Parental Attitudes, Behaviors, and Barriers to School Readiness among Parents of Low-Income Latino Children

Abstract

We sought to explore parental attitudes, behaviors, and barriers regarding school readiness in a county clinic serving low income, Latino children. Between December 2013–September 2014, we conducted a cross sectional survey of parents during 3–6 years well-child appointments about school readiness (SR) across: (1) attitudes/behaviors; (2) barriers; and (3) awareness; and (4) use of local resources. Most parents (n = 210, response rate 95.6%) find it very important/important for their child to know specific skills prior to school: take turns and share (98.5%), use a pencil and count (97.6%), know letters (99.1%), colors (97.1%), and shapes (96.1%). Over 80% of parents find education important and engage in positive SR behaviors: singing, practicing letters, or reading. Major barriers to SR were lack of knowledge for kindergarten readiness, language barriers, access to books at home, constraints on nightly reading, difficulty completing school forms, and limited free time with child. Awareness of local resources such as preschool programs was higher than actual utilization. These low-income, Latino parents value SR but lack knowledge to prepare their child for school and underutilize community resources such as free preschool programs. Pediatricians are uniquely positioned to address these needs, but more evidence-based interventions are needed.

A Clinic-Based School Readiness Coaching Intervention for Low-Income Latino Children: An Intervention Study

“…This interview, which takes 35 to 45 minutes to complete, has been utilized in low-income Latino populations. 16,40 The interview assesses (1) child SR; (2) parent SR-related attitudes and behaviors; (3) parent perception of SR-related barriers; and (4) parent awareness and use of local SR-related resources. This study utilized the parent SR-related behaviors and barriers portion of the interview:…”

“…This was calculated based on a prior needs assessment that assessed parent SR behaviors and parent-reported barriers in the study population (eg, 55% of parents reported visiting the library with their child in 2014). 16…”

“…1 At an organizational level, low-income and minority parents face innumerable financial (eg, inability to afford books), informational (eg, limited knowledge about existing programs from libraries to preschool), and cultural barriers (eg, decreased English literacy) to preparing their children for school. 16 At a community level, affordable childcare is nonexistent, there are inadequate numbers of preschool spots, and few subsidized enrichment activities for optimal development. 17 At a policy level, considerable discrepancies exist in investing in quality of early childhood education programs: in the United States, only half of 3 and 4 year olds are enrolled in preschool, with ~2.5 million children lacking access to publicly funded preschool.…”

“…Our county-based clinic has unique access to this population with a high number of low-income Latino families with young children who may be struggling to prepare their child for school. A needs assessment at our clinic revealed that less than half of the low-income Latino children are ready for school and parents reported feeling unsure how to support SR. 16,18,38 Our clinic combined findings from this parent needs assessment 16 with existing literature to create a culturally specific, modified one-on-one SR coaching intervention for Latino parents using a community health worker (CHW) to target the early cognitive and language SR gaps and parent SR knowledge barrier. Using social cognitive theory, the SR intervention combined a cognitive SR assessment with components of prior interventions (book distribution, modeling parent-child interactions, educational tools, and community resources) to increase parent SR knowledge and self-efficacy.…”

Okul Öncesi Eğitimde Ailelerin Kreş Tercihleri Ve Kreşlerden Beklentileri: Eskişehir Örneği

“…Ayrıca, anaokulu öğretmeninin dört yıllık eğitim veren okul öncesi lisans eğitimi almış olması, öğretmenlerin tecrübeli olması, okul öncesi eğitim yapılarında eğitim gören çocukların fiziksel özelliklerine uygun çevre koşulları oluşturulması beklenmektedir. Okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarının en önemli amacının çocukları ilkokula hazırlamak, çocukların öz-bakım becerilerini kazandırmak olduğunu ve çocuklara paylaşma, işbirliği gibi sosyal becerileri öğretmek olduğu da önem verilen konular arasındadır (Sevinç,2006;Tuğrul ve Tokuç,2007;Baran vd., 2007;Argon ve Akkaya,2008;Pianta ve arkadaşları, 2010;Topaç vd., 2012;, Kıldan, 2012;Rentzou, 2012;Şimşek ve İvrendi,2014;Özen Altınkaynak ve Yanıklar, 2014;Durualp vd., 2016;Polat Yaman ve Saçkes, 2017;Peterson et al ,2018) Bu çalışmada Eskişehir'de 0-6 yaş grubunda çocuğa sahip olan ailelerin kreş tercihleri ve kreşlerden beklentileri belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Ayrıca ailelerin demografik özelliklerinin, kreşlerden beklentileri üzerindeki etkisi de bu araştırmada ele alınan önemli unsurlardan biri olarak görülmektedir.…”