How Can Take-Home Activities Encourage Children’s Involvement In Participating In Family Activities.
Abstract
Parental involvement is an efficient strategy that increases children’s academic achievement and extends the bond between parent and child. The study was conducted in Farmville, Virginia by Longwood University students of the Social Research and Program Evaluation. The study was based on 51 children (age three to five) who participated in Head Start. Participants were asked about their experiences in completing the at-home activity as well as how to improve the activity for future research. The qualitative analysis was based on open-ended questions to determine the level of enjoyment of the activity and suggestions to improve the activity. Quantitative analysis was close-ended questions which focused on how to encourage children participation in at-home activities. The data suggested that family bond, learning skills and teamwork among children and their parents increases as parental involvement rises. The data indicated that parental involvement increases based on educational level and socioeconomic factors. The study provides implications for parents to increase at-home activities for their children and proposals to increase future parental involvement.
Introduction
Parents’ involvement in their child or children’s daily life is crucial for growth especially as they transition into adulthood. The purpose of this study is to examine, “How can take-home activities encourage family involvement?” When there is constructive parental involvement, it leads to an increase in student achievement, efficient teacher-parent relationship and healthier school environment (Forest, 2019). Studies indicate that out-of-school components significantly matter on student success, grades, test score, behavior and school attendance (cite 1, & Smith, 2005). According to Forest (2019), parent involvement was not just associated with how well children operated academically but also how to enhance a child’s social and emotional welfare. On the contrary, higher academic achievement and parental encouragement among elementary and middle school students were linked to family discussions about what was learned in class through cognitive stimuli activity (Vellymalay, 1970 & Forest, 2019). Parents’ involvement in their child’s life reinforces their knowledge to engage in at-home and school-based activities while expanding their life skills (Vellymalay, 1970 & Smith, 2005). . Parents’ involvement presents teachers the ability to learn information which they may not have known about the child previously that enhances the students’ learning experiences.
However, it is important to acknowledge that parental involvement might be influenced by socioeconomic factors. Vellymalay (1970) found that the advancement of parental involvement to expand academic prosperity and participation in activities raises the issue of equity; considering parental involvement is substantially greater among middle and upper class parents in comparison with low-income families. The environment in which a child might learn skills, behavior and attitudes could shape them into constructive and thriving members of society (Smith, 2005). Topor (2010), students socioeconomic background impacts parental involvement and students academic achievements. According to (Smith, 2005 & Topor, 2010), the greater the family salary, the higher parental involvement which can provide a greater opportunity for high income students to excel in certain curricula. Low-socioeconomic status parents might be limited to their ability to engage with their children effectively due to financial and employment issues.
Moreover, parents’ educational level is an important predictor of parental involvement. Vellymalay (1970), the level of education factors into parents’ academic aspirations regarding their child involvement at school and their child concepts toward school. Parents’ engagement in their child’s life does not only ensure academic success but also strengthens a bond between parent and child (Smith, 2005). Nonetheless, the study reveals alternative ways to increase parental involvement among families especially low-socioeconomic families.
Parental Involvement
Epstein (1991), indicated that parental involvement in school and home helps parents structure home conditions for educating, comprehending, and communication that aids children in becoming effective members of society and choices share responsibilities; which involves parents making productive decisions that impacts their child at home and in school. Parental involvement is essential for children as they develop into adulthood because it ensures that children are physically, emotionally, and mentally supported by their parents (Cevher-Kalburan Nilgun, 2016; Cheung, 2015; Straight, 2014). Research states the importance of parental guidance and parental relationship between parents and children. Regardless of cultural barriers associated with parenting, children from different backgrounds are affected positively with appropriate parenting (Stright, 2014).
Epstein (2005,1991) and others (Cehver-Kalburan Nilgun, 2016), define parental involvement as joint obligation of families and education concerning children’s learning, prosperity in school and at home. Studies demonstrate that parenting style, sex, and gender might affect the efficacy of parental acts for children accomplishments and activities (Cevher-Kalburan Nilgun, 2016 & Stright, 2014). In certain cultures, boys are allowed to make their own individual choices compared to girls. Effective parenting skills will lead to children prioritizing academic attainments, which will result in children acknowledging family values (Cheung, 2015 & Straight, 2014 ). According to Cheung (2015), Epstein (1991) and Cevher-Kalburan Nilgun (2016), when children realize the value of school attainments as intimately fundamental, they might be more amenable to parents guidance and directions. Furthermore, it also alerts children to recognize the worth of academic accomplishment, resulting in future achievements. Parents who are engaged in their child’s academic success display an improved recognition regarding self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-awareness (Cheung, 2015).
However, it will be a blunder not to take into account the impact of factors such as social and political barriers attached to parenting. Research by Cevher-Kalburan Nilgun (2016) suggests that socioeconomic, institutional framework, and cultural differences might affect various ways to which parenting styles are maintained. Nonetheless, parents placing greater emphasis on their children displays to the child that their parents value them as a vital part of their life (Cheung, 2015; Epstein,1991 & Straight, 2014). On the contrary, parenting practice and style ought to be examined because those techniques aid children to accomplish a specific goal. Differences between genders play a role in how girls and boys are taught to play, act, and engage in activities. Social expectation impacts children’s role in playing or participating in diverse activities (Cevher-Kalburan Nilgun, 2016). However, to understand the relevance of parental involvement and parental bond it is important in specifying what is meant by “parental style”. Studies show that as positive parenting styles increase, children’s participation in harmful activities and deviant acts decreases (Epstein, 2016 & Kingstein, 2013).
Parenting Styles
Parenting styles vary across different ethnicities and cultures due to the difference in tradition and beliefs due to ethical, moral and gender differences. Other cultures educate their children about the importance of collectivism compared to the United States which focuses more on individualism (Stright, 2014). Nonetheless, each scholarly article has different ways of explaining parenting styles. Two different forms of parenting, including behavioral control which concentrates on controlling the child’s actions while psychological control focuses on managing the thoughts and sensations associated with family bond (Stright, 2014; Harris, 2016; & Cevher-Kalburan Nilgun, 2016). Psychological control may have a negative influence on a child’s capability to shape their own perspective (Cheung, 2015 & Kingston, 2013). Excessive parenting and shielding children can be dangerous for parents, however, over-protecting does not always negatively affect children’s involvement in activities and shaping their own perspective (Cheung, 2015; Kingston, 2013& Schneider, 1995). When children participate in activities daily, regardless of the activity being at home, playground or school, they critically solve problems through which different perception, representation and knowledge are constructed (Cevher-Kalbura Nilgun, 2016; Harris, 2016 & Kingston, 2013).
What the researchers fail to take into account is the parenting distinction between single and double parent households. Approximately one-half of American children below the age of 18 ought to be raised in a single parent household as a result of divorce and incarceration (Schneider, 1995). A study conducted by Harris (2016), stated that limited access to resources to sustain community institutions and public services in disadvantaged communities contributes to hardships associated with parenting due to factors such as substance abuse, crime, and violence. A study conducted by Kingston (2013), indicated that parental involvement is associated with a decrease in behavioral misconduct among children in single parent households.
According to Shneider (1995), not all parents are financially stable enough to satisfy the societal and academic prospects for their children. However, as a society there are certain qualities that people perceive as good parenting. These scholars ( Epstein ,1991; Kingston, 2013 & Cheung, 2015) failed to explain how a child’s success or ability to participate in certain activities in school or home may be due to the number of jobs may be employed by single or dual parents to ensure the functionality of the family. The success of a child depends on the extent to which the child’s parents are involved in their education, cognitive thinking and placing worth on their accomplishments (Cheung, 2015).
Parent School Involvement In Child Learning
Positive parenting refers to the contextual and established customs whereby parents, and their children bargain and build the virtue in parenting through cognitive and emotional development (Harris, 2016 & Cevher-Kalbura Nilgun, 2016). Harris (2016), mentioned the advantages associated with parental involvement revealed to be powerful for juveniles between grade 1-5, however, there is an equivalent number of negative and positive parental engagement. There are positive correlations regarding parents who engage in their child’s academic success, a study by Cheung (2015) shows an increased display of an improved recognition of self-esteem, self-efficacy and self awareness. Studies suggest that when children recognize the value of school accomplishments as intimately important, they might be more amenable to parents guidance (Epstein, 1991; Stright, 2014; Harris, 2016 & Cheung, 2015). It also alerts children that parents recognise the value of school achievements, resulting in future accomplishments (Cheung,2015).
Even though parents stated they wanted to be part of their children’s home and academic success, a limited number of parents, specifically those with higher education stayed involved in their child’s education throughout their academic career (Harris, 2016 & Epstein, 2005). Research found that it was difficult for parents to help their children with academics beyond fifth grade (Kingston, 2013). A study by Cheung (2015), stated children may exploit school grades as a sense of achievement which might reflect on their school and home attitude due to the fact that children boast about activities they collectively participate in with their parents. Parents being involved and setting standards for their children constitutes to them acknowledging their parent’s view on school which shows children that their education is essential to their family (Schneider, 1995 & Kingston, 2013).
Nonetheless, it is important to take into account the impact or influence of limited resources that might affect societal ideals about school readiness. The definition of school-readiness varies across different academic studies and disciplines. Kingston (2013) explained school readiness as the capacity to respond properly to the needs of school setting. The decrease in educational readiness in disadvantaged communities has been hypothesized to contribute to inequality (Harris, 2016 & Cevher-Kalbura Nilgun, 2016). Research conducted by Kingston (2013), Indicated that socioeconomic disparities in disadvantaged communities constitutes to the level of school eagerness. A study analyzing the composites of accomplishment of test scores found that over one-third of Asians Americans (35.7%), and moderately lower than third of white (30.1%) possess composites achievement test results in the highest quadrant. In contrast to 17% of African Americans, 8% of Native Americans and 10% of Hispanics (Kingston, 2013). All the studies confirm the positive impact of parental involvement among children, which might suggest that children view parental involvement as a vital part of their life especially concerning academic success.
Data and Methods
Instrument
A survey questionnaire was created by the 40 members of the Social Research and Program Evaluation team at Longwood University. The survey contained both open-ended and closed-ended questions. Items on the survey were designed to evaluate SMART objectives of each of five activities that were completed the previous week by Head Start families. Beyond the objectives of the activities, participants were asked about their experiences with Head Start, take home activities, and demographic information about their households.
Sample
The non-probability sample for this study was based on the 51 children (ages three to five) who attend Head Start in two rural counties in Virginia. After activities were sent home with children for five days, the questionnaire was sent home with all 51 students. Attached to the questionnaire was a children’s book, to incentivize families to return the survey. Guardians of the children were asked to complete the survey and return it to the Head Start teacher the following school day. Zero questionnaire was returned the next school day. Teachers then sent a reminder home with children to return any outstanding questionnaires. This resulted in 11 more questionnaires being returned. Overall, there was a 22% response rate.
Quantitative Analysis
Quantitative analysis of the returned surveys is based on the close-ended questions. For this study the dependent variable is parental involvement. The item from the questionnaire that was used to operationalize this was, “How much did your family enjoy this activity”. The answer choices for this item were, on a scale of 0-10, 0 means not at all, 10 means great amount. The independent variable for this study is parent level of education. The item from the questionnaire that was used to operationalize this was “What is the highest degree of education anyone in your household has completed?”. The answer choices for this question were less than high school, high school, some college, college degree or higher, and prefer not to answer. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze these variables.
Qualitative Analysis
Qualitative analysis of the returned surveys is based on the open-ended questions. The open-ended questions on the survey were “what did your family enjoy most about these activities, what recommendations would you suggest to make these activities better? and what are your favorite ways to spend time with your child?”. To answer the research question, how can take-home activities encourage children’s involvement in participating in family activity, inductive open coding was used to determine reoccurring themes in the participant’s responses.
Findings
Quantitative Analysis
For the quantitative findings section, the following variables were examined using descriptive statistics: Parents education and level of family enjoyment to the activities. For parents’ education, 22.2 percent of respondents reported having a high school degree. 33.3 percent of respondents reported having some college degree. 44.4 percent of respondents reported having a college degree or higher. These findings can be seen in figure 1.
Table 1.
Parents Education
The dependent variable is family enjoyment of the activity measured on a scale from 0 to 10. The mean parent enjoyment score was 9.3. The median score was 10. The mode was 10. The standard deviation score was 1.45. Figure two reveals the results of the findings.
Table 2.
| Mean | Median | Mode | S.D | |
| Parents Involvement | 9.3 | 10 | 10 | 1.45 |
A bivariate analysis was run to determine how the level of parents’ education equated to parental involvement in their child’s life. Eight respondents reported having a high school degree. Nine respondents also reported having some college degree. Finally, Ten respondents reported that they had a college degree or higher. The results for the findings can be found in figure or table 3.
Table 3
Mean Parents Involvement by Parent Education
| Education | Mean |
| High School | 8 |
| Some College | 9 |
| college or more | 10 |
However, when analyzing the survey which was based on how take-home activities encourage children’s involvement in participating in family activity. Based on the data presented, family involvement in their children’s academics increased as a result of parent education status. The level of education impacted parents’ ability to engage with their child’s daily activities which was influenced by socioeconomic income. Consequently, parents with higher educational status were more involved with their child as opposed to parents with high school education. These findings suggest that the level of education influences parents’ ability to engage in their children’s education and activities.
Qualitative Analysis
Parents’ involvement in their child’s life is essential in regards to education achievements, behavior and better social capabilities. Epstein (1991), stated that parental involvement aids children to become important members of society and ensures that children are emotionally, physically and mentally healthy with support from their parents. However, the level of parental involvement can be affected by race, socioeconomic background, and financial stability. Throughout the paper, I will explain some of the major findings acquired from the family fun time activity assessment. Such as increased family bond, learning different skills and teamwork among children and their parents.
Examining the family fun time activity assessment, there was a relationship concerning certain activities that increase family bonding. The majority of respondents regardless of the activity reported that they were content with the activity due to the fact that it increased family bond collectively. A respondent for activity one stated that “ We did each activity at least twice, I would pay for activities like this with their child.” Respondents that had some college education or degree were predominantly white, as compared to African Americans who had high school or college degrees and higher. Respondents with high school degrees generally seem to spend less time on the activity as compared to college degree or higher. However, there was not a significant difference between the number of white and black individuals with college degrees or higher. As a result, the level of parental involvement in the activity seemed to be based on the amount of time to spare after work. Overall, children were content about the activity and leisure spent together with their parents.
A respondent to activity four indicated that “It brought a lot of fun and laughter for our family and my kids were able to learn a lot.” Alternatively stated, the activity was able to educate their children while creating space for family collaboration. Nonetheless, children completed the activity with no help or some form of assistance from their parents. Children from a double parents household appeared to spend more time on the activity in contrast to single parent households. However, the findings from the family fun activity suggests that children learned skills in completing assessment. Most of the children were able to identify textures, color beads, painting leaves, and differentiate between gravity on earth and in space. Respondents to assessment two reported that “Spending time together and learning new things”, is what their family enjoyed the most about the activity. Certain activities such as scavenger hunt and astronaut pudding were completed quicker for children in double parents households. These findings implies that children from two parents possibly learned more skills due to help from both parents in comparison with single parents homes.
However, teamwork among children and their parents was another theme obtained from the family fun activity assessment. A respondent to activity nine expressed that, “ they enjoyed interacting with their child, as a result, the rest of the family was interested in participating as well.” All the activities needed collaboration from the child and parents to join forces in order to accomplish the assessment. When analyzing the degree of involvement regarding the activity from parents and child’s perspective, respondents reported a great amount of involvement from both parties. For Instance, when parents were asked if they would be willing to participate in the same activity in the future, the majority of respondents reported being interested. The degree of collaboration among children and their parents could be affected by levels of education and the amount of time spent with the child after school. As stated previously, higher education presents opportunities that an individual from low socioeconomic background may be restricted to. Consequently, parents with high school degrees may spend more time outside of the house in order to obtain financial stability.
Finally, one specific theme that kept recurring was the ability for parents and their child’s to have fun during the activities. A respondent from activity ten mentioned that they enjoyed having fun the most about the activities. Overall, the activities presented parents the opportunity to bond with their child, learn important skills, and collaborate more efficiently together. If the activities encourage children’s involvement then at-home family activities should be expected to increase.
Limitations
The study was conducted in Farmville, Virginia as stated previously in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, the response rate from participants regarding the survey was limited. There were 51 Head Start children that participated in the family fun activity. However, there were only 11 participants who brought back the completed assessment. This indicates that 22 percent of the survey assessment was returned in comparison with the 80 percent response rate expected in the beginning of the study. The pandemic may have impacted the participants ability to effectively engage in the activities or return the activity upon completion.
Conclusion
Parental involvement is essential for children because it can lead to a child becoming productive or delinquent members of society. As children develop, the level of parent involvement frames their perspective about education and at-home activities. It ensures that children are provided with support essential for them to function properly in regards to mental, emotional and physical health. However, the level of parenting can be impacted by factors that may restrict a parent capability to successfully engage with their child. Factors such as parents’ education level and socioeconomic components influence parenting style. Parenting style among single parent households may differ in contrast with double parent households due to the extra assistance from their mother or father. However, positive parenting is regarded to have a greater influence in children especially concerning academic achievement and participation in at-home activities. Positive parenting can change a child’s outlook about specific attitudes, behavior and acts. This outcome raises the question “why does parental involvement matter?” A child cannot properly become involved in at-home and school-based activities without them recognizing that their parents value their accomplishment.
The findings of this study directly answer the research question “How can take-home activities encourage family involvement?” The result indicated that respondents enjoyed the family fun activity assessment since some of the participants reported the activity provided them with the opportunity to engage with their child. Without effective parenting and family involvement, children are equivalent to a car without a driver. A car without a driver cannot move on its own without a sense of direction. However, with pepper parent bond and involvement the child can learn to excel at their own pace regarding future references.
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