Story 5: What Makes a Perfect Parent?

Group 3 Julien Minard!

Huang-Liang Yeh!Kawita Permpoolchokana

Do you believe in Parenting experts?

If you had a child, What would you do?

If you had a child, What would you do?

If you had a child, What would you do?

If you had a child, What would you do?

In one year, there is one child who has died from drowning for the 11,000 residential

pools in the US (Approx. 500 deaths a year)

Meanwhile, there is only 1 child killed by a

gun for every 1 million-plus guns (Approx. 175 deaths a year)

The fear of your child being shot is more frightening, so it would be logical

that a swimming pool sounds safer. !It is the familiarity factor, just as

most people spend more time in cars than in airplanes, most of us have a lot more exercise swimming in pools than

shooting in guns.

If you’re like most parents,

you would probably do

almost anything to help your

child get a good start, right?

So What will you do?Maybe something like…….

!

- No TV Time - Reading to your kids - Traveling a lot (e.g. to

museums)

However, based on the tests, NONE of those will actually help your kids!

White VS Black Boys

Black child is more likely to come from a low-income, low-education household.

!

If the schools could be fixed, the children would be better educated.

Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS)- School performance is easier to measured by data.- Measure the academic progress of more than 20,000 children from kindergarten through the fifth grade in USA (Sample) - The results reflect only a child’s early test scores - The author found interesting correlations between a child's school performance and his family environment.

Data Analysis Methods Application

1. Survey – race, gender, family, socioeconomic status, parents’ education, etc. 2. Interview – whether the parents spanked the children, whether they took them to libraries or museums, how much television the children watched

How to use the data?

Regression analysisThis tool could allow them to identify,

to demonstrate the correlation between two variables.

With regression analysis and correlation, you choose two variables and try to understand how they move

with each other.

The definition of Correlation

Correlation indicated whether two variables move together, it tends to be cold outside when it snows; Those two factors are positively correlated,

sunshine and rain are negatively correlated.

You can see a general tendency: the children’s scores seems to go up with the salary of their parents.

In order to control or eliminate the other variables, the author separated kids and put them in groups with other

similar children. !

The authors applied that method to the sample and highlighted 16 factors, 8

that seem to have a strong correlation with the kids’ school performance, and 8

that don’t seem to matter at all

8 Factors (Strongly Correlated with Test Scores)

- The child has highly educated parents - The child’s parents have high socioeconomic status - The child’s mother was thirty or older at the time of her first child’s birth - The child had low birth weight- The child’s parents speak English at home- The child is adopted - The child’s parents are involved in the PTA - The child has many books in his home

8 Factors (NOT Strongly Correlated with Test Scores)

- The child’s family is intact- The child’s parents recently moved into a better neighborhood- The child’s mother didn’t work between birth and kindergarten - The child attended Head Start- The child’s parents regularly take him to museums - The child is regularly spanked- The child frequently watches television - The child’s parents read to him nearly every day

Conclusion of this chapterPeople who are well educated, successful and healthy tend to have children who test well in school, and it is not so much a matter of what you do as a parent, it is who you are that make difference.

Opinions and Comments

The child frequently watches television

Television can be an excellent educator

and entertainer. However, too much television time can

interfere with activities such as reading and doing

homework.

The child’s parents recently moved into a better neighborhoodIt depends on which friends the children keep, between in-school and out-of-school friends. In addition to the neighborhood area, parents should have the concern about whom your children hang out with after school as well.

Our commentsIn terms of parenting, in order to improve a child's aptitude, the parents need to be actively involved in the child's education. This can maximize the child's success in school up to his or her potential, which is determined by their nature abilities.

Related Materials outside the Book

Battle Hymn of the Tiger MotherTiger parents are focusing on good grades, intellectual achievements and excellence in all things. Her two daughters were never allowed to have or attend a sleepover, be in a school play, watch TV or play computer games, or get a grade less than an A in any subject other than PE or drama.

An opposite study from Pr. Su Yeung Kim

The first major study of tiger moms is out. The kids have worse grades, and they are more depressed and more alienated from their parents.