Parent involvement in a preschool
setting improves academic scores and the social emotional development of
children. If this involvement is continued, it will contribute to improved
academics in grade school and improved graduation rates from high school. Thus observes
Joseph Henry, executive director of the Shoshone and Arapahoe Head Start
Program on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. In his paper, "Academic Success and Preschool Parent
Involvement," he describes the results of research conducted at his Head
Start site...
"A parent involvement plan was implemented in the Head Start Program....
The plan allowed parents to become involved in the education of their children.
This involvement included the development of a personal relationship with the
child, the completion of homework, high expectations, communication with Head
Start teachers, and the development of a partnership that included a welcoming
environment for parents in the program. The hypothesis was that parent
communication with the children and teachers, high expectations, a
literacy-friendly environment in the home, and a welcoming school environment
resulted in increased academic and social-emotional performances for children.
"The results of the research confirmed that when parents are involved in
the education of the child, that child is more focused, comfortable, and
trusting and excels in both academics and social behavior. The children of all
parents who were exposed to parent involvement demonstrated significant
improvements in all categories: How much involvement and what type of
involvement are the questions. It appears from the research that the extent and
type of involvement depends on the location and the audience. There is
consensus on the need for parents, schools, and communities to partner in the
format acceptable to that community, for the good of the child. The context is
the key and what occurs on a Native American Indian reservation may not be
appropriate for New York
City. [But] the
principles are similar in all locations: the respect, the welcoming
environment, and the acceptance of all social and economic groups..."
Exchange 2007
"Learning
improves dramatically among young children who take the time to explain
academic concepts to their mothers or who explain the logic aloud to
themselves," reports Education Week (January 30, 2008; www.edweek.org).
More specifically, a study conducted by a team of researchers at Vanderbilt
University, found that...
"Four- and 5-year olds who explained concepts to their mothers before
taking a test scored correctly on 76% of the questions on a test of reasoning,
and children who explained concepts aloud to themselves prior to the test
scored 72% correct. On the other hand, children who did not explain the
concepts at all prior to taking the test scored only 42% correct. The study
examined 54 youngsters' ability to correctly place toy insects in a certain
pattern based on color and type."
Discipline Exchange 2007
David Elkind's observations on
discipline as noted in the Exchange article, "Instructive
Discipline is Built on Understanding" …
"My dictionary gives two major definitions for the term discipline. One of
these is 'training that develops self control, character or orderliness, and
efficiency.' The other is, 'treatment that corrects and punishes.' These
definitions start from two quite different conceptions of the child and of
childrearing. The first begins with the idea that children are born neither
social nor anti-social and have to be trained to acquire the rules and routines
of healthy interpersonal exchange. In contrast, the other definition starts off
with the idea that children come into the world with anti-social
pre-dispositions (original sin, if you will) that have to be extinguished.
One idea of childrearing and
discipline is, therefore, instructive; it is a matter of teaching children
social skills and attitudes. The other conception of childrearing and
discipline is punitive, a matter of stamping out misbehavior through
punishment.
"The difference in our starting conceptions of discipline is important
because it determines how we look at, and treat, what we as adults label
misbehavior. First of all, and most importantly, when we view discipline as a learning experience we will look at
so-called misbehavior as an opportunity for instruction. Secondly, we will also
appreciate that discipline presents a creative challenge for which there are no
ready-made solutions, only a number of possibilities. Finally, when we view discipline as a teaching moment,
we will also appreciate that children learn differently at different age levels
and that we need to adjust our instruction accordingly. We cannot teach infants
and young children about prejudice in the same way that we would approach this
issue with adolescents. Instructive discipline is developmentally appropriate."
