CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Millions of children around the world are growing up without one or both of their parents. Many more are at risk of separation, due to the impact of poverty, disability and such crises as natural disaster and armed conflict. Children without parental care find themselves at a higher risk of discrimination, inadequate care, abuse and exploitation, and their well-being is often insufficiently monitored. Inadequate care environments can impair children’s emotional and social development and leave them vulnerable to exploitation, sexual abuse and physical violence (Gadsden, 2003).
The effect of parent care on a child at any given time cannot be over emphasized. The home is very germane and crucial to a child’s well being and development in later life. Family is the primary cell of society where the child’s upbringing must begin since his birth, still in cradle. According to V. Hugo, the person’s principles established since childhood are like letters engraved in the bark of a young tree, which grow, enlarge with it making its integral part. Therefore, right beginning makes the most important part of upbringing/education. Nobody ever said that children were easy to raise. They don’t come with guidelines or instructions, and they certainly don’t come with a pause button. What they do come with is a crucial set of physical and emotional needs that must be met. Failure of the parents to meet these specific needs can have wide-ranging and long-lasting negative effects especially on academic performance. Epistein, (2001). This is because parent in the home are children first teacher. As a child move from infant to toddler and then to a preschooler, he learns how to speak, listen, write and read which latter develop the child to achieve academically. The influence of parents on children school achievement is well documented in numerous studies. Gadsden (2003) says greater parental involvement at early stage in children’s learning, positively affects the child’s school performance including higher academic performance. Harderves (1998) review that family whose children are doing well in school exhibit the following characters:
1. Establish a daily family routine by providing time and a quite place to study with the children and assigning responsibility for house hold chores.
2. Monitor out-of-school activities, for example setting limits on television watching, reduce time of playing, monitor the groups of friends the pupils walk with.
3. Encourage children’s development and progress in school; that is maintaining a worm and supportive home, showing interest in children’s progress at school, helping him or her with home work, discussing the value of a good education and future career with children.
Izzo et al (1999) studied 1205 US children from kindergarten through to grade 3 in a 3 year longitudinal research programme. Teachers rated four forms of involvement; provision of all the material needs of the child; frequency of parent-teacher contact; quality of parent teacher interaction; participation in educational activities in the home; and participation in school activities. These factors, as well as parental care variables were examined to find any relationship they might have with academic performance of primary school pupils.