The Role of Parent Participation in Early Childhood Lessons

Parent participation in early childhood classrooms should not be required. Numerous parents have full-time jobs, so they could be working while their children are in school or sleeping if they worked the night before. Reliable transportation is a huge factor for some parents, as is living too far away from their child’s school or having more than one child. Some children will not concentrate in class or fully immerse themselves into the classroom if their parent is there, so this can be a deterrent to parents’ involvement. The differences in the families’ home lives will greatly influence whether a parent is able and willing to be in the classroom or not.

While parent participation should unquestionably be allowed in early childhood classrooms, it should be voluntary. Also, for parents who cannot participate in the classroom, they should be allowed to volunteer in other ways if they would like, such as purchasing small supplies needed for a project or party, washing sheets for mats, or something else that can be completed outside of class. By allowing parents to volunteer in these ways, they still feel involved in their child’s class without having to be in the classroom.

Parent participation in the early childhood classroom is the main way that families are allies in their child’s learning, but teachers must be able to find other ways to help parents get involved if they cannot be in the classroom. This can include letting parents volunteer on their days off or volunteer in ways that do not require them to be in the classroom. Teachers can send home information to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning, such as information on what lessons are being taught in the classroom so that parents and families can have discussions with their children about these lessons and extend the learning at home. Also, family engagement activities can be sent home monthly. These activities allow families and children to work together to think about a monthly theme, for example “What makes you feel lucky?” for the month of March. Then, the families complete the activity and return it to class, where it is presented and hung on the wall for the children to see all month long.