Family engagement in early learning opportunities at home and in early childhood education centers in Colombia

Family engagement in early learning and education is considered a key predictor of children's development. However, little is known about the link between family engagement in early learning opportunities in sociocultural diverse contexts, particularly in low- and-middle-income countries. This study examined the associations of family engagement in home learning activities (e.g., reading books, naming things) and in early childhood care and education centers (ECCE; e.g., attending meetings or workshops, helping inside the classroom) with young children's emergent literacy and numeracy, social-emotional functioning, motor development, and executive functions, as measured through direct assessment. Data came from a nationally-representative sample of public ECCE centers in Colombia serving 3–5-year-old children (N = 3069). Multilevel model analyses showed that home-based family engagement was associated with higher emergent numeracy, emergent literacy, social-emotional functioning, and motor development, whereas center-based family engagement was associated only with higher emergent numeracy and literacy development. These results suggest that interventions and policies designed to improve family engagement in early learning opportunities both at the ECCE centers and at the home could have positive and independent effects on early childhood development.