Home-based literacy activities and children's cognitive outcomes: A comparison between Australia and Germany

• Home-based literacy activities (HBLA) and child/family characteristics are analysed.
• Longitudinal data of some 900 German and 2500 Australian children are analysed.
• HBLA occurred more or less daily in two thirds of both samples.
• HBLA was associated with parental education and family main language.
• Children experiencing more frequent HBLA showed greater cognitive outcomes.

Home-based literacy activities (HBLA) such as reading with a child and their impact on cognitive competencies have been widely investigated. However, few comparison studies between different countries have been conducted. This study compares HBLA in Germany and Australia, and their associations with different control and outcome variables using longitudinal data of some 900/2500 children. More than two-thirds of the parents in both samples engaged in literacy interactions with their children more or less daily. Parents in both countries who reported more HBLA had higher levels of education, were less likely to speak another language than German or English (respectively) at home, and their children performed better in cognitive outcomes. These differences proved to be stable for the whole preschool period.