Parent–child shared book reading mediates the impact of socioeconomic status on heritage language learners’ emergent mathematics

Aims and Objectives: We investigated the role of general parent–child shared book reading frequency in the association between socioeconomic status and early mathematics skills using a nationally representative sample of young heritage language learners (HLLs). Methodology: The study included 855 HLLs aged 2 to 6 years from diverse linguistic backgrounds. Data were collected as part of the National Household Education Surveys Program of 2019, which included a nationally representative sample of HLLs living in the United States. Parents reported children’s early mathematics abilities, frequency of parent–child shared book reading, child characteristics, and socioeconomic status. Data and analysis: Latent variable path analysis (LVPA) was used to estimate the effect of parent–child shared book reading on HLLs’ early mathematics skills, as well as to determine the role of shared book reading in the associations between socioeconomic status and children’s early mathematics skills. Findings/conclusions: Results revealed a positive, significant relation between parent–child shared book reading, socioeconomic status, and early mathematics skills, even after covarying by age and sex. Furthermore, parent–child shared book reading partially mediated the effect of socioeconomic status on HLLs’ early mathematics skills. Our findings suggest that parent–child shared book reading can play a critical role in the development of HLLs’ early mathematics skills. Originality: This is the first study focusing on the relations between parent–child shared book reading and young HLLs’ early mathematics skills. This is also the first study examining the effect of parent–child shared book reading on the relations between socioeconomic status and HLLs’ early mathematics skills. Significance: Despite the growing numbers and well-documented socioeconomic disadvantage experienced by HLLs, evidence for how to academically support HLLs’ remains sparse. Recent evidence supports the positive effect of parent–child shared book reading practices on HLLs’ early literacy skills; however, it remains unknown whether frequent engagement in parent–child shared book reading practices confers cross-disciplinary benefits.