5. Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen
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Correspondence to Riitta Sikiö.

Additional information

R iitta Sikiö is a postgraduate student at the University of Eastern Finland. Research area is how immigrant children learn to read and write Finnish language.

riitta.sikio@edu.parikkala.fi

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301279041_Maternal_literacy_teaching_causal_attributions_and_children%27s_literacy_skills_in_Finnish-speaking_and_language_minority_families

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283700029_Literacy_Development_Among_Language_Minority_Background_and_Dyslexic_Children_in_Finnish_Orthography_Context

Dr. Martti Siekkinen is a senior lecturer of Early Elementary Education at the University of Eastern Finland. His research focuses on children’s literacy development and motivation at early school years and how teachers at kindergarten and school can promote child’s development.

martti.siekkinen@uef.fi

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290509029_Child-centered_versus_teacher-directed_teaching_practices_Associations_with_the_development_of_academic_skills_in_the_first_grade_at_school

Leena Holopainen is a professor of special education at the University of Eastern Finland. Research area is literacy development and problems, especially learning disabilities and manifestation of dyslexia with different age groups.

leena.holopainen@uef.fi

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301901193_Implications_of_Overlapping_Difficulties_in_Mathematics_and_Reading_on_Self-Concept_and_Academic_Achievement

Gintautas Silinskas is a senior researcher at the Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä. His research interests are in home and school learning environments and their relations to children’s achievement and adjustment.

gintautas.silinskas@jyu.fi

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229349662_Predictors_of_mothers%27_and_fathers%27_teaching_of_reading_and_mathematics_in_kindergarten_and_Grade_1?ev=contentfeed&homeFeedVariantCode=d_EU&_iepl%5BviewId%5D=stl7lJqP57Hm5QovmXUTcmdx&_iepl%5BsingleItemViewId%5D=5pScczuP8Q1P3SIy1mj6jeTb&_iepl%5BactivityId%5D=724903145906182&_iepl%5BactivityType%5D=service_add_recommendation_publication&_iepl%5BactivityTimestamp%5D=1465891002&_iepl%5BhomeFeedVariantCode%5D=d_EU&_iepl%5BrecommendationType%5D=milestone_cited&_iepl%5BrecommendationDomain%5D=coauthors&_iepl%5Bcontexts%5D%5B0%5D=homeFeed&_iepl%5BinteractionType%5D=publicationView

Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen is a professor of education at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research focus is on child’s academic skill development, motivation, and teacher-student interactions especially at early school years.

marja-kristiina.lerkkanen@jyu.fi

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290509029_Child-centered_versus_teacher-directed_teaching_practices_Associations_with_the_development_of_academic_skills_in_the_first_grade_at_school

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303905921_The_precursors_of_double_dissociation_between_reading_and_spelling_in_a_transparent_orthography

Jari-Erik Nurmi is a professor of psychology at the University of Jyväskylä. His research current interests include topics, such as classroom interaction, children’s evocative impact on their interpersonal environments, motivation and learning, and modeling of developmental processes.

jari-erik.nurmi@jyu.fi

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289600875_Early_temperament_and_age_at_school_entry_predict_task_avoidance_in_elementary_school

The original version of this article was revised: In the original publication, some data were published incorrectly. The authors apologize for the errors. The corrected data are now shown here.

An erratum to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-017-0338-9.

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Sikiö, R., Siekkinen, M., Holopainen, L. et al. Maternal parenting styles, homework help, and children’s literacy development in language minority and Finnish-speaking families. Eur J Psychol Educ 33, 235–250 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-017-0330-4

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