PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AMONG HISPANIC PARENTS

Parental Involvement among Hispanic Parents

Parental Involvement among Hispanic Parents

Introduction

Hispanics are the fastest-growing ethnic minority group in the United States, especially among families living in poverty and children under 5 years of age. The number of Hispanic children under 5 is expected to increase 146% between 2005 and 2050 (Day, 1996). Currently, Hispanic children already represent 21.4% of the early childhood population—an amount larger than all minority groups of that age combined. Relative to the size of this population, there exists little research considering Hispanic infant and child development. To better understand the various factors influencing Hispanic infant development, it is important to explore the contributions of parenting behaviors to young children's development within the broader context of demographics, community characteristics, and other factors.

This study short recounts the outcome from a recent study analyzing parenting behaviors and children's developmental outcomes. The study presents a deeper understanding of how heritage practices blend with other factors to shape parenting behaviors amidst families in the United States in the first year of children's resides. Several findings provide information about ways in which practitioners and Hispanic families can more effectively engage with young Hispanic children to influence their cognitive, social, language, and literacy development—and therefore facilitate their school readiness.

Parental involvement among Hispanic parents

Increasing parents' involvement in their children's learning is actually viewed as a cornerstone of most school restructure efforts. This belief is conveyed in leader Clinton's plea throughout his 1994 State of the Union Message:

"Parents who understand their children's educators and turn off the television and help with the homework and educate their kids right from incorrect those types of parents can make all the difference." There is remarkable consensus among teachers, parents, and the general public that young kids will learn more and schools will improve if we can get parents to do a better job of carrying their children's schooling. Epstein (1992, p.1141) has summarized study on parent involvement as proposing "that scholars at all degree levels do better academic work and have more affirmative school mind-set, higher aspirations, and other affirmative behaviors if they have parents who are aware, knowing, boosting, and involved."

However, clues lives that only expanding the AMOUNT of school engagement will not inevitably lead to such affirmative outcomes, especially for Hispanic families (Bauch, 1992). Hispanic parents have consistently demonstrated reduced rates of school involvement; when their engagement has boostd, this boost has not necessarily led to parents' more affirmative insights of schools (Bauch, 1992; Costas, 1991). If Hispanic parents feel coerced and not heard to, they do not necessarily advantage from advanced communicate with the school. To work out productive schemes for connecting Hispanic parents and their children's early childhood programs, educators need to evolve a greater understanding of the features of the Hispanic heritage that influence parents' childrearing and socialization practices, communication styles, and orientation toward prescribed education.

Key Findings

Family commitment matters for all young kids in the early years despite of communal, heritage, or ethnic ...