Associations of language‐based bedtime routines with early cognitive skills and academic achievement: A follow‐up from kindergarten to middle school

• Published in: British journal of developmental psychology 2021-11, Vol.39 (4), p.521-539
• Main Authors: Câmara‐Costa, Hugo, Pulgar, Salomé, Cusin, Françoise, Labrell, Florence, Dellatolas, Georges
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Academic Success; Adolescent; Child; Child development; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive development; Cognitive science; Cognitive skills; cognitive–academic skills; Families & family life; Family characteristics; Follow-Up Studies; follow‐up study; Humans; Kindergarten; Language; language‐based bedtime routines; Life Sciences; Middle schools; Parents & parenting; Psychology; Schools; Singing; Songs; Storytelling; Verbal reasoning; Vocabulary
• ISSN: 0261-510X; 2044-835X
• DOI: 10.1111/bjdp.12378

Objective This study aimed to investigate the extent to which language‐based bedtime routines (LBR) reported by parents before kindergarten were associated with early cognitive skills at kindergarten and subsequent academic achievement in typically developing children. Method We followed a community‐based sample of 664 French‐speaking adolescents from kindergarten (5–6 years) to the end of middle school (15 years). Kindergarten measures included a parental questionnaire aimed at assessing the presence or absence of any kind of LBR, such as storytelling, looking at children’s books, reading a story, listening to songs, or singing nursery rhymes, as well as family contextual characteristics. Children also performed standardized assessments of oral language, pre‐reading skills, and non‐verbal reasoning. In middle school, children sat a national diploma typically used as an indicator of general academic achievement in Grade 9. Results After adjusting for family characteristics, the presence of language‐based bedtime routines (57%) predicted cognitive–academic skills in kindergarten, and was positively associated with academic achievement at Grade 9, related to the beneficial effect on children’s vocabulary in kindergarten. Conclusion The presence of language‐based bedtime routines may provide an indicator of positive parental behaviour including exposure to literacy activities, contributing to children’s early cognitive development and subsequent academic achievement.