Provide a rationale for your parent involvement model, including an exposition

The first school where children learn to
become part of this society is home. The first teachers that impact the
children’s lives are their parents. With parents children learn to eat, run, talk,
and etc. “Parents and caregivers provide
the primary social environment in which children form attitudes and behaviors regarding
eating and physical activities” (Story, Kaphingst, French).Today, the major
issue the school and the society are confronting in early childhood classes is
unhealthy eating habits.The most impressive issue is how the percentage
of obesity among toddlers and children has been growing in the last few years.
In addition, United States
is one of the first countries around the world where obesity is a very big
issue. “Since the 1970’s, the percentage of overweight kids and adolescents in
the United States
has more than doubled. Today, 10% of 2-5-year-olds and more than 15% of
children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight” (Gavin, 2005).Fast food is
the first reason why this epidemic is growing in United States. The second factor
that is contributing to the epidemic is the environment and the lack of physical
activities in the children’s daily routines.
The last factor is genetics which contributes to obesity. However, the
most impressive point I found in my research is the side effects of obesity in youth.Obesity
is affecting the mental and physical health of children in many ways. Some of those problems that children are
confronting are frequent sadness, tearfulness, crying, hopelessness, decrease
interest in activities, or the inability to enjoy previous activities. Also,
boredom, low energy, social isolation, poor communication, low self-esteem,
guilt, and extreme sensitive to rejection or failure are effects of obesity in
children. Other side effects linked to obesity are the health problems such as are
Gallbladder disease and gallstones, liver disease, osteoarthritis, pulmonary
problems, reproductive problems in women, diabetics2, high blood pressure and
poor school performance.

Many researchers have noted a correlation
between weight problem and poor academic performance. In fact,obesity today is
one of the major issues that schools are trying to fight by involving parents.
“Reviews of effort to prevent youth high-risk behaviors, such as school
failure, aggressive behaviors, and substance abuse, have found that combined
school and family programs deliver more benefits than those managed separately”(Story,
Kaphingst, French). Each individual metabolism is different, but our eating
habits are what can make the big change in our physical appearance. The food is
the first element we need in order to survive; but many questions are rising up
in order to understand what is happening.According to specialists there are
many factors contributing to obesity either together or along. The most
important factors pointed in the article Overweight
and Obesity are,“genetic factors, lifestyle habits, or both may be
involved. In some instances, endocrine problems, genetic syndromes, and
medications can be associated with excessive weight gain” (Gavin, 2005).
However, the number one factor is the parents’ life style and food habits. This process starts from the first day of
conception. In the article The Role of
Parents in Preventing Childhood Obesity,the authors state “Before an
infant is even born, aspects of his mother’s pregnancy can put him at risk of
overweight in childhood and later in life” (Lindsay, Sunner, Kim, Gortmaker.
2006).The role of parents is continuous in all of their children’s stages of
life; from newborn, to toddlers, to pre-school, to school-aged children, and to
youth. During the first stage is where the parents can begin to build their
children’s eating habits. They can do it in a positive way by giving them a
healthy diet, limiting them junk food, and engaging them in physical
activities. In this way, the most important influence of a child is his/her
parents and they do it by helping them avoid
his/her problem with obesity.

Obesity
does not only affect the child physical appearance, it also affects their
school performance and behaviors. “A study involving 11,192 kindergartners
found that overweight children had significantly lower math and reading test
scores at the beginning of the year than did their healthy-weight peers and
that these differences persisted into first grade”(Story, Kaphingst, French. 2006).
A person can imagine that many early
childhood students are overweight, but the numbers that observers give are
bigger of what we believe, in this way obesity is affecting the children’s school
performance in many areas. To start resolving the problems many researches
found the best way is to start teaching parents to eat in a healthy manner.
“Parents are the key to developing a home environment that fosters healthful
eating and physical activity among children and adolescents. Parents shape
their children’s dietary practices, physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and
ultimately their weight status in many ways” (Lindsay, 2006).

It
is very clear the parents’ role in their children’s health and nutrition, and
how their habits can affect their lives in a negative way. In order, to become
a healthy human the environment at home and school should be healthy. Both
environments should offer the best of them in order to create better and
healthy children. Today’s parents rely on many negative activities that are
leading to excess weight gain, such as videos games, television, and computers.
Also, today’s way of life is affecting the children physically and mentally. In
today’s life in order to have an accommodate life both parents should work. In
this way parents are obligated to buy fast food, because of the short time. For
this reason, many researchers emphasize the importance of the family role in
obesity. “The key to keeping of all ages at a healthy weight is taking a
whole-family approach. It’s the practice what you preach mentality” (Kids
Health, over weight and Obesity, 2005).

Community
is part of a country, city, or state, but is the environment of the child where
each child develops allof his/her habits, way of living, and way of eating.
Looking from an outside to a community we can imagine the type of children
living in there. In fact, we can distinguish the areas by looking to the poor
children living in poor communitiesand rich children living in prosperous areas.
“Cities and communities have a vital role in combating childhood
obesity,”(Liang, 2003) Apoor diet is part of the poor community and the
ones who are most affected by this condition are children at anearly age. “Children
in communities with high poverty rates and fewer parks are more likely to
suffer from obesity than children in affluent areas, according to a report” (Liang,
2003). It is very obvious therole communities play to help children overcome
their weight problems who are affecting their physical appearance, their
health, and their school performance.
The role of the communities is to work with parents in order to find
healthy ways to fight the new epidemic.
In fact, studies have showing the importance of communities’ status in
their citizens’ lives especially children. “Among the communities with a
student study group of 500 or more children, Maywood, which has a much higher
poverty rate in the Los Angeles County, had the highest prevalence of childhood
obesity, with 37 percent of children in that city considered obese, while
Manhattan Beach, an affluent area, was found to have the lowest level of
childhood obesity at 4 percent” (Liang, 2003).

Parents,
communities, and schools are what build at an early age the child’s character,
personality, health, and school performance according to their status, funding,
and dispositions to see negative and positive element in their environment. The
three components should work in an effective way in order to try to shape the
new students who will become the future of our society and will make the
change. The best way is to look for strategies and solutions to make a change
in today’s generation, working together will be the best element that will help
us shape the professionals of the future.

Goals
and Objectives

Ø
Educate them on obesity and to provide solutions

Ø
Incorporate healthy food in their daily meals

Ø
Teach healthy ways of creating snacks

Ø
Encourage parents to engage in outside activities with their children

Ø
Show them the importance of involving children
in their food preparing process

Ø
Show them the community resources that will help
them to fight obesity and to maintain a healthy weight.

Children who are
overweight feel that they are heavy, and they see it reflected in the mirror. Parents also see the reality of their
children’s problem. However, my model will include all type of parents: parents
of overweight children, parents of obese children, or parents who want to
maintain their children’s weight and to prevent future problems. My goals are
bendable enough to make the necessary changes according to the children and
their parents’ needs. I would expect my model to help parents improve their eating
habits. I will be able to see if my challenge met my expectations in classroom
snacks, lunch time, and recess time. I will expect heavy involvement from the
parents, because my model will beneficial the whole family. Also, I will expect
a partnershipbetween school nutrition professionals, parents, which will lead
into positive results years down the road. I will be open to hear negative
comments from parents; however, I will try to reach all of theparents’
expectations of what they believe they are going to reach from my model. My
model will give me the opportunity to explore all of my students’ families from
a different point of view, which will give me the opportunity to understand the
students’ background, customs, and beliefs. In this way, I will be able to give
the best of my ability in order to help the students in their school
performance.

Description of families and community

My model involvement will involve all types
of parents: parents from different backgrounds, single parents, and busy parents.
For this reason, I will type the letters and sendthem home one week before the
program begins. The letters will be typed in different languages according to
each family own language in order to make families understand the program’s
goals and challenges. During this process, I will ask the school to provide me
with translators. If the school is on able to do it, I will ask other parents I
know from previous years to help me translate the letters and serve as personal
translators during the meeting. The letter will explain to the parents my model
goals. It will inform them about the activities that we are going to have
during our meeting. Also, the letter sent home will include a description of
their expectation to participate,mentioning thatthe model is created to
approach the whole family.

The model will
include single parents, guardian, and anyone who is involved in the child’s
life. The model will try to engage the families in healthy activities that will
help them at the present time, and will be beneficial to them in the future. It will help families to familiarize
themselves and their children with the nutrition facts labels printed on all
food and beverage packaging. My model
activities will include tips to encourage parents to try new foods, especially
fruits and vegetables at home. The children will have the opportunity to share
activities with their parents in a healthy way by preparing with their parents
the new food. . This workshop will create the opportunity to share quality time
and to share exceptional moments that will become a part of the students’
memories.

To
begin, I will introduce myself to parents in the school gym and will explain
them the model’s goals. My “Want Strength? Eat Healthy Food!” will provide
parents with tips to eat healthy, engage in physical activities with their children,
and cook in a healthy way. During the workshop I will have parents from
different backgrounds to help me with language issues. Also, the principal and
colleagues will be present during the workshop. Through the meeting with the
parents I will provide them with a small brochure in their own language, which
will include tips and healthy recipes to try at home with their children.

My next step will be to provide parents with
information about their community resources, such as the park, where they can go
with their children to run, ride a bike, have a picnic, play basketball,
tennis, soccer, or just to havea walk. Moreover, exercise can happen anywhere
in front the house, or in their own backyard. They can also exercise by coming
and leaving school walking instead of using the car. In this way, parents can
benefit from those activities by spending more time with their children, and at
the same time they are teaching them the importance of exercise. Another
resource I will use is to bring a nutritionist to the school to give a lecture
in how to properly calculate calories in their daily diet. Also, I will bring a
pediatric to speak about the effects of obesity in children, and I will bring a
young student who lost a lot of weight to serve as a role model to the other
children. In this way, parents and children will be encourage by professionals and
experienced people to maintain their children weight. These people will lead
parents to try our tips and understand the importance to be healthy and
encourage them to eat healthy.

Components
of the model

1. I will provide families with website
addresses writing in their own languages to help them learn to cook healthy
food. This information will help parents to learn how to reduce the ability to
use sugar and beverages in their daily intake. Also, itwill make them explore
different types of food which will lead to have a variety of food d on their dining
tables. As a result of this information,families will share quality time in the
kitchen, doing the cooking activities, and sharing the meal around the table.
The website addresses will be the first thing to encourage them to have a
quality time and a healthy meal with their children.

Many researchers
have emphasize a lot in gathering around the table to eat lunch or dinner as
the best way to keep family attached together and to teach children to in a
healthy way. According to Lindsay and others,“Studies show that eating dinner
together as a family promotes healthful eating among children and adolescents
by increasing their consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and
reducing their consumption of fats and soft drinks”(Lindsay, Sussner, Kim,
Gortmaker.2006).

2.
The nutritionist and the pediatric who came to the workshop will provide
the students and their parents with a lecture in how to maintain a healthy
weight. The nutritionist will discuss
the importance of calculating the calories in an appropriate manner in order to
maintain a healthy weight or how to calculate the calories to lose weight.
Also, he will show the correct way of cooking healthy food and he will advice
them to try new foods,which will benefit the children’s health. Moreover, he
will prepare many types of healthy food in order to encourage the children and
parents to try it at home. The pediatric
will give a lecture of the effects of obesity in children and how it can affect
their future in different ways. At the end
of the workshop parents will have the opportunity to ask as many questions they
want to the nutritionist and the pediatric.

Many researchers
have found the importance of professional lectures and demonstration of new
types of food that parents can include in their meals in the children
nutrition. According to the authors of
the book “Children who have a wide range of food likes are more likely to be
well nourished than children whose tastes are limited to a few favorites”
(Whitener, Keeling. 1984).

3.
After the lectures of the two visitors, the nutritionist and the
pediatric who discussed the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, we
would have an activity to learn to create healthy snacks, incorporate healthy
food, and show them how to involve children in their food preparing process.
This activity will teach the parents the importance of involving their children
in their food preparation process and this activity can lead to a healthy
meal. Also, another benefit of this
activity will help them create healthy snacks. The materials that the parents
will use in this activity are fresh vegetables, fruits, and deepening sauces
that are low in calories.

The researchers
found that “The activities for learning are ‘hands-on’ activities, designed to
help children develop perquisite knowledge and understandings that lay the
foundation for later, more advanced nutrition concepts” (Whitener,
Keeling.1984).

4. During the workshop I will have an
activity to show the importance of exercise and how just small things can do a
very big difference in our lives. The activity will include water bottles, jump
ropes, a bicycle, or a soccer ball. This activity will increase the parents’
awareness about their children’s health. It will allow busy parents to learn
the importance of engaging in exercise activities at home with their children
and how they can become a good role model by having fun with them.

Few studies have
examined the relation between the weight of children and their parents’ role.
However, in the article The Role of Parents in Preventing
Childhood Obesity is pointed,“ Monitored physical activity with
mechanical device- the Caltrac accelerometer- in four- to seven year-old
children of actives mothers were twice as likely to be active as children of
inactive mothers. When both parents were active, these children were 5.8 times
more likely to be active than the children of two sedentary parents. (Lindsay,
Sussner, Kim, Gortmaker. 2006)

Reflection.

“Want Strength? Eat Healthy Food!”
will enforce healthy eating patterns in childhood promote optimal childhood
growth, and intellectual development.The model workshop components will address
the needs of all types of parents of different backgrounds. The workshop
session will provide the diverse parents with activities that will engage
children in a healthy way. Teachers will also interact with parents in order to
help children have a better idea of obesity and healthy food. As a result, the
two components parents and teachers will interact with each other to form the
children’s future healthy eating habits that will stay with them through out
their whole lives.

The teacher’s role
is to guide, provide access to information rather than acting as the primary
source of information.The students’ search for knowledge is met as they learn
to find answers to their questions. For children to construct knowledge about
healthy diet, they need the opportunity to discover it forthemselves and practice
skills in authentic situations. Providing children’s access to hands-on
activities and allowing adequate time and space to use materials that reinforce
the lesson being studied creates an opportunity for individual discovery and
construction of knowledge to occur. In order to understand them, the teachers
have to regard the families as if they are at the same level as their children.
Teachersshould become more aware of their needs as unique and individual
families. To gain the parents respect teachers should give respect. Respect is
not a gift; respect is something we gain with our attitude towards people and
families. Respect towards the families
characteristic, personality, language, and custom are the primary goals that
teachers should set to become a successful teacher. The understanding of each
family as unique is the first step to advance in the correct way. After gaining
parents by respecting them the second step is to support and empower parents by
understanding their needs. The best way is through the workshop “Want Strength?
Eat Healthy food!” The strategy is to build a strong relationship with parents
based on trust and confidence in order to come up with solutions to possible
difficulties in achieving their goals with weight, health, or school
performance. I expect the participation of parents, because my model will
benefit all types of parents. However, my expectation of parents’ attendance to
the workshop may not be met. This will not limits me and I will keep working
with enthusiasm,believing that the parents who attended the workshop will share
the information they learned with other parents.

Children are the
most important element in my model. For this reason, I will adjust my approach
according to their needs, in order to achieve the desired results. To get a
better result with parents I will explain mygoals to them: how as good parents
can become the primary influence of their children, and how important and
essential their role is as parents. Through the workshop, I will try to
interact with parents in a positive way in order to achieve a full and solid
component. I will emphasize in understanding each other, in making clear our
ideas, and to get through it by communicating in a positive way in order to
complement each other to the benefit of the child. The best way to communicate with parents is
through the internet, because many parents are not able to come to school
everyday. The school gives the teachers a web page to communicate with parents;
I will also give them my personal E-mail and my webpage address to communicate
with me. In my school page and my personal webpage I will post surveys, report
cards, quizzes for the students and parents to share and answer. I will post Activities that can help them
with their daily meals such as an electronic calculator to calculate calories.
Also, I will have a spot where parents can post their comments, suggestions, or
a cooking activity they tried and liked. Another way to communicate is through
the phone, I will design special hours after school for parents to call and ask
for anything they believe is important and necessary to the child. In this way, parents will have to participate
in their children’s education process. The parents will notice the importance
of their involvement as soon as they see the positive change in their
children’s health and physical appearance. For this reason, any negative comments
or attitude from any of the parents will encourage me to keep working in order
to make them realize the importance of their roles and involvement. I will try
to adjust the goals and strategies according to the parents’ needs and their
understanding of my model benefit. After all what will guarantee the success of
my model is the feedback from the parents and the children’s progress at home
and school.

The E-mail and
phone communication is not my only goal to reach. The challenge is to encourage
parents to have outside activity with their children. The community resources
are very beneficial to use to improve their qualities of life. My challenge is
to encourage parents to takeadvantage of what we have around us. I expect the
participation of parents in my workshop.
This is not the most important factor, but is the first step in the
ladder to understand the significance of outside activities. They can use the park to run with their pets,
to walk, to have a healthy picnic, and to spend a good time with family. Also,
they can use the public pool to swim during the summer, and to participate in
the community activities such as basket ball, soccer, and baseball games. Another way that will benefit the child is to
come and leave the school walking. They will have extra time to share and forge
a strong relationship with their parents. During my workshop parents will have
the opportunity to have a conversation with their children’s others teachers
and they will have the chance to look up their children’s progress in all the
subjects. I will do my best to make this experience very successful and
beneficial to the children’s learning process. The staff is an important
element to the success of the model and the workshop. The principal, the
teachers, the vice-principal, the assistant, the gym teacher and anyone who
forms part of the school could make a change in the students’ life. Teachers are
the primary factor to the child learning process. Communication is the key to solve
all problems and communicating with the staff is very important in order to
parents to comprehend their children process. The staff is personally involved
and has the best objective in having families strongly involved in the
educational process. All these components and ideas are what will make the
parents and school relationship stronger,which will lead to the improvement and
benefit of the students.

Assessment.

The overall the
success of my model I will assess it few weeks after the workshop. The evaluation will be by paying attention to
the types of food children are bringing to school, such assnacks andlunches.
Also, to the types of exercise they are doing during recess time. I will also
evaluate the success of my model by paying attention to the comments that
parents posted, or the surveys and activities they used online. Another way
will be by asking the children if they are coming to school walking or using
the car. Furthermore, I will do it by asking the students each Monday to write
down in their journals about their weekend, the activities that they had, and
the food they ate. The last element I will use is by sending a questionnaire
home asking parents about their experience and what they learned from the
workshop. Moreover, I will create a monthly newsletter that will include
healthy recipe, nutrition activities to be completed by parents and children
together, sandwich ideas, snack recipes, ways to introduce new and different
types of food, and information on normal eating behavior for young children. I
will keep in touch with parents sending homethe food menu of the school at the
first day of each month. All these components will help me determine the
success of my model and the strategies I used to involve parents in their
children’s lives. In case I noticed that my model had any weak point and could
not reach the parents needs I will work on it to find a better way to make it more
effective in the future with different parents and children. However, the model
process will give me the opportunity to develop a strong relationship with the
students’ parents, which I believe as a team we can work together to help
children make the right food and health choices.

References

Gavin, Mary L.
(2005, 08). Overweight and Obesity. KidsHealth, Retrieved April 7, 2008,
from http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body/overweight_obesity.html

Liang, Yan (2007).
News. Retrieved April 1, 2008, from China View Web site: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/11/content_7048578.htm

Lindsay, A.,
Sussner, K., Kim, J., & Gortmaker, S. (2006). The Role of Parents in
Preventing Childhood Obesity. The Future of Children, 16,
RetrievedApril 08, 2008, from http://www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/08_5562_lindsay-etal.pdf.

Story, M.,
Kaphingst, K., & French, S. The Role of Schools in Obesity Prevention. The
Future of Children, 16, Retrieved April 7, 2008, fromhttp://www.futureofchildren.org/information2827/information_show.htm?doc_id=355549.

Whitener, C.,
& Keeling, M. (1984). Nutrition Education for Young Children. Englewood Cliffs:
Prentice-Hall Inc.

Parent
Involvement Model