Parent Involvement in Early Childhood Education

1. Parent Involvement inEarly Childhood Education

2. Family Involvement in Education Makes A Difference In School Success – Start Now !

3. Research Shows Parent Involvement Makes A Difference • Helps Children get ready to enter school • Promotes School Success • Prepares Youth for College • Promotes Success in Adult Life

4. What Can I DoAt Home? • Look for everyday learning opportunities at home • Talk, using complex words and sentences • Read to your young children every day • Have books in your home, provide an example – read for pleasure • Teach them to identify letters and numbers • Connect printed words and letters to sounds

5. What Can I DoAt Home? • Name, count, sort household objects • Explore the world of nature with your child • Provide consistent routines and discipline • Monitor and limit “screen time” • Name feelings and talk about how you handle them.

6. What About When My Child Starts School? • Seek out quality preschool experiences, check out the staff, their credentials, the discipline policy and whether the program is accredited • Volunteer in the classroom and for any policy making committees • Attend parent-teacher conferences • Communicate regularly with staff • Voice your concerns and express your thanks

7. What More Can I DoTo Be Involved? • Take parent education programs in the community or in-home, if offered • Attend parent-child activity groups, if offered by your school, library, etc. • Access other community resources if your family needs help

8. What About Dads? • Two involved parents are better than one! • Research shows positive outcomes for school success and social adaptation when dads are involved • Other males can take on these roles

9. Different Parenting Styles • Moms and Dads tend to have different parenting styles • Father is more likely to be playful, to encourage risk taking and not as quick to intervene in the face of child’s frustration. • Mother is more likely to provide physical care, more likely to stress emotional security and personal safety, quicker to intervene in child’s frustration.

10. Positive Outcomes When Dads Are Involved • Better grades at school • More likely to enjoy school • More likely to participate in extracurricular activities • Less likely to repeat a grade • Less likely to be truant or to be expelled • These positive outcomes continue: less delinquency, delayed sexual activity, increased empathy and pro-social behavior

11. What Keeps Parents From Being Involved? • Time • Culture / Personality • Parents own history at school • Uncertainty • Some schools may not welcome parents • May be other issues for dads: • Staff may seem to prefer or expect to work with mom • More school staff are women • More boys have difficulties at school

12. National PTA Standards for Parent Involvement • Communication • Parenting • Student learning • Volunteering • School decision making & advocacy • Collaborating with the community

13. Summary • The research shows that family involvement in early childhood education makes a difference in school success and throughout life • Look for everyday learning experiences in the home. • Sign up for home visiting programs, parent education and parent support programs, parent-child activity groups, etc. • Be involved in your child’s preschool program • Male involvement is important in a child’s development • Stay involved in your child’s education from Pre-K - 12

14. References • “Early Childhood Standards of Quality for Prekindergarten” Michigan State Board of Education. March 8, 2005 • “Family Involvement in Early Childhood Education” Harvard Family Research Project. Spring, 2006 • “Father Presence / Father Involvement” Minnesota Institute of Public Health. • “Father Facts” National Fatherhood Initiative. 2002www.fatherhood.org • “Parent Guides” #18 & #19, Michigan Department of Education. www.michigan.gov/mde Prepared by: Mike Acosta, School Social Worker Wexford Missaukee I.S.D. macosta@wmisd.org