If I could choose any topic to research in the early childhood field, it would be parent involvement in their child’s education. As a former Pre-K teacher, I struggled with this issue. I had parents on both sides of the spectrum. I had parents who were eager to volunteer in the class. These parents were the ones who asked for extra activities to work on at home. I also had parents who told me that they really thought I was just babysitting their child until they saw the work that I was sending home. My class lacked parent volunteers in the classroom and on field trips. I think the busyness of American parents has led to a decreased interest in their children’s education.
However, I do believe that parent involvement in a child’s education offers a lot of positive contributions. The first thing I see is that when parents are involved, the children are eager to do better and succeed. The parents become a positive role model, and the child’s grades are typically higher. Young children are eager to do whatever it takes to please their parents as well as tend to mimic their behaviors. At the beginning of the school year, I can tell which children have been read to and who has not just by their simple interest in books. The second positive thing I have witnessed is that parents are able to help their child advance. I had students who could not recognize their letters and numbers, so I sent home flashcards for their parents to work with. After Christmas Break, I had nearly all of my students on track thanks to the parents who devoted some time to their child’s educational needs. Parents tend to forget that their child’s teacher is just one person trying to meet the needs of 20 students at the same time, so it is really important that parents know that they need to help reinforce material that is being taught at school. There are many positive contributions that occur when parent’s become involved in their child’s education, but these two examples are just to name a few.
Hi Stacey,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you with the idea the parental interaction in the child's education can have positive outcomes. But just to play devil's advocate I had a professor say one time, It is their job to parent and Your job to teach.
I also value the importance "Parent Involvement", has in the development of their children. In today's world with all the concepts children have to learn, in order to meet the standards stablish buy the public school, parents defenetly have to be part of that learning process more than ever.
ReplyDeleteParents and teachers need to work hand to hand, its a collaborated responsibility. Parents as primary teachers of their children and us as tools to help learning happen.
Parent involvement is very important to a child's success in school. If only all parents truely understood that. There is a great article in Childcare Exchange (2011) Vol. 33(3)on "Play: It's time to stop defending play" by Rosemary Burton. She tells educators how to have the discussion with parents but also how to 'teach' during the course of children's play. The article helped me to realize that some parents are not involved because they do see us as "babysitters" because we are not showing them that we are teaching and their child is learning when they are playing. Let me know if you need any other articles on the subject.
ReplyDeleteStacey,
ReplyDeleteI love having parents volunteer in my Pre-K classroom. However, sometimes some parents can be just another child in the room. If I have a parent in the room, that is just there, I try to encourage them to get up and move around and once they do they see how much fun Pre-K is and hopefully I can help them to see and feel the importance of them being a part of their child's learning environment. I posted an article about Pre-K on my blog and if I can help you with your research please let me know, because I have been teaching pre-k since 1993.
Stacy,
ReplyDeleteGreat topic. Parent involvement gives great significance in a child's education. Just on today my son shared with my Pastor and I his fond memories of middle school and of me walking him to the bus stop everyday, having a hot breakfast prepared and the difference when transitioning to high school where he had a little more independence and now in his first year of college he is beginning to understand that it was now his time to grow up and that a part of his education was two-fold learning to take care of himself and grasping an understanding of his chosen career field.
So those important moments of walking him to the bus stop in middle school and fixing a hot breakfast started the beginning of him seeing how important having a great education was to his family.
I definitely agree that having parent involvement in education gives children that extra push to be successful.