Connecting with Parents in the Early Years

by Jean Mendoza, Lilian G. Katz, Anne S. Robertson, and Dianne Rothenberg
December 2003

This publication was funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Connecting with Parents in the Early Years is the culmination of a project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to examine what we know about disseminating child-rearing and education-related information to parents and to identify what else we need to know about the information-sharing process in order to help parents get their young children ready for school. While the project examined effective ways of reaching all parents, it focused particularly on the issues involved in effective communication with hard-to-serve parents (by definition, those parents not usually reached with traditional printed materials). An invitational conference and a publication (based on a review of the relevant literature and the deliberations of conference participants) were the most tangible outcomes. The complete text of Connecting with Parents in the Early Years is presented on this Web site.

Executive Summary (PDF 57K)
(not included in the book)

Contents of the Book:

Chapter 1: Connecting with Parents: An Introduction (PDF 81K)
Chapter 2: Overview of School Readiness and Vulnerability in Families (PDF 99K)
Chapter 3: Overview of Programs Serving Young Children and Their Families (PDF 100K)
Chapter 4: Communication and the Exchange of Information (PDF 111K)
Chapter 5: Relationships between Parents and Programs (PDF 127K)
Chapter 6: Emerging Issues in Connecting with Parents about School Readiness (PDF 137K)
Chapter 7: Connecting the Threads (PDF 118K)
Chapter 8: References (PDF 133K)

Appendix

Relations between Families and Early Childhood Programs (PDF 92K)
Douglas R. Powell
Symposium Reponse (PDF 28K)
Respecting the Voices of Parents: How the Spirit of Excellence Parent Empowerment Project Connects with African American Parents (PDF 82K)
Evelyn K. Moore and Oscar A. Barbarin
Symposium Response (PDF 41K)
Connecting with Parents: The AVANCE Experience (PDF 89K)
Gloria G. Rodriguez
Symposium Response (PDF 40K)
Parent Panel (PDF 51K)
Closing Panel: Key Issues for Early Childhood Programs (PDF 40K)
Comments on Search Strategies Used (PDF 31K)
Tentative Topics for Proposed Educational Materials (PDF 17K)
Symposium Participants (PDF 34K)

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Printed from the CEEP Web site: http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu

Visit CEEP’s projects:

Illinois Early Learning (IEL): source of evidence-based, reliable information on early care and education for parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children in Illinois.
Early Childhood Research & Practice (ECRP): was the first scholarly, peer-reviewed, bilingual (English-Spanish) online journal in the field of early childhood education.
Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM): a source for data on early care and education services and demographics in the state of Illinois. Data are available by state, county, township, legislative district, and several agency regions.
Illinois Parents: operated with the Academic Development Institute in Lincoln, Illinois, provides resources and information for parents in the state of Illinois.