ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

I think there is plenty of data in early childhood education (in the USA with Head Start, Early Head Start, Even Start) that shows the two- generational model does have a positive impact. Maybe not on educational achievement as shown on tests but certainly on the children having less need for special education, higher graduation rates, less teen pregnancy, less involvement in the juvenile justice system, etc. Parental involvement without some prompting to parents about what’s appropriate might make a difference too. Even in Early Head Start (birth to three years) we have parents say “I want my child to learn his ABC’s” and the parent might drill the child on that (absent a “relationship” of fun and exploration) but with the two- generational model the parent learns from a caring and compassionate early childhood provider about “how children learn” and can offer a more developmentally appropriate approach.

From my experience over 54 years as an Early Childhood Educator I believe so many factors come into play. The greatest challenges to a positive parent educator partnership have seemed to be when mental health,vulnerability and protective issues and backgrounds have been present. Negative experiences from the parent's own childhood experiences have compounded the issues now being addressed and have impacted on partnerships,trust and outcomes.
I have been privileged to be part of very effective collaborative partnerships when parents of children with disabilities have developed respectful relationships. The parents have shared their knowledge , experiences and special wisdom of their child and educators have listened and learned.
Children sense when this parent and professional partnership is sincere and positive and this, in turn, can lead to valuable experiences for all.
We should never take a broad approach to such a potentially vital parent educator partnership.I believe there will be challenges. There will be times of judgement and disappointment but it is a communication partnership worthy of the time and respect it deserves. As educators we are in a privileged position to have the opportunity to form the partnership.Only when there is genuine respect of each person's knowledge and experience will there be benefits for everyone with most gains clearly evident for the child.

I found this article rather refreshing. We are so used to being told that parent involvement is essential, and yet, I never went to PTA meetings, or baked cookies for bake sales, and my kids did just fine. I think some involvement is more meaningful to a parent than other things. I made sure my kids did their homework, and we definitely expected our kids to go to college, but probably a big thing that I did was go to school board meetings so I would understand issues in the district beyond my child's school.

I also worked for Head Start years ago, and the goals of parent involvement there are wrapped up in helping the parents improve themselves. The hope is that they will learn more about normal child development, or see discipline and guidance based on reasoning and empathy. For the most part that is not a goal of those who talk about parent involvement.

I feel that there is some instances that parent involvement allows a student to act disrespectful towards teachers and authority figures in school and it ends up being a battle with the parent who denies the child's behavior and tries to make it look as if the student is picked on. Most parents who do this allows the student to act out. the child knows then that if he/she is rude and disrespectful, then they just have to tell mom or dad and they bail them out. That type of parent involvement allows the child to act out negatively and teachers and administrators are blamed and sometimes sued over this.

We do not need to enable our children to act like this. If they get themselves in a position of guilt, let the child work themselves out of it. They learn to not rely on mom and Dad to bail them out.

I am interested in seeing the research that is cited in the article. As a professional in the field of early childhood for the past 30 years, I am finding this information hard to believe.