I have found working with children that do not have fathers in the home place some increased pressure upon the mother in some situations. This could be evidenced in a negative manner if there is not a sound support system. There are children that are sadden when specific events involving fathers occur in the classroom and his or her father is not present to participate. I have also worked with children that may be in a back and forth situation between the mother and father that has negative effects in the classrooms. I would like to gain more incite surrounding male or father involvement and its effects in the classroom and home environment. I hope to be able to share this information in my current work environment and other childcare environments to positively increase involvement.
My questions:
Does cultural or economic status influence male involvement?
How does male involvement influence children's school readiness and subsequent school success?
Reference:
Green, S. (2011). Reaching Out to Fathers: An Examination of Staff Efforts That Lead to Greater Father Involvement in Early Childhood Programs. Vol. 5 #2Texas Cooperative Extension, The Texas A&M University System. Retrieved from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v5n2/green.html
You have chosen a wonderful topic! I think father involvement is imperative to a child's well-being. There have been many times during parent conferences where the mother badmouths the father; it makes me wonder if this also happens in the child's presence. I have two students this year whose mothers remarried; the mothers do not give any information to the fathers about what is happening in school. I have been sending information to them via email so that they are aware of what is happening with their child's education; I even set up separate conferences for them so they can see their child's growth. I find it heartbreaking that mothers would not want their child's biological father in the picture. There are definitely circumstances where it may be an unsafe situation, and then I am sure as a mother, I would not want my child to be around his father. However, nine times out of ten, there is no good reason to eliminate the father from spending time with his child. I am looking forward to following your posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dixie. I thought the same thing about a mother's comments about the father in front of the child when I selected the topic. The early childhood years are so critical to the foundation of learning. I think finding ways to involve father's in their child's education is important for their learning success.
DeleteVanessa,
ReplyDeleteI love your topic and what you are researching. I love to see fathers, dads, uncles, grandparents, brothers, or men in general involved with young children. It is very important for children to have the experience of men involved in their lives.
I helped to start a reading program at my school called, "Real Men Read", men from the community, churches, the highschool come to our school once a month and volunteer to read for all grade levels, when we started it we only had about 5 -10 men to come out, now we have enough men to read to all classrooms and then the volunteers want to come out more than once a month, so next semester after the winter break we are adding another day to each month. I think the men like it jsut as much as the children and teacher's do.
Lori Gardner
Lori,
DeleteI used to have a grandpa reader that would come every week to read to my class. The kids absolutely loved him! I've also had the kids be pen pals with a deployed soldier; when he returned, he came and read to them as well. I think the program that you helped start is a fabulous idea!
Lori,
DeleteYour reading program is such a great ideal. We have a Fathers In Action program but it does not have a literacy aspect to it. That is a great way to get dads into the classroom and for children to see men in general active in the school. I definitely look forward to researching my topic. Thanks so much!
Vanessa - Having worked for Head Start/Early Head Start I think this topic is such an important one to investigate. When I was there, there was a father's group started, and for a while, was quite successful in getting more male figures involved in the children's education. At a conference I attended, Tony Dungy spoke about his program, "All Pro Dad". I don't know much about it, but it might be something to investigate as a means to involve more fathers.
ReplyDeleteVanessa,
ReplyDeleteI have only spent a little time in a Head Start Program, but the little time I did spend there I learned how important this topic is. Even in the public school I teach at now we have many uninvolved father's. There are even some father's who are in the home, but completely detached from their child's education. Finding a way to bring the father's back into their child's lives and their educations is vital for their futures. I am looking forward to following your blog!! -Sarah O'Neal
Hi Vanessa,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful blog! In response to your question, Does cultural or economic status influence male involvement? I believe that economic status does influence male involvement. When fathers are from a higher SES they may not have to work as hard to provide for their families in comparison to fathers from a lower SES. I have a friend who’s family was from a lower SES. Due to their SES the father had to work 2-3 jobs to help pay for the family bills. As a result my friend was not able to see or spend very much time with her father. She respected and loved her father and realized that he had to work hard so that the family could survive but she continued to have an inner longing for the deep father-daughter relationship that she missed. Individuals from a higher SES also have fathers that work hard but due to their higher SES they may not have to work as many jobs. As a result they may have more free time to spend with their children, go to football games in the evening, teach their children how to play different sports and a variety of other activities building a father son/daughter relationship.
Cultural status influences male involvement as well. Different cultures believe different things in relation to how involved fathers should be in the lives of the child. In some cultures the belief may be held that the father is the primary breadwinner and the mother is supposed to take care of the household and the children. As a result the children may not have as much male involvement simply because of the beliefs of the culture. In comparison some cultures may believe that the father is primarily the disciplinarian, the mother the housemaker and the children should occupy themselves. Every culture is different.
I personally remember my father being very active in my life. I was raised in a middle-class family environment. I was home-schooled by my mother until the 2nd grade but my father was still very active in my life. He read to my sister and I, helped us with school projects, took us on horse rides and taught us how to do a lot in the kitchen. I was blessed because my father worked in the school system and had the extra time when he got off and during the weekends. However, everyone is simply not as fortunate. .
Hi Vanessa,
ReplyDeleteThis is an important issue in early childhood education. In my early childhood program, I have seen an increase in both father and grandfather involvement. This involvement had been observed both in the caregiving role and in the classroom. What had your preliminary research stated`` about the increased level of both father and grandfather involvement?
Thank you,
Debi LaVine