Lincoln Elementary School

Parent Teacher Organization

BEATRIZ KUDAMIK
ECE497: CHILD DEVELOPMENT CAPSTONE
COURSE
PROFESSOR: KRISTINA BODAMER
JANUARY 9, 2015

Middle Childhood
This presentation is intended to discuss the development of
children during the middle childhood period.
Middle Childhood takes place between ages 6 to 11 years.
Middle childhood is described as follows, Children learn about
the wider world and master new responsibilities that
increasingly resemble those they will perform as adults.
Hallmarks of this period are improved athletic abilities;
participation in organized games with rules; more logical
though processes; mastery of fundamental reading, writing,
math, and other academic knowledge and skills; and
advances in understanding the self, morality, and friendship
(Berk, 2013, Pg. 6).

My role as a child development professional

My name is Beatriz Kudamik and I am the ESL
teacher at Lincoln Elementary School.
I will be working with all children in the school that
are currently learning English as a second
language.
I am also available to assist parents in any
translating services they may need within the
school.
(I am currently working with the school to open an
evening class for parents to help in teaching them
English as well)

How do parents
affect their
childrens
education?
It is our goal to have parents
actively involved here at Lincoln
Elementary.
Parental beliefs and higher
expectations have been linked to
better academic performance of
students.
In a study of more than 1,300 U.S.
Caucasian-and African American
families with school-age children,
parental expectations for
educational attainment predicted
parents involvement in their
childrens school activities,
supervision of homework, andtwo
years laterchildrens reading and
math achievement (Berk, 2013, Pg.
345).
Parents need to know what their
children are doing in school and
how to continue support at home.
Parents and teachers must work
together!

Bronfenbrenner s
Ecological Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner, a
noted psychologist,
alleged that
environment shaped a
persons development.
He proposed an
ecological model that
describes environment
as multilayeredfrom
the settings in which a
person participates
(family, school, church,
teams), relationships
within these groups, and
experiences in other
social settings (media,
neighbors, social
agencies) to the shared
beliefs and values of
ones culture (Marotz &
Allen, 2013, Pg. 9).

Epsteins Types of Involvement

Joyce Epstein developed a framework that describes 6
distinct types of parent involvement. They are as
follows:
Parenting
Communicating
Volunteering
Learning at Home
Decision Making
Collaborating with Community
(Epstein, n.d.)

Parenting has many

positive influences on
children. Having parents
involved will establish a
good balance of the
activities children do at
home. Children will also
recognize the importance
of school because their
parents will make it a
priority. (Epstein, n.d.)
In order to ensure
parents are receiving
support, here at Lincoln
Elementary, we will
begin to have meetings
such as these to give
parents valuable
information as well as
answer any questions.

Type 1: Parenting

When there is a strong

communication between
home and school children
will certainly benefit from
this. Children and parents
will know exactly what is
expected of them. Children
will also know if they are
progressing in class and
they will be aware of any
actions needed in order to
maintain or improve
grades. (Epstein, n.d.)
We are aware that many
parents at Lincoln
Elementary do not speak
English. From this point
forward we will have
translators at every parentteacher conference and
school wide meetings, such
as this one.

Type 2: Communicating

Having parent volunteers in

classrooms can positively
influence a childs learning
and development. When
children are exposed to
interacting with various
parents, they will learn how
to better communicate with
adults. Parent volunteers
will also help children as
the child will receive more
individualized help.
(Epstein, n.d.)
How can parents volunteer?
Invite parents into
classrooms for specific
tasks. The task most asked
of parents is listening to
children read, and related
help with literacy (Stern,
2003, Pg. 38).

Type 3: Volunteering

The learning at home type of

parent involvement comes with
several positive influences.
When parents become involved
in their childrens school work,
children begin to view their
parents as teachers and their
home similar to their school.
This will also create a more
positive attitude towards
school work and will ensure the
completion of homework.
(Epstein, n.d.)
In order to help in this area,
Lincoln Elementary students
will begin using an agenda as
the one shown here. Parents
will be able to see what
assignments are due for the
week. Teacher and parents can
also write each other notes in
the agenda as means of
communication. Parents will
be asked to sign their childs
agenda daily to ensure parents
are actively involved in their
childs work.

Type 4: Learning at Home

We want parents
involved in the decision
made at Lincoln
Elementary. Children
benefit from this because
they become aware that
their families have a role
in their school decisions.
(Epstein, n.d.) Children
will be able to express
their thought and
feelings to parents, who
in turn will be able to
bring them up to the
school.
In order to have parents
involved in decision
making, Lincoln
Elementary will have
monthly PTO meetings
as well as Classroom
Parents.

Type 5: Decision Making

Collaborating with our

community can bring a
sense of belonging to our
students. As most of our
students are Hispanic,
we will have traditional
events. For example, we
will hold celebrations
such as Cinco de Mayo
were children will dance
and listen to Mariachi
music and even enjoy
Mexican food.
Cultures adapt to their
physical setting, and play
activities reflect those
cultures and settings
(Frost, Wortham, &
Reifel, 2013, Pg. 232).

Type 6:
Collaborating with Community

References
Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Epstein, J. (n.d.). Epstein's framework of six types of involvement. Retrieved
from
http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein_s_Framework_of_Six_Types_o
f_Involvement(2).
pdf
Frost, J., Wortham, S., & Reifel, S. (2011). Play and child development. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice-Hall.
Stern, J. (2003) Involving Parents Continuum International Publishing.
Retried from the ProQuest Database.