The Role of Parents and Teachers in Enhancing Early Literacy and Numeracy Skills of Kindergarten Children at Wolaita Sodo Town, Ethiopia
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Date
2020
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AAU
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to examine the roles played by parents and KG teachers in
equipping children with early learning skills. In this regard, the researcher employed a mixed-
methods design. A total of 408 systematically selected parents responded to the questionnaires
on a range of ECCE related issues, 104 randomly selected upper KG children were involved in
early skills testing activities, and also 45 KG teachers participated in the study. Selected parents
and teachers involved in a semi-structured interview and FGD sessions. The data were analyzed
employing qualitative, descriptive, and advanced inferential statistical techniques, such as
MANOVA and Hierarchical Regression. The involvement of parents in guiding children to
achieve basic learning skills was negligible to mention. They did not genuinely understand the
developmental outcomes of enriching the home environment with educational resources. KGs
employ teachers from any pool available. It was vividly assured that the employees had
professional and pedagogical skill gaps in meeting children's developmental needs and
cognizance of contemporary theories and perspectives that help them guide the overall learning
processes in the KGs. Children did not perform as expected on both early skill tests
administered, but the worst outcome was observed in the numeracy domains. The culture of
using local or indigenous resources for educational purposes was not evident in the KGs and
home environment. The study result showed that the attitude of parents towards mathematics
found to be a strong predictor of both early literacy and numeracy skills development among
children. Furthermore, the educational level attained by parents found to predict the early
numeracy skills development of kindergarteners. Finally, the interaction among variables
revealed statistically significant results than their independent contributions. Based on the study
results, conclusions and recommendations were made
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The researcher employed a mixed- methods design