Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Parent Involvement with their Child’s Preschool is Crucial during Early Childhood Education

The success of early childhood education is dependent on parent involvement.

Parental involvement in early childhood education (preschool) is a quintessential factor that strongly influences the development of a child. From birth to approximately age six, a child’s brain and personality develop far more rapidly than at any other time in life, which is why parents play such a key role.

The future academic success of a child relies heavily on parental involvement during the preschool years, so it’s important that parents not only choose a great preschool, but also be informed on everything that occurs on a day to day basis.

For working parents, especially Dads, it can be difficult to know everything that goes on while your child is at preschool. But, a good preschool will make sure that communication is open between teachers and parents and encourage involvement, helping to bridge family life and school life for the child. For preschools, it’s not always easy to get parent attention, or perhaps one parent is more involved than another.

There’s a lot of tips on how preschool teachers can ensure parents are more involved, but its important to recognize that in many households, both parents work, and they may not have time during the day to attend a lot of events. Today’s parent is constantly on the go, so encouraging parent involvement remotely has become increasingly popular.

Preschools that use the Tadpoles Pro app can encourage parents to download the Tadpoles app on their iPhones. Once both parties have their apps, pictures, videos and progress reports can be exchanged in real-time.

Now, when it’s time to be picked up, parents will already have had a glimpse into their child’s day. This allows parents to ask more specific questions and avoid the infamous, “nothing” response to the question, “What did you do today?” By provoking the child’s mind with a specific question about a picture or video of themselves, the child becomes more engaged and more likely to share details about their day.

If you work at a preschool, are there any programs in place to increase parent involvement? Parents, how involved are you in your child’s early education? Let us know your involvement by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.

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