Family Engagement on Schooling and Impacts on Preschool Children’sEmotional Well-being

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine family involvement on schooling and impacts on the emotional well-being of preschoolers. This mixed design study discussed the emotional development conditions of preschoolers depending on two sample preschool centers. In examining the sample children’s emotion-related behavioral conditions, an EDI/AEDI tool was adapted and used. The tool gave score for each of sample items in a rating scale format (i.e. a three point scale) that ranged from 10 = highest or excellent; 5 = average or medium; and 0 = none/doesn’t exist the specific behavioral construct. Qualitative techniques of interviewing and document analysis of school-materials were also used. A t-test was used in analyzing the data which depended on teachers’ completion of sample preschoolers’ behavior development and text analysis was used in examining the qualitative data. Findings in the study evidenced that sample preschoolers from the private center received better emotional maturity scores than their counterparts in the public preschool. Preschoolers from the public school received higher scores on emotion-based problem behaviors. Furthermore, the study revealed that there was comparatively better family-school partnership and educational engagement by families from the private center than school-families interaction and involvement of families in the community preschool.