Welcome to Community Educational Research Group

Family engagement is a key element to strengthening relationships and the learning environment for children. At Community, parents have an opportunity to be involved in:

• Volunteer opportunities
• Policy recommendations
• Parent Meetings and Conferences
• Family Night Activities
• Special events for children, families, and staff.

Why should families get involved in the early childhood education of their little one?

Parent and caregiver involvement is vital in both the academic and emotional development of their child and research has provided that students whose parents are involved in their education succeed greatly in the following areas:

• Adaptation and resilience in school
• Better school attendance
• Completing school work at a higher rate
• Have high test scores and grades
• Graduate and attend college
• Have superior social skills
• Have improved relationships with their families
• Bear better self-esteem

There’s often a myth that kids attending early childhood education programs are less committed than those who attend costly, private schools, and some of that myth resides in the family involvement. But as we know, parents and caregivers are very serious and committed to their children’s education no matter where they’re attending school, and the success of the child always improves when they parents are behind them cheering them on.  

So, how do parents and caregivers get involved?

It can be confusing as to where you as a parent or caregiver can get involved in your child’s learning, afterall, you’re not there with them in their preschool program. Below are some tangible ways to get involved.

Stay in touch with the preschool program.

The first place to begin is to connect with those in the early education program — the teachers and staff members. If you’re able to, try and chat with them one day at pick-up, send a quick email, or call them and just go over what the curriculum looks like for that week and ask them what they’ll be up to in the classroom.

When you know what’s going on, you can better support your child in their learning!

Ask questions!

Engaging your little one is a great way to not only know what’s going on in the classroom but to get a first-hand account from them. In these conversations, you may be able to pick up on feelings and emotions and dig a little deeper with them.

Once you piece together the daily classroom activities by communicating with the teachers and your child, you can expand on specific activities and help them with different concepts at home. For example, if they’re learning basic reading concepts you can help them sound out words or read a story together at night.

Volunteer in the classroom!

If you want to know exactly how you can get involved in your child’s education, volunteering is a great option. Whether you can commit to a weekly day or you do it when your schedule allows, this is a great way to gain insight into the curriculum and a perfect hands-on way to support your child’s academic career.

Create learning time at home.

Whether you cultivate learning time on the weekend or before dinnertime, spend time reinforcing what they’re doing in school. This can be a time where you’re sitting at the table counting how many forks you’ll need for dinner or helping them sharpen their fine motor skills by helping them perfect how to hold a pencil — it doesn’t have to be rocket science, just a little time here and there that will prove to be helpful in their development.

Here at Community Education Research Center we want everyone to be involved! Connect with us to learn more about our three convenient DC locations and the educational programs, daycare, and after school care we offer at them.   

Community Educational Research Group is a NAEYC Accredited center. Additionally, we’re a proud Advocacy Provider of the DC City Council.