Raising Happy Children Who Succeed in School: Lessons From China and the United States

Abstract

Abstract Chinese children outperform their American counterparts in the academic arena. Although many aspects of Chinese and American children's environments likely contribute to this achievement gap, a key aspect may be learning-related parenting (e.g., assisting children with homework and responding to children's performance). In this article, we review differences in Chinese and American learning-related parenting, with attention to the trade-offs of each culture's style for children's academic and emotional functioning. We consider an integrated style of parenting combining the strengths of the Chinese and American styles to facilitate children's academic and emotional functioning.