A Case Study of Parent Involvement in the Homes of Three Puerto Rican Kindergartens [The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students, V14]
Dinah Volk
This paper describes three case studies of interactions between mothers and their kindergarten children. Mothers and children were of Puerto Rican descent and lived in a midwestern city. Children were bilingual, but used English more competently than Spanish. During the children's kindergarten year, researchers observed mother-child interactions in the home. Observations were also conducted in the children's classrooms. Verbal interactions in the home were recorded and the recordings transcribed. Interaction types, formal and informal, based on whether the mother played the role of a teacher, were identified from the transcripts. A total of 53 percent of verbal utterances had an instructional intent, and 47 percent were informal. Interactions between the children and their mothers are described. Interactions between the children and their teachers are also described. These studies imply that teachers should: (1) avoid stereotyping of minority parents; (2) individualize their work with parents; and (3) learn from mothers about creating language-rich environments. The studies also suggest the need for research on interactions between parents and children of families of various cultural backgrounds and on the relation of children's learning experiences at home to their experiences at school. (Contains 32 references.)
Dinah Volk. A Case Study of Parent Involvement in the Homes of Three Puerto Rican Kindergartens [The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students, V14] (1994). The Bilingual Education Teacher Preparation Program: Boise, ID.
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