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Digest of Education Statistics
2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 45. Percentage of 3- to 5-year-olds not yet enrolled in kindergarten who have participated in home literacy activities with a family member, by type of activity and selected child and family characteristics: 1993, 2001, and 2005 
Selected child and
family characteristic
Children (in thousands) Percent participating three or more times in the past week Visited a library2 
Read to by family member Told a story by family member Taught letters, words, or numbers Did arts and crafts
1993 2001 2005 19931  2001 2005 1993 2001 2005 1993 2001 2005 1993 2001 2005 1993 2001 2005
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Total 8,579 (42.0) 8,551 (11.0) 9,066 (9.0) 78 (0.7) 84 (0.8) 86 (0.7) 43 (0.9) 54 (0.9) 54 (1.0) 58 (0.8) 74 (1.0) 77 (0.9) 33 (0.8) 46 (1.0) 43 (1.2) 38 (1.0) 36 (1.1) 42 (1.2)
Age                                                                        
3 years old 3,889 (8.2) 3,795 (91.4) 4,070 (93.0) 79 (1.0) 84 (1.1) 86 (1.2) 46 (1.3) 54 (1.4) 54 (1.9) 57 (1.3) 71 (1.7) 75 (1.2) 34 (1.3) 43 (1.7) 41 (1.8) 34 (1.3) 35 (1.9) 40 (1.7)
4 years old 3,713 (15.7) 3,861 (89.0) 3,873 (92.0) 78 (1.0) 85 (1.2) 85 (1.3) 41 (1.5) 55 (1.4) 53 (1.6) 58 (1.1) 77 (1.3) 77 (1.5) 33 (1.1) 48 (1.5) 44 (1.9) 41 (1.5) 37 (1.4) 44 (2.0)
5 years old 976 (39.4) 896 (47.0) 1,123 (67.3) 76 (2.1) 81 (2.7) 86 (2.2) 36 (2.7) 52 (3.0) 55 (3.4) 58 (2.8) 75 (2.5) 80 (2.3) 33 (2.3) 44 (2.7) 47 (3.5) 38 (2.7) 37 (3.4) 46 (4.0)
                                                                         
Sex                                                                        
Male 4,453 (60.2) 4,292 (79.9) 4,707 (99.2) 77 (1.0) 82 (1.2) 85 (1.2) 43 (1.3) 53 (1.4) 53 (1.8) 58 (1.0) 73 (1.6) 75 (1.4) 31 (1.0) 41 (1.3) 39 (1.6) 38 (1.5) 35 (1.4) 44 (1.6)
Female 4,126 (65.0) 4,260 (79.6) 4,359 (99.6) 79 (1.0) 86 (1.0) 87 (0.9) 43 (1.2) 55 (1.3) 54 (1.6) 58 (1.4) 76 (1.3) 78 (1.2) 36 (1.2) 50 (1.5) 47 (1.6) 38 (1.1) 37 (1.6) 41 (1.7)
                                                                         
Race/ethnicity                                                                        
White 5,902 (63.6) 5,313 (68.0) 5,177 (80.2) 85 (0.7) 89 (0.8) 92 (0.7) 44 (1.0) 58 (1.1) 53 (1.5) 58 (0.9) 75 (1.2) 76 (1.4) 36 (1.0) 49 (1.2) 47 (1.5) 42 (1.3) 39 (1.3) 45 (1.6)
Black 1,271 (44.9) 1,251 (55.1) 1,233 (57.1) 66 (2.4) 77 (2.6) 78 (3.1) 39 (2.7) 51 (2.9) 54 (3.6) 63 (2.7) 78 (3.4) 81 (3.1) 28 (2.4) 34 (3.3) 39 (4.0) 29 (2.6) 31 (2.6) 44 (3.8)
Hispanic 1,026 (34.1) 1,506 (43.5) 1,822 (50.0) 58 (2.4) 71 (1.9) 72 (2.0) 38 (2.2) 42 (2.1) 50 (2.4) 54 (1.9) 68 (2.0) 74 (2.2) 25 (2.1) 42 (2.2) 34 (2.5) 26 (1.6) 30 (2.0) 32 (2.1)
Other 381 (33.5) 482 (38.3) 834 (54.3) 73 (3.8) 87 (2.7) 88 (1.8) 50 (5.3) 60 (4.0) 64 (3.1) 59 (3.9) 78 (3.6) 82 (3.0) 32 (3.3) 46 (3.8) 47 (3.9) 43 (4.6) 38 (4.6) 48 (3.3)
                                                                         
Mother's highest level of education3                                                                         
Less than high school 1,036 (50.1) 996 (54.5) 886 (59.4) 60 (2.7) 69 (2.8) 64 (3.3) 37 (3.2) 43 (3.7) 39 (3.5) 56 (2.7) 67 (3.0) 70 (3.0) 25 (2.2) 30 (2.9) 29 (3.2) 22 (2.7) 21 (2.4) 23 (3.2)
High school/GED 3,268 (79.6) 2,712 (89.0) 2,687 (117.9) 75 (1.3) 81 (1.6) 82 (1.6) 41 (1.3) 53 (1.7) 51 (2.4) 56 (1.3) 73 (1.5) 78 (1.9) 30 (1.2) 43 (1.7) 39 (2.3) 30 (1.8) 30 (1.9) 33 (2.5)
Vocational/technical or some college 2,291 (69.1) 1,833 (73.9) 1,782 (81.9) 83 (1.4) 85 (1.8) 88 (1.4) 45 (1.9) 53 (2.5) 56 (2.8) 60 (1.7) 76 (1.8) 78 (2.0) 37 (1.8) 47 (2.3) 45 (2.4) 44 (2.2) 38 (2.2) 47 (3.2)
Associate's degree 332 (25.7) 573 (40.9) 680 (44.1) 84 (3.1) 89 (2.5) 90 (2.3) 44 (4.3) 56 (3.2) 60 (3.6) 63 (3.9) 78 (3.5) 82 (2.8) 39 (4.1) 46 (3.8) 50 (3.5) 38 (4.1) 42 (4.3) 42 (4.1)
Bachelor's degree 912 (42.3) 1,553 (68.4) 1,949 (73.9) 90 (1.6) 93 (1.2) 93 (1.3) 48 (2.4) 58 (2.2) 57 (2.3) 57 (2.2) 76 (1.9) 75 (2.4) 37 (2.4) 53 (2.7) 47 (2.5) 55 (2.2) 46 (2.4) 53 (2.1)
Graduate/professional degree 569 (37.7) 685 (45.7) 879 (50.8) 90 (2.1) 96 (1.1) 94 (1.6) 50 (3.2) 67 (3.6) 63 (2.9) 60 (2.7) 80 (2.8) 75 (2.6) 42 (3.0) 55 (3.8) 48 (3.1) 59 (3.5) 55 (3.8) 58 (3.1)
                                                                         
Mother's employment status3                                                                         
Employed 4,486 (77.3) 5,148 (84.2) 5,277 (111.1) 79 (1.0) 86 (1.0) 86 (1.0) 44 (1.0) 54 (1.3) 53 (1.5) 57 (1.2) 73 (1.3) 76 (1.3) 33 (1.1) 45 (1.5) 42 (1.7) 39 (1.2) 36 (1.2) 43 (1.6)
Unemployed 594 (45.0) 396 (36.9) 543 (63.7) 71 (3.4) 77 (5.0) 89 (2.6) 43 (2.9) 56 (5.6) 58 (6.8) 66 (3.7) 73 (5.0) 81 (3.6) 33 (3.9) 38 (5.2) 39 (5.1) 37 (3.7) 37 (4.8) 39 (4.5)
Not in labor force 3,328 (72.9) 2,809 (73.3) 3,043 (96.5) 79 (1.3) 83 (1.4) 85 (1.3) 43 (1.5) 54 (2.0) 55 (2.0) 58 (1.5) 76 (1.7) 76 (1.6) 34 (1.4) 48 (2.0) 45 (1.8) 37 (1.4) 38 (1.9) 43 (1.9)
                                                                         
Family composition of household                                                                        
Two parents 6,226 (78.1) 6,416 (75.1) 7,000 (68.7) 81 (0.7) 87 (0.8) 87 (0.8) 44 (1.0) 55 (1.0) 53 (1.1) 57 (0.9) 74 (1.1) 76 (1.1) 35 (0.9) 48 (1.1) 44 (1.2) 41 (1.2) 38 (1.2) 43 (1.3)
None or one parent 2,353 (66.5) 2,135 (75.1) 2,066 (69.3) 71 (1.7) 76 (2.0) 83 (1.7) 41 (2.0) 51 (2.2) 55 (2.6) 59 (2.1) 73 (2.2) 78 (2.0) 30 (1.9) 39 (2.3) 41 (2.6) 30 (1.7) 30 (2.1) 40 (2.6)
                                                                         
Poverty status4                                                                         
Above poverty threshold 6,323 (62.1) 6,620 (61.6) 7,095 (62.9) 82 (0.7) 87 (0.8) 88 (0.8) 44 (0.9) 55 (0.9) 55 (1.1) 57 (0.8) 75 (1.1) 77 (1.1) 36 (0.9) 47 (1.0) 45 (1.4) 41 (1.2) 39 (1.2) 44 (1.3)
At or below poverty threshold 2,256 (56.6) 1,931 (62.1) 1,971 (63.7) 67 (1.6) 74 (2.3) 78 (1.9) 39 (1.8) 51 (2.7) 51 (2.7) 60 (2.0) 72 (2.4) 76 (2.1) 27 (1.9) 40 (2.4) 38 (2.8) 28 (2.0) 27 (2.2) 36 (2.5)
1 In 1993, respondents were asked about reading frequency in one of two versions. The percentages presented in the table are for all of the respondents who answered three or more times on either version of the questions.
2 Refers to visiting a library at least once in the past month.
3 Excludes children who did not have a mother (birth, adoptive, step, or foster) residing in their household and also did not have a female respondent on the telephone.
4 Poverty status was determined by household income and number of persons in household.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic origin. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Readiness Survey and Early Child­hood Program Participation Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (SR-NHES:1993 and ECPP-NHES:2001 and 2005). (This table was prepared October 2006.)

2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest