Parental involvement in a child’s education influences the academic motivation and learning styles of the child. When parents are involved in the child’s activities, the quality of being able to listen and use the information from adults is high. Children are not afraid to try new games and activities and are willing to take reasonable risks and have high self-confidence while doing it along with their parents. Parents can monitor their child’s performance and also can help in boosting rapport between their child and other children of the age group.
Need for Parental participation:
Family is the most effective system for fostering and sustaining the development of the child. The involvement of family/parents in child’s programs or classroom activities helps to succeed in any of the intervention programs. The involvement of parents as partners helps in reinforcing the child’s learning.
Parental participation plays a vital role in early childhood education/programmes of a child. A good example can be Student Led Conferences or Open House wherein your child gets to take you through his/her learning at the school. Such conferences aid the parents to gauge their child’s participation & learning. A survey of parents who participated in a head start programme revealed that there is a positive relationship between extensive parent participation and children’s scores on task orientation, academic achievement, verbal intelligence, and self-concept. It is encouraged that you help children with their weekend tasks/homework so you know the progress he/she is making and also work on an improvement plan along with the class teacher if need be.
Why is parental participation necessary?
- To create awareness among the parents regarding the importance of early experiences for their young children.
- To make the parents understand and realize the need to provide stimulating experiences for their young ones.
- To make the parents realize their responsibilities in the growth and development of their children.
- To make the parents bridge the gap between home and school environment to facilitate learning in children.
- To make the parents understand the factors affecting the growth and development of the child at home and school.
- To help the parents to develop positive attitudes towards parenthood and to be a good role model for the child to follow.
- To educate or make the parents understand the different aspects related to the optimum development in the child. For ex: knowledge about child nurturing, health and hygiene, nutritious foods, early identification of disabilities, common ailments and the existing services in the community.
