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A research study focusing on\u00a0<\/span>low-income\u00a0<\/span>Latino and\u00a0<\/span>African American fathers in the USA has found a correlation between how sensitively they play with their preschool children and their children\u2019s math\u00a0<\/span>achievement<\/span>\u00a0scores<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>kindergarten.<\/span>\u00a0This correlation exist<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0irrespective of the level of mothers\u2019 sensitive support for these children.<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0<\/span>researchers\u2019 combined various aspects into their\u00a0<\/span>measure of sensitive play<\/span>:<\/span>follow<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0the child\u2019s lead in what the child wants to play with,\u00a0<\/span>respond<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0positively to the child\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>behaviors and language, and help<\/span>ing the<\/span>\u00a0child when needed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n O<\/span>verall<\/span>\u00a0in this sample of 312,<\/span>\u00a0fathers<\/span>\u2019 sensitivity<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>during play\u00a0<\/span>was high. In all the families<\/span>\u00a0selected for the research,<\/span>\u00a0the father lived in the child\u2019s home. (This means the research is not fully representative of fathers\u2019 contributions in all fami<\/span>l<\/span>y formations.)<\/span><\/p>\n The correlation was found<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>between sensitive play and\u00a0<\/span>kindergarten\u00a0<\/span>math\u00a0<\/span>achievement\u00a0<\/span>only; there was no correlation with\u00a0<\/span>reading\u00a0<\/span>achievement<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the\u00a0<\/span>researchers<\/span>, \u201c<\/span>Early childhood intervention programs<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>focused on parenting skills too often focus almost exclusively on<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>mothers and neglect the importance of involving fathers.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0They\u00a0<\/span>argu<\/span>e<\/span>\u00a0that the results of this\u00a0<\/span>play\u00a0<\/span>study show that supporting fathers can lead to better academic achievement at school.\u00a0<\/span>But they caution that\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>i<\/span>nvolving fathers in early childhood programs will require innovative delivery models that accommodate the needs and preferences of fathers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Much<\/span>\u00a0research\u00a0<\/span>shows\u00a0<\/span>a link between preschool parenting and early school academic achievement.\u00a0<\/span>Parental sensitivity can buffer the negative effects of\u00a0<\/span>the kinds of\u00a0<\/span>risks that are more prevalent in the environments\u00a0<\/span>where\u00a0<\/span>many<\/span>\u00a0ethnic<\/span>\u00a0minority families live.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The great majority of research\u00a0<\/span>on this link\u00a0<\/span>focuses on mothers,\u00a0<\/span>but evidence is\u00a0<\/span>growing\u00a0<\/span>that<\/span>\u00a0fathers<\/span>\u00a0also<\/span>\u00a0play an important role<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The role of\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>father<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>is particularly important whe<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0the mother is unsupportive of the children<\/span>: supportive fathering is associated with higher school readiness in children wh<\/span>ose<\/span>\u00a0mothers are unsupportive.<\/span><\/p>\n One problem\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>research i<\/span>s that measures of\u00a0<\/span>parental\u00a0<\/span>sensitivity tend to be designed\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>capture\u00a0<\/span>how\u00a0<\/span>mothers<\/span>\u00a0care for children.\u00a0<\/span>Such\u00a0<\/span>measures may\u00a0<\/span>no<\/span>t<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>capture important aspects of how fathers interact with their children<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0On average,\u00a0<\/span>observations show,\u00a0<\/span>fathers care for their children differently from mothers<\/span>, with\u00a0<\/span>more teasing, more physical play and risk taking<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and the use of more challenging language.<\/span><\/p>\n The deficit in research regarding fathers is even stronger in relation to<\/span>\u00a0ethnic<\/span>\u00a0minority fathers. Some research adopt<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0a \u2018deficit perspective\u2019<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0focusing on the problems of\u00a0<\/span>ethnic\u00a0<\/span>minority fatherhood<\/span>\u00a0such as<\/span>\u00a0father absence. Yet research shows generally high levels of father contribution: one study found\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>two<\/span>–<\/span>thirds of fathers in a racially diverse study read to their toddler at least once a week.<\/span><\/p>\n To understand<\/span>\u00a0parenting in\u00a0<\/span>ethnic\u00a0<\/span>minority families<\/span>, we<\/span>\u00a0must take into account the environmental conditions that\u00a0<\/span>such families\u00a0<\/span>experience<\/span>\u2014<\/span>for example, high rates of poverty and\u00a0<\/span>confronting<\/span>\u00a0racism and prejudice. Such environmental factors can require a different\u00a0<\/span>parenting\u00a0<\/span>approach to prep<\/span>a<\/span>re the child for a different world. For example, the \u201cno nonsense\u201d parenting style seen in some African American families may be a necessary protective factor for the children and can be associated with high levels of warmth.<\/span><\/p>\n In this research project, involving 119 African American and 193 Latino fathers (mostly Mexican), the children were observed\u00a0<\/span>and videoed\u00a0<\/span>at\u00a0<\/span>play<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0first with their father<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0and then their mother<\/span>s<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>When the child was\u00a0<\/span>2.5<\/span>\u00a0years old, each parent was given three bags with toys in them to open and play with their child over 15 minutes. This\u00a0<\/span>process\u00a0<\/span>was repeated when the child was 3.5 years old (but with only two bags and for only 10 minutes). Later,\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0kindergarten, the child was tested for\u00a0<\/span>academic achievement in both\u00a0<\/span>math and language<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n