Abstract: Parental involvement in their young children's education can positively influence the course and caliber of that education. Explaining the reasons why parents from higher socioeconomic status are, in general, more involved in their children's education than parents from lower socioeconomic status remains a challenge for studies of educational inequality. Depending on their disciplinary orientations, scholars have offered different theories informing the mechanisms connecting parental involvement and socioeconomic status. Thus far, little effort has been extended to examine parents' own developmental experiences that may affect their class-related beliefs and actions, especially in relation to a nation's educational and cultural contexts. The present study describes middle-class and working-class mothers' actions and beliefs concerning their children's education at the transition from preschool to elementary school in Japan. The participants consisted of 16 Japanese mothers with young children from various socioeconomic backgrounds. In-depth interviews conducted over a three-year period were qualitatively analyzed. While all mothers acknowledged the importance of supporting their children's work in school, mothers with higher education were more likely to provide continuous support using various educational strategies during their children's preschool and early elementary years than less educated mothers. Views about their roles as parents and educational expectations, especially for their daughters, also differed significantly between middle-class and working-class mothers. My analysis also demonstrates the importance of an individual mother's self-efficacy beliefs concerning her children's education, which is formed through her own childhood and educational experiences. Socioeconomic differences in mothers' beliefs and attitudes toward their children's schooling are reproduced through women's own experiences rather than being challenged. Findings of this study highlight the importance of examining parents' developmental experiences in addition to their current class status in order to understand the mechanisms of class reproduction and educational inequalities.