Presents information on a seminar called "Developing Mathematical Ideas" with the goal of piloting a new curriculum and charting a new path for parents, schools, and children in mathematics. Explores central issues in the development of constructive, thoughtful, and generative relationships between parents and school community through parents'…

Analyzes successful family literacy projects. Finds defining characteristics and key features of practice that can be used to establish effective family literacy programs: offers literacy instruction to families, broadly defined; creates strategic recruitment plans; emphasizes retention; creates a supportive environment; and includes ongoing…

Divorced parents (n=14) and professionals (n=16) who work with divorced individuals were interviewed to examine how they experience the child access and visitation process. Findings identified problematic themes regarding child access and visitation, potential solutions, and suggested services that fall under the expertise of marriage and family…

Describes the Super Science Sleep-Over, a slumber party held at an elementary school centered around a "Kaleidoscope of Science" theme. Discusses 10 steps to organize a science sleep-over including surveying interest, recruiting instructors, developing a schedule, registering students, assigning jobs, details, the program, designing an evaluation,…

Presents tips and suggestions for parents that can make a family nature walk more rewarding and help parents encourage their children to look closer at the natural world. (JRH)

Documents the range and frequency of literacy practices in 20 low-socioeconomic-status homes. Finds great variability in type and frequency of literacy events: children knew more about the alphabetic principle in homes where literate members read and wrote for their own entertainment and leisure; and parents' involvement was higher when children…

Describes the Kids Investigating and Discovering Science (KIDS) program at the University of California, Irvine, in participation with the Santa Ana Unified School District. Concludes that the successful science teaching in that program for low-income Latino youngsters depends upon a network of interpersonal collaboration between parents, minority…

Discusses how the process of educating parents about the college admission process has evolved during the last 30 years. Observations of how this process has changed are divided into three historical periods: the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, and the Modern Era. Concludes that the college counseling process has become easier in the Modern Age in…

Describes how parent teacher conferences in elementary schools in Tacoma, Washington, differ from traditional conferences by starting early in the schools year, being held at least twice a year, lasting about 40 minutes, including students, developing goals using conference information, and involving parents and students in developing goals to…

Discusses uses of household education surveys and the fact that not all educationally relevant data can be collected from schools. The two studies highlighted in this issue demonstrate the payoff from household surveys in their explorations of parent involvement in their children's schools and adult education. (SLD)

Examines family literacy and parental involvement awareness among preservice and mentor teachers in a professional development school setting. Finds a wide range of awareness of the importance of family literacy. Supports the urgent need for teacher education programs that include strategies for involving parents. (RS)

Reviews the historical evolution of fatherhood and reflective consideration of men's and women's states of well-being. Reports that the Prosperes Project, a consortium of university, institutional, and community organizations in the Montreal region designed to improve paternal involvement, has suggestions for sustaining, enhancing, and reinforcing…

Argues for the need to move beyond the paradigm of parental involvement in children's early literacy through story-reading practice, which presently informs home-school reading programs, to consider a wider framework for family and community involvement. Illustrates the experiences of two children reading with their mother and sister. (Author/VWL)

Examines the phonological awareness and home experiences of 59 prekindergartners from different sociocultural groups. Notes that two demographic variables, maternal education and ethnicity, made significant contributions to rhyme sensitivity. Suggests that children's rhyme sensitivity may be influenced by engagement in word games and book…

The study of effective character education programs shows that full parent involvement is a must, as it has a profound impact on the students' character development. The complexity of character educations and the benefits of parental involvement are discussed.