The Kindergarten Connection

This study was conducted to examine the influence of prior preschool attendance, culture, and language socialization on early literacy success in drawings and dictated stories for Navajo kindergarten students at risk of school failure due to low socioeconomic status. The researcher found that when young children attended a program in which educators incorporated the cultural values, attitudes, and beliefs of the home and heritage language, their stories contained more details and richness than the stories of non-attending peers. While all children’s drawings reflected the influence of culture, several differences were found in the complexity and depth of the drawings. Early education programs designed to promote the heritage culture in conjunction with academic abilities, especially for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, were linked to lasting effects on indicators related to student achievement.

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