What influences children’s achievement by the age of 10?

What influences children’s achievement by the age of 10?
Well that’s something we would all like to know, but a recent study from the University of London, published in the journal ‘Science’, suggests that there are a number of crucial factors, including:
1. the education of the child’s mother
2. playing word and number games at home
3. going to a good pre-school nursery or primary school
A good home learning environment is crucial and this is often created by mothers who have a good educational background themselves – a fairly obvious statement I would think.
However, there are plenty of cases where a mother’s lower level of education is more than made up for by creating a good home learning environment. Reading stories, singing nursery rhymes and playing games involving shape and space are all factors.
Professor Melhuish goes on to say,
“The results indicated that home learning environment, pre-school effectiveness and primary school effectiveness all make separate, significant impacts.”
So go on, get the board games out and spend a great afternoon playing and talking with your children – it does them good!