This course focuses on the child in the context of family, school, and community. An analysis of the contemporary American family will be discussed, with emphasis on the individual family interactions within the larger societal context. The course will examine the interplay of diverse cultures, lifestyles, language, and communication with the role of school and other community institutions. Students will gain an understanding of their professional role in supporting practices that strengthen respectful family/child relationships through effective use of community and family resources.
Big Conversations with Little Children by 
Collaborative Intervention in Early Childhood by 
Hearing All Voices by 
Home, School, and Community Relations by 
Smart but Scattered by 
Children's Transitions in Everyday Life and Institutions by 
Family Engagement in Early Childhood Settings by 
Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Young Children 0-5 Years by 
(Re)theorising More-than-parental Involvement in Early Childhood Education and Care by The quality of the family relationships plays an important role in the development of children's psychopathology and in their socio-emotional development. This longitudinal study aims to investigate whether family relationships are related to children's symptoms/strengths at kindergarten, and whether family relationships are predictors of changes in children's symptoms/strengths between 5 and 6.
For socioeconomically disadvantaged children, a positive experience in kindergarten may play a particularly important role in fostering the behavioral adjustment and learning engagement necessary for school success. Prior research has identified supportive student-teacher relationships and classroom emotional support as two features of the classroom context that can promote student adjustment; however, very few studies have examined these two aspects of the classroom context simultaneously. This study followed the cases of 164 children as they transitioned from Head Start into elementary school, and revealed significant unique associations between each type of kindergarten support and children's aggressive behaviors, social withdrawal, learning engagement, and emergent literacy skills in first grade. In addition, learning engagement significantly mediated the association between a supportive relationship with the kindergarten teacher and first-grade literacy skills.
We investigated associations between parent-reported accumulated burden of family stressors and standardized early literacy and math scores, teacher-reported classroom participation, and child-reported school liking among 175 kindergartners. Results highlight the role of family stress for school adjustment and address implications of conflictual teacher–child relationships for vulnerable children at the transition to formal schooling.
The study investigated the interactive impact of different dimensions of social skills on children's emotional symptoms. 167 children participated in the study at the ages of 5, 6, and 9 years. Teachers rated children's social skills. The study demonstrated the importance of deficits in self-oriented social skills for the development of emotional symptoms.
This study examined the association between children's temperament and their relationships with parents and teachers. Reactive temperament was positively associated with parent/teacher–child conflict and negatively associated with parent–child closeness. Regulatory temperament was a moderator for the association between reactive temperament and teacher–child closeness. Improving children's regulatory temperament may be helpful for children with the reactive temperament to have better social relationships with their teachers.
Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.
Building Strong Parent-Educator Partnerships
Numerous resources for teachers and educators in order to strengthen the school-home partnership, from back-to-school night to parent-teacher conferences.
En español Schools and Families: An Important Partnership
In the U.S., schools and families work together closely to help children succeed. These resources describe how you can build a relationship with your child's school.
Parenting resources and tips on raising children, planning birthday parties & kids activities.
