The modern era allows a reexamination of parental involvement in their children's education as a function of family size. Israel encourages childbirth. 'Children are joy' -- Indeed? Is this merely a sectorial-religious outlook? Is this outlook relevant in an era when the dominant values are the individual and excellence? This article presents a…

A questionnaire given to 221 mothers for gathering information about residential area and family size and three aspects in children's play habits: frequency, location, and choice of playmate. The results showed that there was a general tendency to play indoors rather than outdoors, regardless of residential area (urban vs. rural). Family size and…

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of maternal demographics, interaction quality, and children's gender on school readiness using different informants. Method: Participants recruited for this study included 25 kindergarten teachers, 271 mothers, and their kindergarten children (169 girls and 102 boys with a mean age of 4.28 years).…

The study examined family indicators of 170 Israeli undergraduate college student-mothers. It found that parental self-efficacy, marital satisfaction, and social support predicted wellbeing. Parental self-efficacy had a significant effect on wellbeing only for respondents who reported a high level of social support. A high level of stress…

The authors examine parenting stress and coping strategies and their relation to satisfaction with family quality of life in a unique population: hearing Bedouin parents of children born with partial or total hearing loss in southern Israel. Could variables previously shown to predict families' quality of life in other populations with children…

Based on a 20% representative sample of all high school students in Israel in the mid-1990s, this study explores a reform implemented in low socio-economic status (SES) state religious high schools. Most of their students were from the disadvantaged Jewish ethnic group in Israel, Mizrachim. Perceived as unable to meet the requirements of academic…

This study investigated how immigrant parents describe and explain their family language policy concerning their child's preschool bilingual development, and also explored the factors linked to the parents' choice of bilingual or monolingual kindergarten for their child. The study design was based on a comparison of 2 groups of parents: those who…

Examines the relationship between number of siblings and educational attainment for Ashkenazy and Oriental Jews and Muslim Arabs living in Israel. For both Jewish groups, the number of siblings has a negative effect on educational attainment, but not for the Muslim Arabs, who rely on the support of extended family relationships. (CJS)

Compares learning achievement, social adjustment, and family conflict among 146 Bedouin-Arab students from polygamous and monogamous families. Reveals that children from monogamous families had higher levels of learning achievement, and they adjusted better to the school framework. The mean conflict rating was higher for children from polygamous…

Three sources of variability in school achievement of children from demographically homogeneous families were identified: (1) socioeconomic status, (2) family configuration, which are direct and environmentally mediated effects of families' demographic characteristics, and (3) individual differences in the quality of the early environment. (RH)