Improving Active Parent Involvement for Preschool Teachers and Parents through In-Service Training.

This practicum was designed to provide information and support for preschool teachers to help parents in teaching an active role to parenting. The primary goal was that there would be more active parent involvement between parents and children ages three to five years. The literature indicated that training sessions to provide information and support to teachers and parents could be successful in teaching an active role to parenting. Because the center parents were responsible parents, seeking advice to help in teaching their children, the community preschool teachers were supportive of the center's program and staff, and had requested parent education training, this practicum was designed to reach four specific objectives to reaching the project goal: (1) the parents would increase their parenting skills; (2) the parents could practice active parenting skills; (3) the teachers and other adults in helping professions could identify specific strategies in taking an active approach to parenting; (4) the teachers and other adults in helping professionals would demonstrate strategies to teach young children communication, responsibility, and cooperation. The writer designed and administered an interview questionnaire; documented telephone calls pertaining to involving parents in becoming more active in their child's learning at home and at school; formulated an in-service evaluation sheet; created parent-child activity calendar sheets for each of the eight months of implementation, and devised a log sheet for participants to record monthly activities to indicate teacher and parent active involvement. The results of the practicum were positive. Analysis of the data displayed as frequency counts from the participant log sheets provide evidence of more active parent involvement between parents and children ages three to five years. The parents did increase their parenting skills and practiced active parenting. During the eight month time frame, active parenting far exceeded the writer's established criteria of five activities a month. Analysis of the data from the in-service evaluation sheets revealed that teachers identified strategies in taking an active approach to parenting and demonstrated strategies to teach young children communication, responsibility, and cooperation.