Parental Involvement

Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement July 20, 2022

Parent-Teacher Conference: Everything You Need to Know

This is a term that refers to a pre-organized conference for parents and teachers to discuss the critical elements of student success both within and outside the classroom. An effective parent-teacher conference should follow a set agenda. The teacher should show examples of the kid’s schoolwork and any relevant test scores and share observations of the kid’s academic work, class participation, and social growth. Parents should prepare some questions for the teacher about anything that confused them or raised a concern during the earlier few months of school. Parents will most likely have one or two scheduled parent-teacher conferences every year. However, there can be exceptions, like if a kid is struggling academically or is having other kinds of issues, the teacher may advise an additional conference. Parents should treat this event as an opportunity to intervene in their kids’ school experience in a positive way.

The major benefits of attending parent-teacher conferences include the following:

· When kids are enrolled in a school, they enter into a different environment than what they were in before that time. They start to demonstrate different behaviors to adapt to the new environment. Parents often don’t see the side of their kid that’s seen with the kid’s peers. During parent-teacher conferences, teachers keep parents informed of their child’s behavior, progress, strengths, weaknesses, and interests.

· Teachers see kids from different backgrounds and comprehending each of the students is important to tailor their teaching methods. During parent-teacher conferences, teachers can get information about a kid’s immediate family and home environment, which helps them understand the kid’s abilities.

· Teachers are experienced and trained in evaluating their students using observations and different methods. These evaluations are done with a holistic view, considering the entire class. Therefore, these are different from the way parents evaluate their kids at home. When teachers share their observations and evaluations with parents, the parents gain helpful insights from a new perspective. This eliminates the probabilities of over or under expectations and takes the pressure off their kid.

· One of the significant problems of kids is that their problems often go unexpressed. Sometimes they cannot understand a subject, sometimes it’s a bully, or sometimes they just feel that a teacher is going too fast. If the kid knows it, he/she can talk to the parents about the problems, and the teachers will get to know about them during parent-teacher conferences. It helps the kid gain a sense of self-confidence and security.

Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Parenting July 4, 2022

Authoritative Parenting: Everything You Need to Know

In authoritative parenting, the parent expects to be constantly acknowledged while making specific demands of the child, which the parent thinks must be met. While this parenting style has the parent’s actual presence and warmth in the child’s life as an advantage, such a parent is likely to need the child to rise up to the standards created for them. Additionally, in this type of parenting style, there is an imposition of expectations and boundaries.

Many children do well under authoritative parenting. Most of the children raised in this manner tend to express characteristics such as independence, collaborativeness, warmth, proficiency, and self-confidence. With their excellent social skills, they often end up being very assertive, intellectually brilliant, and productive, as well as fully immersed in beneficial activities.

They have also been noticed to maintain a clean bill of mental health and aren’t typically inclined towards the use of drugs, alcohol, or exhibition of violence.

Authoritative parenting is about maintaining a healthy balance and changes from one family to another and even from one kid to another.

Here’re the key benefits of authoritative parenting in detail.

Secure attachment: Authoritative parents are listeners and nurturers. They create a space where the kid feels safe and secure. This kind of relationship is called secure attachment. These kids also have more self-confidence, higher self-esteem, and are friendlier.

Better coping skills: Everybody deals with frustration, sadness, and anger at some point. Yet, people also learn how to deal with these emotions to regulate their feelings and behavior. Emotional regulation is something that can be learned. According to research, kids of authoritative parents have better emotional regulatory skills. The probable reason behind this is these parents encourage and guide their kids to solve problems when stressful situations arise. They teach the kids the ways to cope instead of removing obstacles for them. These kids tend to be better problem-solvers because of their ability to cope and self-regulate.

Better academic performance: Authoritative parents are supportive of and invested in their kids’ schooling. They keep a close eye on their kid’s homework and grades. When it’s possible, they remain present at school meetings and events. Their expectations in school and at home are consistent but age-appropriate and reasonable. One study found that college GPAs were moderately higher in students with “high authoritative” parents than those with “low authoritative” parents.

Good behavior: Authoritative parents aren’t strict disciplinarians. However, they do set restrictions for their kids and provide the right consequences for not following the rules. As a result, their kids are likely to be more cooperative and may demonstrate better behavior than kids raised by authoritarian or permissive parents.

Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Parenting July 4, 2022

Permissive Parenting Style: Everything You Need to Know

This parenting style captures parents who have a high response rate towards their children, without a correspondingly high demand level from the children. While they are always present in the children’s lives and show an abundance of love, they rarely create/enforce boundaries or rules and are not inclined to discipline the children.

It isn’t rare to find kids of permissive parents who struggle with maintaining self-control or good self-esteem, and this can usually be traced back to the paucity of parental guidance and boundaries while growing up. These kids may sadly act entitled or demand their way through life. In addition, they have low expectations of themselves, so they may be poor achievers and engage in risky decision-making/behavioral tendencies.

Permissive parents usually don’t regulate or monitor their kids. As a result, these kids tend to struggle with self-control, leading to many negative outcomes. Some of the major ones include:

Poor academic performance: Permissive parents don’t monitor their kids’ studying habits. Therefore, their kids have less self-discipline. These parents also don’t set a goal for their kids to strive for or demand their kids to perform. As a result, these kids tend to have poor academic performance.

Aggressive and more impulsive: Permissive parents don’t control their kids’ behavior. Therefore, their kids aren’t much aware of the boundaries of acceptable behavior. They also have more behavioral problems and exhibit worse impulse control. When facing stressful situations, they’re more likely to resort to showing aggression.

More prone to substance use and delinquency: Some studies suggest that kids raised by permissive parents are more likely to engage in substance or alcohol use and misconduct.

Poor ability to self-regulate: Emotional regulation isn’t something people are born with. It’s a learned skill. Because permissive parents’ kids are left to regulate their own behavior, emotions, and activities at a young age, they’re likely to have more difficulties self-regulating.

Here’re some strategies parents can utilize to turn things around.

· Parents should create a list of household rules. Children need to clearly understand their parents’ expectations to know how they’re supposed to behave.

· Parents need to be consistent and firm but still loving. They should help the children understand why the rules are important by providing enough explanations and feedback but still ensure that consequences are in place.

· Parents have to ensure that their kids know the penalty of breaking the rules. Guidelines are purposeless unless there’s some kind of consequence for not following them. Losing privileges and time-outs are logical consequences for breaking the rules.

Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Parenting July 1, 2022

Neglectful Parenting Style: Everything You Need to Know

The neglectful parenting style features parents who are not involved in the lives of their kids. They are neither demanding nor responding to these kids and are usually emotionally unavailable. With very little guidance provided to these kids, they are left by themselves with no expectations required of them. Many times, the reason for this sort of parenting is that the parents are too absorbed by their own life challenges and are unable to look beyond those to even see the needs of their kids. They might even try to avoid the kids knowingly.

The products of this parenting style are socially inhibited kids who are more likely than others to engage in substance abuse. These kids might also be fearful about their absence of familial support structure and might respond to their family trauma by pushing away anyone who wants to get close to them.

It’s important to note that neglectful parenting (also known as uninvolved parenting) isn’t generally a conscious choice. It can happen when parents become too involved with their work and find little energy or time to focus on their kids. This can trigger a disconnect that hurts their relationship, where they become isolated from one another. Sometimes, this style develops when the parents have been raised by uninvolved parents themselves or go through mental health issues that prevent developing any kind of emotional attachment.

Signs of neglectful parents include the following:

· Whether it’s work, a social life without the children, or other problems or interests, neglectful parents remain preoccupied with their own affairs – so much so they’re unresponsive to their kids’ needs and make little time for them. Everything else comes before the children, and in some instances, parents may outright reject or neglect their children.

· For many people, an emotional attachment between the parent and the child occurs naturally. But in the case of neglectful parenting, this bond isn’t automatic or instinctual. The parents feel a disconnect that severely restricts the limit of nurturing and affection they extend to their kids.

· Due to a lack of affection, neglectful parents aren’t interested in their kids’ school work, events, or activities. They may skip kids’ sports games or don’t show up for PTA meetings.

· Neglectful parents typically lack a discipline style. Therefore, unless the kid’s behavior affects them, they don’t generally offer any type of correction. They allow the kids to act the way they want to. And they don’t get upset when their kids perform poorly in school or other activities.

Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Parenting June 27, 2022

Parenting Style: Everything You Need to Know

This term is used to explain the dominant approach to parenting which a parent typically uses. Fathers and mothers should ensure that their parenting style is supporting healthy development and growth because the way they interact with their kids and how they discipline the children will influence them for the rest of their lives. Parenting styles are distributed in four common categories: authoritarian, uninvolved, permissive, and authoritative. These styles vary in several areas, including discipline style, nurturance, communication, and expectations.

Here’re brief overviews of each parenting style.

Authoritarian parenting: Authoritarian parents are often considered disciplinarians. They follow a strict discipline style without much room for negotiation. Punishment is common in this parenting style, and communication is mainly one way, from parent to kid. Authoritarian parents usually have high expectations from their kids with limited flexibility.

Uninvolved parenting: Uninvolved parents give kids a lot of freedom and usually stay out of their way. Some may consciously choose to parent this way, while others are unsure of what to do or less interested in parenting. No specific discipline style is utilized in uninvolved parenting, and communication remains limited.

Permissive parenting: Permissive parents mostly let their kids do what they want to do and provide limited direction or guidance. They act more like friends than parents. These parents have no or limited rules and mostly let kids figure problems out on their own. Communication is open in permissive parenting, but parents let the kids decide for themselves instead of giving direction.

Authoritative parenting: Authoritative parents are nurturing and reasonable and set clear expectations. Kids with authoritative parents think for themselves and are likely to be self-disciplined. Parents clearly define the disciplinary rules and explain the reasons behind them. In authoritative parenting, communication is appropriate to the kid’s level of understanding and frequent.

Few parents fit neatly into a single parenting style. Instead, they raise kids using a combination of styles. Parents should think of the four parenting styles as a continuum instead of four different ways to parent. Ideally, parents should think about their kids and what they need from the parents at certain points in time. For instance, while a parent may not typically follow an authoritarian parenting style, there may be times in a kid’s life when that particular style is needed. While it becomes easier for the family when both parents follow the same parenting style, some research suggests that when at least one parent follows the authoritative style, it’s better for the kid than having both parents following the same, less effective style.

Matthew Lynch published in Child Development, Parental Involvement June 24, 2022

Print Awareness: Everything You Need to Know

It refers to the knowledge of the mechanism of action of print and how it should be interacted with. Kids with print awareness understand that print serves different functions based on the context in which it appears. For instance, they can understand that a book tells a story and a menu lists food choices. However, this understanding doesn’t happen overnight. Starting at about two years old, children start to become more and more familiar with the objective of books and the functionalities of books and other reading materials. They may initially think of spoken words and print as two separate entities as they’re introduced to different stories and books at home and at school. However, the concept develops and becomes more sophisticated with more exposure. In addition to building the connection between spoken words and printed words, print awareness also helps kids understand the following things:

· How to hold books, turn their pages, read from left to right and from its front to its back

· Print is a source of enjoyment and information

Parents can make some observations while reading at home with the kids to identify if they’ve developed print awareness. These include:

· They’re able to show parents the title of a book

· They help parents turn the pages

· They show an interest in writing their names

Parents can use several strategies to help their kids develop print awareness. Some common ones include:

Reading books regularly: Reading to kids is the single most valuable method parents can follow to help them become enthusiastic readers. Reading aloud helps kids develop language and listening skills. It also stimulates their imaginations and helps to expand their comprehension of the world around them.

Teaching the alphabet: Teaching the alphabet doesn’t need to be reserved for the school. Parents can help their children learn the alphabet anytime. Some effective ways to make learning the alphabet exciting include singing the alphabet song, reading alphabet books, and using playdough to create letter shapes.

Parents can also help emerging readers build print awareness while going about their everyday lives. For instance, while at a restaurant, they can read the menu to the child. Similarly, parents can show the kids the stop sign while walking or driving and describe what it means. Kids grasp many concepts quickly. Their absorbent minds observe and take in everything that’s happening around them. Therefore, print awareness isn’t a really difficult skill to teach, but it’s one that parents can help develop in their kids as they experience everyday life.

Matthew Lynch published in Early Childhood, Parental Involvement June 13, 2022

Early Head Start: Everything You Need to Know

An Early Head Start explains the concept of a nationally-funded initiative for the provision of certain services to pregnant women and low socioeconomic group families who have young children. The aim of this initiative is to provide an enabling environment for these infants or toddlers to thrive while boosting the economic status of their parents/families.

Early Head Start programs offer services similar to the preschool Head Start Programs, but they’re tailored for the unique needs of toddlers and infants. These programs promote the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development of toddlers and infants through developmentally enriching and safe caregiving. These programs support parents, including mothers and fathers, in their role as primary teachers and caregivers of their children. These help families fulfill their personal goals and achieve self-sufficiency across a wide range of domains, such as financial security, continued education, and housing stability.

Early Head Start programs appear with different options to ensure that families can live in a consistent, supportive setting that promotes strong relationships and offers the same full range of developmentally appropriate services and care. These options include:

Center-based services: Child development services and education are offered primarily in classroom settings that are located in an Early Head Start school, center, or child care center. Staff members also visit the home of each enrolled child and family at least twice per year. A program that’s designed to fulfill the needs of young parents enrolled in school settings may have its center-based program schedule during the school year aligned with its public school and offer regular home-based services during the summer break. A program’s facilities meet local, tribal, or state licensing requirements, even if the licensing entity exempts it. When local, tribal, or state requirements differ from the Head Start requirements, the most rigid provision takes precedence.

Home-based services: The entire range of Early Head Start services are offered through weekly home visits to every enrolled child and family. The home visitor offers child-focused visits that boost the parents’ ability to support their kid’s development. About twice per month, the program provides parents and children with opportunities to come together as a group for discussion, learning, and social activity.

Family child care services: Child development services and education are provided to children primarily in a family-like setting or private home. The local, tribal, or state entity grants family child care providers the licenses to offer services in a family-like setting or home. When local, tribal, or state requirements differ from the Head Start requirements, the strictest provision gets priority.

Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, Writing May 25, 2022

A Guide to Shared Writing (interactive writing)

Shared writing is a unique method whereby an adult and a child share a pencil and write together. While the adult inscribes most of the portions of text and uses inputs and ideas of the child, the child is allowed to write at the level they are able to write. It is an efficient approach for blossoming writers and those who struggle with writing. Thus, in shared writing, the adult serves as the scribe, questioner, summarizer of ideas, and one who takes quick decisions on correct spelling and punctuation.

Since the adult handles most of the writing, the text in shared writing is usually more complex than what the child would be able to accomplish alone. This technique also focuses on all aspects of writing, such as holding the pencil, pronouncing words for spelling, form letters, and space, among others. With shared writing, the child can focus more of his energy and time on the linguistic features and structure of the text as well as its consistency and coherence.

Shared writing can be practiced in time blocks of 15-20 minutes. Its goal is to facilitate true collaboration between the adult and child that maximizes the latter’s involvement. For instance, the adult could ask the child to offer suggestions or ideas within his skill set or relevant to his writing needs. This may include a direct question about punctuation or a synonym for a word that has been excessively used in the written text.

Shared writing offers several benefits for the child, some of which are as follows:

· It incites his imagination and lets him become an active participant in writing.

· Due to collaborating on ideas with the adult, the child will learn how to incorporate new vocabulary. Thus, he’ll develop a much richer vocabulary than his peers who don’t use shared writing.

· The child will get a clear model of what’s expected of his writing in terms of grammar, content, spelling, and punctuation.

· He’ll be able to practice oral storytelling without the additional stress of writing in a newer language.

As shared writing involves a collaborative approach and rich discussion, the child will develop an understanding of the intrinsic motivation, purposes, and techniques of writing. To benefit the most from this technique, shared writing activities should consider the child’s level of knowledge and the type of support needed to help expand his writing skills over time.

Matthew Lynch published in Parental Involvement, School Readiness March 21, 2022

A Guide to Student-Led Conferences

This typically refers to a form of parent-teacher meeting where students take the floor, giving vivid updates to their parents on their learning process and progress. The reports tell the kind of learner each child is and how personalized learning has worked for each of them.

Student-led conferences offer several benefits. First, this kind of meeting format promotes collaboration between school and home. When a student explains what has occurred by way of academic success or lack thereof, it minimizes the opportunity to assign the responsibility to teachers or parents if the student isn’t succeeding. Also, placing the onus on a student to explain their progress helps build the accountability and responsibility necessary for them to sustain or improve academic success.

The student needs to reflect on what is required to achieve academic success or discuss what they need or must do to improve. Another key benefit of these conferences is the skill of goal development that a student must employ to start the process. When the student sets goals, they likely take a personal interest in monitoring and achieving them.

Educators can institute student-led conferences in different ways depending on the class size, layout, and structure of the school. However, regardless of the format used, there’re two key elements that should always be present.

All participants (student, teacher, and parents) need to understand their roles clearly for these conferences to be effective. Students need to facilitate the discussion, demonstrate their work, and communicate their learning objectives with parents. Teachers act as a mediator between students and parents. They also need to take some time out to prepare students for these conferences. Parents should come prepared to talk with and listen to their children. Schools can use newsletters to inform parents about student-led conferences in detail and their role.

The student portfolio is a key component of effective student-led conferences. Portfolios might vary depending on the format of a conference, but they generally include a selection of a student’s work from throughout the year, sheets for setting academic and social goals, and an agenda for the conference. Students should also be encouraged to present sample work they aren’t satisfied with and explain how they might have done better. They can also find examples of areas where they improved their performance during an individual project or unit. Teachers can set aside time regularly throughout the year to help students select the work they’d like to present at the conference.

Matthew Lynch published in Early Childhood, Parental Involvement February 9, 2022

How to Teach Children Letter Recognition

This stands for the ability to recognize and pronounce a letter that has been handpicked from a group of letters. Letter recognition or alphabet recognition is the most fundamental part of letter knowledge. Just like other fundamental training like potty training, kids need to learn letter recognition. Children must have this skill to start learning how to read easily. Additionally, children who can name the letters conveniently tend to be more interested to learn about words and their pronunciation. Sometimes, children can get clues on how a letter should sound by correctly recognizing its name.

Before parents start teaching their kid’s letter recognition, there’re some other essential skills that need to be taught. These include teaching visual discrimination. It helps a kid learn to recognize differences among shapes and lines. They should also be encouraged to practice visual discrimination by sorting letters depending on curved lines versus straight ones.

When it comes to teaching letter recognition, parents don’t necessarily need to follow alphabetical order. Instead, they should begin with the letters in the child’s name. The letters in a kid’s name have more meaning to them and give more opportunities to practice recognizing them in various manners.

Here’re some methods that can be used to teach letter recognition.

·Letter formation

·Clear instruction in letter naming

·Sorting activities to help understand differences in letter shapes

·Exposure to letters in different text formats

·Fluency practice in identifying letters

·Accuracy and fluency assessments

Kids need to be aware of both uppercase and lowercase letters to become successful readers later on. In reading, lowercase letters remain more common. But for kids, it’s more convenient to learn uppercase letters first. As uppercase letters can be visually distinguished easily, they wouldn’t confuse them, which is a common occurrence with lowercase letters. In fact, when it comes to uppercase letters, the only ones kids can confuse are W and M. One effective way to handle this is to teach these two letters one by one. Once the kid masters both, there’re activities that can help them understand the differences between them more clearly.

In a preschool classroom, teachers should follow some strategies when figuring out letter recognition activities. For instance, the use of visuals like alphabet cards often proves to be useful. Also, ‘think aloud’ strategies, where teachers talk aloud to communicate something to the students and let them notice every letter, can help.