Beyond caregiver engagement: Expanding the home learning environment lens through metacognitive support in early development

Abstract

The home learning environment (HLE) plays a crucial role in early development. Although dominant HLE operationalizations continue to emphasize the content and frequency of home learning activities, prior meta-analytic and systematic research has consistently demonstrated that the quality of caregivers’ engagement (e.g. sensitivity, cognitive stimulation) is foundational to children's school readiness across core content domains, including literacy, numeracy, and science. However, despite the reciprocal relation between learning and metacognition (i.e. defined as the ability to think about one's own thinking), caregivers’ metacognitive support remains an underexplored research aspect of the quality of caregiver–child interactions in the home. Building on emerging associations between caregiver metacognitive support (i.e. encompassing metacognitive knowledge, monitoring, and regulation) and early developmental outcomes, this colloquium illustrates, at both conceptual and methodological levels, how caregiver metacognitive support can be examined and measured within everyday interactions across domains. The contribution also identifies three key directions for future research, including the examination of developmental periods, family characteristics, and culturally related factors. Overall, this work underscores the value of incorporating caregiver metacognitive support as a promising area of inquiry embedded within the quality of caregiver–child engagement in HLE operationalizations.