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Description:
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Parenting education , combined with adult basic education and early childhood
education , makes the Even Start program a unified family literacy program which helps
to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and low literacy . Research studies have
shown that the Even Start program has positive effects on its participants . Even though
some of the effects are not explicitly tied to parenting education , they are closely related
to parenting education . This study investigated the effectiveness of parenting education
as perceived by its participants . The purposes of this study were to identify Even Start
program participantsâ  perceptions of parenting education , to explore issues related to
parenting education , and to identify the impact of parenting education as perceived by the
program participants .
The interviewed parents considered parenting education an important component
of the Even Start family literacy program . Findings in this study revealed how the
participants used what they had learned in the parenting classes , incorporating their
improved literacy skills to facilitate the growth of the whole family . According to the
study participants , parenting classes provided a safe and comfortable environment for the
parents to learn or validate their parenting practices , to identify themselves with each other , to build up a network of support system , and to practice their literacy skills in a
context related to their everyday life . Since their participation in the parenting education ,
the study participants reported attainment of new insights about being a good parent ,
better communication with their children and other family members , improved education
experience for their children , prolonged parenting values and practices , and improved
family relationships . Using Bronfenbrennerâ  s ecology model to look at the family
literacy program , parenting education appeared to be the linkage between all components . |