Date

12-2023

Document Type

Capstone Project (Campus-Only Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Department

Human Development & Family Science

Major

Human Development and Family Science

Abstract

This Capstone project will focus on parent-child social interactions and how this relationship may impact language and cognitive development in toddlers. Parent involvement is defined as a family’s responsibility to guide and provide care to their children to ensure their healthy development and overall life success (early childhood research and practice). According to Reynolds et al (2022) researchers have discovered that parental involvement and engagement during the early years of a child’s life may positively impact early childhood education. Since this project focuses on educating parents of lower income households about the importance of parental involvement, it was crucial to have this workshop at a proper location where families with economic disadvantages may be part of. Therefore, this project took place at Orom’s Preschool/Daycare Center. Orom’s Center developed a program that was built to support families with economic disadvantages and provide affordable and high quality care to children. Research has shown that parents of low income families are more likely to have unpredictable schedules or may work long hours (Walther & Pilarz, 2023). This may cause parents to have very little to no time to engage and interact with their children on a regular basis. The early stages of life are crucial to determine one’s future success, therefore, parent social interactions with their children should be prioritized. The lack of parent-child engagement may lead to cognitive and language development delayed (Tamis-LeMonda et al, 2019).

Based on the need, I developed a workshop for parents of toddlers between ages 1 and 2 years old. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss the different ways that parents can be involved in their children’s early education by simply engaging in everyday activities with them at home. Research has shown that the first few years of a child are crucial to gain emotional, social, and cognitive skills (Kurtulmus, 2016). Therefore, it is important to educate parents on strategies to help their children’s development. This project will be conducted by a 90 minute workshop with parents at Orom’s Daycare/Preschool Center. This center is located on the East side of Salinas, Ca. This area has the largest population of Latinos/Hispanic in Salinas and it also happens to have the largest percentage of low income families in Salinas. Orom’s Daycare Center has a big diversity, however, as a low income program, it does have a majority of immigrant families enrolled in their programs. During this workshop, parents will be given a brief overview of the importance of their involvement in early development as well as strategies on how to get involved. Parents will be evaluated on the information that will be provided for result purposes.

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