This InfoSheet is a brief review of information for family services practitioners and fatherhood advocates, which highlights basic recommendations for making a father-friendly Early Childhood Family Education program. (Author abstract modified)
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Journal Article Research on fathers in Early Head Start (EHS) has provided an opportunity to study fathers from low-income families. We examined father-toddler social toy play in relation to EHS enrollment, fathers' psychosocial well-being, and children's developmental outcomes in a sample of 74 father-toddler dyads. Overall, our results show that father-toddler social toy play was more complex among fathers in an EHS program than among those in a comparison group. Greater complexity in father-toddler social toy play predicted better cognitive and social developmental outcomes for young children,…
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Journal Article This article is based on an in-depth qualitative study of efforts by an Early Head Start program to include fathers in program activities with the aim of supporting and strengthening their involvement in their children's lives. Since this program employs a home-visiting model of service delivery, our focus is on the work and experiences of home-visiting staff. Our key findings concern the evolutionary development of program thinking and practice regarding fathers and father involvement; barriers or challenges to father involvement; and successful strategies for engaging fathers on both a…
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Journal Article Father-child and mother-child engagements were examined longitudinally in relation to children's language and cognitive development at 24 and 36 months. The study involved a racially/ethnically diverse sample of low-income, resident fathers (and their partners) from the National Early Head Start evaluation study (n=290). Father-child and mother-child engagements were videotaped for 10 min at home during semistructured free play, and children's language and cognitive status were assessed at both ages. Fathers' and mothers' supportive parenting independently predicted children's outcomes after…
A fundamental principle of child development underpinning early childhood practice is that children need stable, nurturing relationships with both men and women to develop strong gender identities. With more than 60% of young children in non-parental care during part of their day, it is of serious concern that less than 5% of the early childhood workforce is comprised of males. The low wages typically paid to early childhood teachers is often cited as the reason for this under-representation. However, this explanation only partly explains the phenomena as there are numerous low paying…
