Addressing 600 Jewish early childhood educators, Gary Mangiofico, Ph.D., CEO of Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP), said that the role parents play in their children’s preschool experience should be emphasized by professional educators.

Mangiofico was the keynote speaker at the 30th Bebe Feuerstein Simon Early Childhood Institute presented by the Los Angeles BJE. The day-long event took place at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills.

In introducing Mangiofico, Esther Elfenbaum, director of early childhood education services at the BJE and conference coordinator, said, “We are delighted that Dr. Mangiofico agreed to be the keynote speaker at this year’s conference because both LAUP and the BJE recognize that parents are vital partners in educating young children.”

“At LAUP, we’ve done extensive internal and external evaluations of both the barriers to parent engagement and methods for overcoming these barriers,” Mangiofico said. “By far, the greatest problem is parent availability. The economic pressures faced by most families today make it difficult for them to find the time to volunteer in the classroom, participate in field trips or even attend parent/teacher conferences. Many times, their availability is also limited by the need for childcare for other children or a lack of transportation.”

Overcoming these issues requires such things as flexible scheduling on evenings and weekends, and the provision of childcare, Mangiofico said. Among other issues mitigating against parental involvement in preschool education are differing cultural attitudes about the role parents should play in the classroom. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy and a lack of confidence on the parents’ part, he said.

“Many parents don’t clearly know what’s expected of them when they enter an educational environment, and it’s up to the teacher to make them feel comfortable by clearly defining their role in the classroom,” Mangiofico emphasized. “Encouraging at-home learning as an extension of preschool is another barrier that early childhood educators need to address. Our studies indicate that many parents are confused about the need for and the availability of opportunities to support their children’s learning at home. It’s up to the school faculty to be a resource in this process.”

Mangiofico suggested a series of steps preschool directors and teachers can take to encourage parental involvement. These ranged from involving parents at the outset in establishing goals for their children’s preschool experience, providing parent education programs, creating school councils, undertaking parent surveys, introducing parents to other social and community service organizations and, above all, communicating.

“The key to parent engagement is communications,” he noted. “At LAUP, we’ve created a Parent Engagement Check List against which we judge the effectiveness of the parent engagement process at each of our schools. In the end, schools need to start from the perspective that all parents want to engage in their children’s education and that they have strengths to bring to that process.”

Also appearing as featured speakers in the morning program at the BJE Institute were Ronald Mah, an author and early childhood consultant and Patricia Hunter McGrath, director/atelierista of the innovative Blueberry Atelier preschool in Santa Monica.

BJE Lainer Distinguished Educator and Smotrich Family Educator awards were also presented in the morning assembly. The remainder of the conference included a series of workshops with titles such as “The Spiritual Lessons that Preschoolers Teach Us,” “The Outdoor Classroom,” “Teaching Social Skills in the Preschool Classroom” and “Integrating Natural Materials into the Classroom.”

The BJE supports more than 150 affiliated schools and more than 2,500 educators in order to provide quality education to nearly 30,000 children in Los Angeles.