Weaving Traditions Into Our Childrens Journey Of Learning

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Creating A Father-Friendly Classroom Louis A.
Finney- AED Rob Colombini- Booz/Allen/Hamilton
Weaving Traditions Into Our Childrens Journey
Of Learning The Second Annual Head Start and
Early Head Start American Indian and Alaska
Native Program Branch National Conference Grand
Hyatt Washington Hotel, Washington DC September
25, 2004
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Table Of Contents

• Introductions
• What do you want to walk away with? (Definition
  of Father Involvement)
• True or False
• Classroom Environmental Assessments
• What do Fathers Think What do Kids Need?
• What Defines a Father and Ranges of Fathering
• Gauging Involvement and Where We Are Now
• Getting Males Involved
• Actions Steps..Small Group

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True or False????

• In a study of 75 toddlers it was found that
  children who were securely attached to their
  fathers were better problem solvers than children
  who were not securely attached to their fathers.
  Children whose fathers spent a lot of time with
  them and who were sensitive to their needs were
  found to be better adapted then their peers whose
  fathers were not as involved and were less
  sensitive.
• Esterbrooks, M. Ann and Wendy Goldberg. Toddler
  Development in the Family Impact of Father
  Involvement and Parenting Characteristics. Child
  Development 55 (1984) 740-752

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True or False????
for girls, studies link a sense of competence
in daughters especially in mathematics and a
sense of femininity to a close, warm
relationship between father and daughter. Radin,
N. and G. Russell. Increased Father
Participation and Child Development Outcomes.
Fatherhood and FamilyPolicy. Eds. M.E. Lamb and
A. Sagi. Hillside Lawrence Erlbaum, 1983 191-218.

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True or False????

Using a national probability sample, father
involvement correlates with fewer behavior
problems exhibited by their children. Amato,
Paul R. and Fernando Rivera. Paternal
Involvement and Childrens Behavior Problems.
Journal of Marriage and the Family 61 (1999)
375-384.
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True or False????

Boys and girls with engaged fathers demonstrate
a greater ability to take initiative and
evidence self-control. Pruett, K.D. The
Nurturing Father. New York Warner Books, 1987.
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True or False????

A study assessing the level of adaptation of
one-year-olds found that, when left with a
stranger, children whose fathers were not
involved were less likely to cry, worry, or
disrupt play than other one-year-olds whose
fathers were less involved. Kotelchuk, M. The
Infants Relationship to His Father Experimental
Evidence. The Role of the Father in Child
Development, Ed. Michael E. Lamb. 2nd edition.
New York Wiley, 1981.
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True or False????

For predicting a childs self esteem, it is
sustained contact with the father that matters
for sons, but physical affection from fathers
that matters for daughters. Duncan, Greg J.,
Martha Hill, and W. Jean Young. Fathers
Activities and Childrens Attainments. Paper
presented at the Conference on Father
Involvement, October 10-11, 1996, Washington
D.C., pp. 5-6.
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True or False????

In a study of preschoolers, children whose
fathers were responsible for at least 95 percent
of childcare tasks have higher cognitive
development scores and a greater sense of mastery
of their environments than those children whose
fathers were less involved. Radin, N. Primary
Caregiving Fathers in Intact Families. In A.E.
Gottfried A.W. Gottfried (eds.) Redefining
FamiliesImplications for Childrens Development.
New York Plenum Press, 1994 55-97.
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True or False????

Fathers who had spent more time with their
children without the mothers present during the
first year of life (independent of maternal
employment status) were found to exhibit greater
variety in their interactions when their children
were 12 months old, and their children showed
more responsivity and exploration. Pedersen,
F.A., et.al. Paternal Care of Infants during
Maternal Separations Associations with
Father-Infant Interaction at One Year.
Psychiatry 50 (1987) 193-205.
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True or False ????

A study on parent-infant attachment found that
fathers who were affectionate, spent time with
their children, and had a positive attitude were
more likely to have securely attached
infants. Cox, M.J., et.al. Prediction of
Infant-Father and Infant-Mother Attachment.
Developmental Psychology 28 (1992) 474-483
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According to a presidential (February 2000)
economic report, children without fathers are

• Twice as likely to do drugs
• 53 more likely to commit suicide
• 5 times more likely to grow up in poverty
• 63 more likely to run away
• Twice as likely to end up in jail
• 4 times as likely to require professional help
  for emotional problems

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• Father-Friendly Environmental Assessment
• Father-Friendly Classroom Assessment

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What do Fathers think?

• Buy in to the stereotypes (moms job, real men
  dont)
• Father the way they were fathered (good example,
  bad example, no example)
• That its just not in them to parent
• They are more the invisible parent
• That women and infant services actually mean
  women and infant services

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What do our kids need to know?

• Be able to Negotiate, Communicate and Cooperate
• Children should
• Be able to follow school and classroom rules.
• Be able to listen attentively to and follow
  instructions.
• Be able to concentrate on and finish a task.
• Show self control.
• Respect the property of others, share and take
  turns.
• Do as much for themselves as possible.

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Mens self perceived role

• Showing Your Child Love And Affection
• Taking Time To Play With Your Child
• Taking Care Of Your Child Financially
• Giving Your Child Moral And Ethical Guidance
• Making Sure Your Child Is Safe And Protected
• Teaching Your Child And Encouraging
  (His/Her/Their) Curiosity

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Fathers Contributions
A survey of 20,000 parents found that when
fathers are involved in their childrens
education including attending school meetings and
volunteering at school, children were more likely
to get As, enjoy school, and participate in
extracurricular activities and less likely to
have to repeated a grade. Fathers Involvement in
Their Childrens Schools. National Center for
Education Statistics. Washington DC GPO, 1997
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First Things First

• What defines a Father?
• His upbringing?
• His relationship to the child?
• His culture?
• His experiences?
• His individuality?
• Society?

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Ranges of Fathering

• The Gung Ho Dad
• Ready Committed Understands his impact
• The Hesitant Dad
• Needs to build trust Comfort level
• The No Show Dad
• Go get him

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Ideas for Schools

• What can we use to gauge involvement?
• Attendance at school meetings
• Attendance at regularly scheduled parent-teacher
  conferences
• Attendance at school or class events (field
  trips)
• Serving as a volunteer at school

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Ideas for Schools

• What can we use to gauge involvement?
• Group Time Sharing of special talents or careers
• Calling Home
• Drop off and Pick up
• Positive Reinforcement

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Where we are..
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Getting Fathers/Males Involved

• It is important to reach out specifically to
  fathers or other significant males in parent
  involvement efforts for pre-kindergarten and
  early childhood programs. However, it is
  important to recognize at the outset that several
  barriers must be overcome in order to
  successfully get men more involved.

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Getting Fathers/Males Involved

• Levine (1993) outlined four factors that
  constrain Head Start and state-funded
  pre-kindergarten programs from encouraging father
  involvement
• Fathers' fears of exposing inadequacies
• Ambivalence of program staff members about father
  involvement
• Gatekeeping by mothers and
• Inappropriate program design and delivery.
• Each one of these barriers must be overcome as
  programs attempt to encourage and facilitate
  increased involvement of fathers in their
  children's school experiences.

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Getting Fathers/Males Involved

• McBride and his colleagues (McBride,
  Obuchowski, Rane, 1996) identified several key
  issues that need to be explored as early
  childhood programs struggle to build stronger
  home-school partnerships through the development
  and implementation of parent involvement
  initiatives targeted at men.

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Getting Fathers/Males Involved

• Be Specific About Goals
• Acknowledge Resistance To Initiatives
• Identify The Significant Male Role Figures
• Provide Training And Support Services For Staff
• Train Female Facilitators To Accept Male
  Involvement

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Getting Fathers/Males Involved

• Don't Neglect Mothers
• Go Slowly
• Don't Reinvent The Wheel

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Getting Fathers/Males Involved

• Successful resolution of these issues will
  provide early childhood programs with a solid
  foundation to develop and implement parent
  involvement initiatives designed for men. Men can
  become valuable resources as educators struggle
  to build stronger home-school partnerships aimed
  at strengthening family units that will help
  young children achieve success as they progress
  through the educational system.

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Creating a Father Friendly Environment

• Expect Men To Be Involved
• Sign Men Up Too
• Get Out Your Message
• Say It Loud
• Say it Often
• Just Ask

• Put Out The Welcome Mat
• Meet and Greet Dads At the Door
• Praise Childrens Progress
• Recognize Dads Contribution

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Creating a Father Friendly Environment

• Find Out What Men Want
• Keep your Eyes Open
• Ask Casual Questions
• Take an Interest Survey
• Set up a Rap Group

• Display Images of Men
• Brochures
• Walls
• Photo Contest
• Collages
• Special Occasions
• Announcements

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Creating a Father Friendly Environment

• Create a Special Place for Men
• Rethink Your Parent Place
• Set Up a Parent Place
• Set Aside a Special Time

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Recruiting Men To Your Program

• Invisible Man in The House
• Intake Form
• Intake Interview
• All-Staff Alert
• Trusting Relationships
• Surveys

• Bus Drivers As Recruiters
• Recruit Volunteer Riders
• Turn Riders Into Classroom Volunteers
• Turn Drivers into Classroom Volunteers
• Recognize Drivers as a resource
• Hire From the Community
• Redefine the Role

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Recruiting Men To Your Program

• Paid Staff As Recruiters
• Enlist Social Services Staff
• Find A Male Champion
• Find A Female Champion
• Set the Tone You Want

• Men As Recruiters
• Who Do You Want?
• One-On-One
• Pound the Pavement
• Find A Partner
• Share Your Strategies

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Recruiting Men To Your Program

• Women As Recruiters
• Encourage Mothers To Encourage Men
• Be Patient and Persistent
• Encourage Women To Show Their Enthusiasm
• Work With Women on Involving Their Ex-es
• Jump In Then Step Back
• Enlist Moms As Marketers

• Reach Out To the Hard-To-Reach
• Indirect Approach
• Double Mailings
• Including Fathers In The Home Visit

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Recruiting Men To Your Program

• Reaching Out To All Men
• Local Businessmen
• High School Students
• Volunteers
• Adopt-a-Program
• Cast A Wide Net

• Make Dollars Talk
• Lucky Bucks
• Reimbursement
• Recognition

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How Fathers Can Get Involved With Their Children
at Home????

• Reading with their children
• Discussing the days events with their child it
  shows interest and builds knowledge
• Working with their child on a special project
  this helps children understand the steps involved
  and gives them encouragement
• Establishing a daily routine in the home setting
  time for special projects, chores, and other
  activities helps children be more productive

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Small Group Activity

• Spend 5 minutes coming up with 3 ways in which
  you will promote father/male involvement.
• Spend 5 minutes brainstorming Father involvement
  ideas for your school.
• Share with the large group
• Follow-Up
• Spend 10 minutes with the people from your site
  and come up with 3 things your site will do this
  year to promote father/male involvement!

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Action points for schools

• Make intentional efforts to include
• Always be specific (not to Parents, but to Moms
  and Dads if possible)
• Overt efforts to empower
• The when you information
• Find ways to validate
• The best way to get men involved is for them to
  see other men involved invest in the every
  dad