Participants for this investigation were 146 kindergarten teachers and 436 parents of kindergarteners in Davis and Weber School Districts. Self-administered questionnaires were utilized, 1) to determine if teachers, mothers and fathers believe that parents could do more to prepare children for kindergarten, 2) to delineate what each group believes parents can do, 3) to investigate what mothers and fathers have done in preparing their children for kindergarten, 4) to explore what skills teachers, mothers and fathers credit as most important for children to possess upon kindergarten entry, and 5) to examine what skills these three groups feel should be emphasized in the kindergarten curricula.
A variety of statistical analyses were used to compare teachers', mothers' and fathers' responses to the above questions. Major findings suggest that teachers differ significantly from do mothers and fathers in believing that parents could do more to prepare children for kindergarten. Additional differences were found in the nature of what the three groups felt parents could do, with parents mentioning intellectual skills significantly more often than teachers. Results also suggest that mothers more than fathers indicate that they take an active role in preparing their children for kindergarten.
Teachers, mothers and fathers generally agree about which skills children should possess when they go to kindergarten. Listening, feeling confident, and following directions were found to be ranked highest in importance with writing and reading skills perceived as least important. All three groups held similar attitudes toward the kindergarten curricula, holding that a wide variety of skills are important and should be emphasized in kindergarten programs. The implications of current findings for parents and teachers are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-3511 |
| Date | 01 May 1986 |
| Creators | Harris, Kimberly |
| Publisher | DigitalCommons@USU |
| Source Sets | Utah State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact Andrew Wesolek (andrew.wesolek@usu.edu). |
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