Brief
Kindergarten comes with big changes for children. It may be their first time in a structured school setting, or in a room with many children.
Each child responds differently. Some get excited about new experiences, while others feel nervous about these upcoming changes. Furthermore, children may react differently once they enter the classroom.
Kids also come to kindergarten at different readiness levels. Some have skills like knowing the alphabet and counting to ten. Others have not yet acquired these skills.
Here are nine ways to help kids make this transition.
Brief
When most people think about parent-child reading activities, they likely picture a mother quietly reading to her children. Very few people would envision a reading event where fathers and children are acting like donkeys, elephants, and gorillas. That is exactly what happens, however, at a Dad and Kid Reading Night sponsored by Strong Fathers-Strong Families. Dad and Kid Reading Night encourages and teaches fathers to read to their children. The books are carefully chosen both to reflect the father child dynamic and to facilitate lively activity.
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Journal Article Literature in developmental psychology suggests that mothers and fathers both play unique and important roles in their children’s development. However, research investigating the unique contributions and psychological functioning of fathers of youth with developmental disabilities, and the role that fathers play in effective intervention, remains limited. Whereas evidence suggests that parent-mediated interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can lead to increased engagement from parents, and reduced stress and psychopathology commonly experienced by parents of youth with…
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Journal Article Despite high heritability, no research has followed children with ADHD to parenthood to study their offspring and parenting behaviors. Given greater prevalence of ADHD in males and lack of research involving fathers, this study evaluated offspring of fathers with and without ADHD histories for ADHD and disruptive behavior and compared fathers’ parenting behaviors. Male fathers (N = 29) from the Pittsburgh ADHD Longitudinal Study (PALS) participated with their preschool-aged offspring. Fathers completed self-reported measures, and father-child dyads completed an interaction task. ADHD…
Fatherhood Summit Session
Head Start Programs have supported and strengthened parent-child relationships for more than50 years, including a specific focus on father involvement. Whether parents are cohabiting or living separately, custodial or noncustodial, Head Start appreciates the essential role that positively-engaged fathers can play in support of children, families, and their communities. Head Start grantees and practitioners are encouraged to recognize how engaged fathers contribute to children’s behavior, and to think strategically about how to solicit fathers’ input and address barriers impeding active …
Fatherhood Summit Session
Outreach to fathers is critical to improve outcomes for children. One of the most effective ways to reach fathers is through local schools and Head Start programs. This session drew upon the experience of Strong Fathers-Strong Families, LLC, which has worked with more than 220,000 fathers of children under the age of 18 in rural, suburban, and urban locations around the nation.
The presenter explored the important role fathers play in the development and education of children, and the barriers many fathers face when attempting to be involved in their children’s education. The presentation…
Adult caregivers such as parents, teachers, coaches, and other mentors play a critical role in shaping and supporting self-regulation development from birth through young adulthood through an interactive process called “co-regulation." This snapshot focuses on the self-regulation skills developing in infants and toddlers and highlights key considerations for promoting these skills. (Author abstract modified)
Adult caregivers such as parents, teachers, coaches, and other mentors play a critical role in shaping and supporting self-regulation development from birth through young adulthood through an interactive process called “co-regulation." This snapshot focuses on the self-regulation skills developing in preschool-aged children and highlights key considerations for promoting these skills. (Author abstract modified)
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Journal Article Father involvement is a salient predictor of children’s cognitive development and recent studies suggest that African American and Hispanic fathers, who are highly involved, have children who enter school more poised to succeed. Little is known, however, about contextual barriers to positive father involvement in ethnic minority families. This study examined prospective relations between fathers’ work characteristics (i.e., total work hours per week, job satisfaction, and work shift) and children’s cognitive development in preschool (i.e., reading and math scores). A total of 2,340 children…
Brief
Reading is an essential activity that is linked to children’s cognitive development, academic skills, and future employment opportunities. Children often become interested in reading by watching and mimicking their parents or participating in child-parent reading routines. Although mothers have a big role to play, research shows that fathers are particularly influential for children’s language and literacy development, which means they are a promising point of intervention for efforts to improve children’s language and literacy. Reading together and engaging in other literacy activities,…
