She is awesome and retains information like a sponge: Implications of the Learning Connections family involvement curriculum for Head Start programs

Past research on family involvement suggests that home based forms of involvement are especially important in supporting learning in the early childhood years. Parents can be effective change agents, especially when they are given strategies for teaching particular content area skills. This study addressed the effects of family participation in the home component of an emergent literacy and mathematics curriculum. Participants were 321 Head Start children and their parents who were recruited over four consecutive school years. Families received weekly home learning activities to do with their children that closely matched the content of the classroom curriculum. Involvement in the home curriculum was significantly associated with children’s language, literacy, and math outcomes, controlling for child age, dual language status, pretest performance, and classroom quality. When families completed more of the home activities, their children made greater progress during the school year. Families enjoyed doing the home activities and parents reported increased confidence in their teaching skills. Results suggest that given appropriate support, families can successfully address curriculum goals at home and provide an added value to learning that occurs in the Head Start classroom