For too long, teaching children to read has been seen as women’s work. New research recognizes this limits child development. Fathers play a critical role in learning, too.
—Robert W. Ortiz, Ph.D., Cal. State , Fullerton
As I think about my own childhood I remember my mother attending all the meeting, events that took place at school. Even though both parents worked, the schooling was designated to my mom. With that being said I would like to focus on getting fathers more involved in their child’s education. For many years the childhood education has been seen as women’s work. Through research we have found children really do benefit from having both their parents involved in their lives and it is clear that children are getting the short end of the stick due to the fact that their fathers are missing from that partnership.
Some of the top reasons that I found as to why fathers are not involved in education are:
_ Head Start staff consists mostly of women who may identify with and are more comfortable with moms.
_ Some staff and mothers may have bad feelings toward fathers due hurtful relationships.
_ The past cultures show women as primary caretakers, particularly of young children.
_ Some staff may not understand role a father plays in his child’s healthy development.
_ Some staff may assume that fathers do not want to participate.
_ Some staff may not know how to get fathers involved.
In my research over the next couple of weeks I plan to address ways to utilize fathers in the classroom and show how this involvement is beneficial to the child.
