Chapter 4: Parental Involvement at Home

One important way that parents contribute to their children’s school adjustment is through what they do at home. Numerous models of parent involvement identify parent involvement at home as both important and distinct from parent involvement at school (Comer & Haynes, 1991; Eccles & Howard, 1996; Epstein, 1986; Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1995). Educators tend to be most aware of how parents are involved at school, because that involvement is visible to them. Yet parents are involved at home in ways that are important to their children’s school adjustment, and parents who rarely or never come to school are often deeply involved with their children at home (Shumow & Miller, 2001).