. ’. ...o.... _

 

 

A COMPARISON or SELECTED CHILD REAR-'ING -- ;

PRACTICES OF COOPERATIVE NURSERY SCHOOL
PARENTS BEFORE AND AFTER NURSERY SCHOOL
ATTENDANCE OF CHILD

Thesis for the Dean. cf M. A.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Vera D. Borosage
1959 '

 

A COMPARISON OF SELECTED CHILD REARING PRACTICES OF
COOPERATIVE NURSERY SCHOOL PARENTS BEFORE AND

AFTER NURSERY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE OF CHILD

By

Vera D. Borosage

AN ABSTRACT

Submitted to the College of Home Economics of Michigan
State University of Agriculture and Applied Science
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Home Management and Child Development

I959

Approved by "6“?” g" . ,- {‘

ABSTRACT

The primary objective of this study was to examine,
after parents' participation in a cooperative nursery school
for two full quarte$,the changes made in mothers' and fathers'
child rearing practices in three areas;( discipline, creative
activities, and health practices in relation to the child.

The subjects for this study were:

Parents who were new to the nursery school situation.

Parents who would participate in the Spartan Nursery
School parent program at least two full quarters.

The data were collected by the schedule-interview
method. Two interviews were executed, one at the time the
child was enrolled and the other after two full quarters of
participation.

The schedule contained typical situations confronting
parents in the three areas. (Three members of the Department
of Home Management and Child\DeveI0pment assisted by read-
ing the schedule and offering suggestions?) The schedule was
then administered to a mother of three years' experience in
the Spartan Nursery School and to a mother not connected in
any way with the nursery school in order to check the sche-
dule for content and clarity of wording. Revisions were
made in accordance with suggestions received.

The data were analyzed as follows:

i. Parents' changes In child-rearing practices in

all areas-~discipline, creative activities, and health practices.

2. Parents' changes in child-rearing practices in
selected situations in each area.

3. Parents' changes in child-rearing practices in
each area, in relation to:

(a) Sex of child enrolled
(b) Age of child enrolled

In the three areas in this study mothers made more
changes than fathers in the area of discipline and health
practices, but fathers made more changes in the area of
creative activities.

After participation in the nursery school both
fathers and mothers made changes toward more permissive
discipline practices than their changes in the direction
of less permissiveness. Mothers made a greater percentage
of change than fathers in the direction of more permissive-
ness, and less of change in the direction of less permissive-
ness. Both of these percentages were statistically signifi-
cant.

In the area of creative activities the data tended
to support the hypotheses that, after participation in a
nursery school program, parents: (I) will provide a greater
variety of creative activities, (2) will gain insight into
importance of "process over product", and (3) will provide
appropriate types of play materials.

In the area of health practices the data supported
the hypothesis that parents will not make many changes in

health practices in relation to children. These practices

tend to have been quite well established before a child
enters nursery school. There was a great similarity be-
tween responses in both interviews.

The data were analyzed in relation to sex of the
child enrolled. The results showed that sex of child
was a slight factor in parents' changes in all areas, but
not enough difference between parents of boys and parents
of girls to be significant.

The data analyzed in relation to age of child en-
rolled indicated that age made slight difference in parents'
changes in each area. When comparing parents of younger
children with parents of older children, the latter tended
to change toward permissiveness in discipline, tended to
gain more insight into process over product in creative
activities, and tended to change less in health practices
for children. None of the differences between parents of
younger and of older children was large enough to be

statistically significant.

A COMPARISON OF SELECTED CHILD REARING PRACTICES OF
COOPERATIVE NURSERY SCHOOL PARENTS BEFORE AND
AFTER NURSERY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE OF CHILD

By

Vera D. Borosage

A THESIS

Submitted to the College of Home Economics of Michigan
State University of Agriculture and Applied Science
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Department of Home Management and Child Development

I959

CKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer wishes to express her most sincere appreci-
ation to all those who have aided in the study:

To Dr. Bernice Borgman, Associate Professor, Home
Management and Child Development, for her unfailing assis-
tance and guidance throughout the study.

To Dr. Alice Thorpe, Head, Department of Home Manage-
ment and Child DeveIOpment, and to Miss Dorothy Russell,

Head of the Laboratory Preschool, for suggestions and ad-
vice they offered as members of the committee.

To Miss Betty Garlick, Director of the Spartan Coopera-
tive Nursery School, and to Miss Mariella Aikman, teacher at
Spartan Nursery School, for their interest and efforts in
providing unpublished materials about cooperative nursery
schools.

To Dr. W. D. Baten for his generous help in the
statistical analysis of the problem.

To all the 24 mothers and 24 fathers whose time and
cooperation expended in being interviewed made this study

possible.

ii

Chapter

I.

II.

III.

IV.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
The StUdy O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
General Purpose of the Study. . . . . . . . .
Specific Purpose of the Study . . . . . . .
The Spartan Nursery School. . . . . . . . . .
History. . . .
The Staff. . .
The Parents. .
The Children .

Parent Education
School . . . .

n) o o e o
e o e e
0
e e o o
o o o o

H.

U)
0'00...

91
0'10...

REVIEW OF LITERATURE. . . . . . . . . . . . .
History of Nursery Schools In America . . . .
The Growth of the Cooperative Nursery School
Movement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Attitudes Toward the Cooperative Nursery
School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SCOPE AND PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hypotheses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Preparation of the Instrument . . . . . . . .
Selection of Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . .
Administering the Schedule. . . . . . . . . .

The First Interview. . . . . . . . . . .
The Second Interview . . . . . . . . . .

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA FOR CHANGE BY ALL

PARENTS IN ALL AREAS. . . . . . . . . . . .

iii

'0
m
(.0
"" (D

'\I W \O (ID-\lChU'I #3 U U U

40

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Chapter
Sex of Parent in Relation to Change in All
Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
V. ANALYSIS OF THE DATA IN AREA OF DISCIPLINE
Analysis of Changes in Discipline Made by

Fathers and Mothers. . . . . . . . . . .

Analysis of Data in l2 Selected Responses in

Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary--Discipline. . . . . . . . . . . .
Comments by Parents. . . . . . . . . . . .

VI. ANALYSIS OF DATA IN AREA OF CREATIVE

ACTIVITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Provision of Greater Variety of Creative

Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Insight into Importance of Process Over

Product. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Provision of ApprOpriate Types of Play

Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary of Changes in Creative Activities.

VII. ANALYSIS OF DATA IN HEALTH PRACTICES . . .
Analysis of Changes Made by Parents. . . .
Summary-oHealth Practices. . . . . . . . .

VIII. PARENTS' CHILD REARING PRACTICES ANALYZED
ACCORDING TO SEX OF CHILD. . . . . . . .

iv

Page

41
45

45

1+7

59

63

65

66

7O

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Chapter

Changes in Discipline Practices According

to Sex of Child. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changes Toward More Permissiveness or

Toward Less Permissiveness. . . . . .

Summary--Changes in Discipline Prac-
tices According to Sex of Child . . .
Changes in Creative Activities According to
Sex of Child. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changes in Provision of Greater Variety
of Creative Materials . . . . . . .
Insight into Importance of Process Over

PrOdUCt O O O O O O O O O
Provision of Appropriate Types of Play

Materials . . . . . . .
Summary--Creative Activities According
to Sex Of Chiid O O O O O O O O O O O
Changes in Health Practices According to Sex
Of Child O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O
Ix. PARENTS' CHILD HEARING PRACTICES IN THREE
AREAS ANALYZED ACCORDING TO AGE OF CHILD .

Changes in Discipline Practices According to

Age Of ChIldo o o o o o o o o o o o o o 0

Parents' Changes Toward More Permissive-

ness or Toward Less Permissiveness. .

Summary of Parents' Discipline Practices

According to Age of Child . . . . . .
Changes in Creative Activities Analyzed
According to Age of Child. . . . . . . . .

Changes in Total Area of Creative
Activities. . . . . . . . .

Changes Toward Providing Greater Variety

of Creative Activities. . .
Changes Toward Greater Insight into the
Importance of Process Over Product. .

ICI

lC3
|O7

IO?

l08
IOS
IlO

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED

Chapter Page
Changes Toward Providing Appropriate
Materials for the Preschooler. . . . . . ll}
Summary-~Creative Activities According to
Age of Child Enrolled. . . . . . . . . . ||8

Changes in Parents' Health Practices in Re-
lation to Age of Child Enrolled In Nursery
School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ll9
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I20

X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . I2I

The PrOblem O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O '2'
SUDJeCtSO O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O '2‘
Preparation of Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . I22

Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I22
Analysis of Data and Findings . . . . . . . . . I22
Changes in Discipline Practices . . . . . . . . l23
Change in Creative Activities Practices . . . . I24
Changes in Health Practices for Children. . . . I25
Analysis of Data According to Sex of Child. . . I26

Parental Changes in Discipline According

to Sex of Child. . . . . . . . . . . . . I26
Parental Changes in Creative Activities

According to Sex of Child. . . . . . I26
Parental Differences In Health Practices

for Children, According to Sex of Child. I27

Analysis of Data According to Age of Child. . . I28

Parental Changes in Discipline Practices
According to Age of Child. . . . . . . . I28
Parental Changes in Creative Activities
According to Age of Child. . . . . . . I29
Changes in Health Practices According to
Age of Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBO

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Chapter ' Page
Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I30
Suggestions For Future Study . . . . . . . . . I32
BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I34
APPENDIX A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I37
APPENDIX

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l45

APPENDIX

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I47

APPENDIX

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |52

s
c

APPENDIX D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I50
E
F

APPENDIX

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I54

vii

Table

II.
III.

IV.

VI.
VII.
VIII.

IX.

XI.
XII.

XIII.

XIV.

LIST OF TABLES

Changes in 24 Mothers' Child Rearing Practices

in Al I AreasO O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

Changes in 24 Fathers' Child Rearing Practices

in All Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Changes in

A.‘ Areas O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

Changes in 24 Mothers' and 24 Fathers' Practices

‘n DTSCip'ine O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

Changes Toward More Permissiveness by Mothers
in Specific Responses in Discipline . . . . .

Changes Toward More Permissiveness by Fathers
in Specific Responses in Area of Discipline .

Mothers' Changes From Permissive Responses to
Less Permissive Responses in Discipline . . .

Fathers' Changes From Permissive Responses to
Less Permissive Responses in Discipline . . .

Comparison of Percentages of Mothers' and
Fathers' Total

Comparison of Permissive and Non-Permissive
Responses of Parents Who Did Not Make Changes
In Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Changes in 24 Mothers' and 24 Fathers' Prac-
tices in Creative Activities. . . . . . . . .

Changes in 24 Mothers' and 24 Fathers Prac-
tices in Health Practices . . . . . . . . . .

Fathers' and Mothers' Changes to More Permis-
sive Discipline Practices, According to Age
Of Chi‘dO O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

Fathers' and Mothers' Changes to Less Permis-

sive Discipline Practices According to Age of
Ch‘ld O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

viii

Changes in l2 Selected Responses

Page

4i

42

43

45

as

49

5|

52

6|

62

65

SI

IO6

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Authorities in the manifold disciplines that make
up the eclectic field of child development -- psychology,
psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, among others -- tend
to be in agreement on the importance of the first five
years of a child's life. Dr. John Bowlby, In his research
for the World Health Organization, concludes:

What is believed to be essential for mental

health is that the infant or young child

should experienCe a warm, intimate, and con-

tinuous relationship with his mother....it is

this complex, rich and rewarding relationship

....varied in countless ways by relations with

the father and the siblings, that child psy-

chiatrists and many others believe to under-

lie the deveIOpment of character and of men-

tal health.I

A social anthropologist, J. S. Slotkin, though he
feels the field of personality deveIOpment is still in its
infancy, is becoming increasingly convinced that the basic
personality pattern is established in the first five years
of life. He says:

It seems that by the time a child reaches the

age of five years he has developed a set of
general action patterns which tend to persist

 

lHelen Leland Witmer, and Ruth Kotinsky, (eds.)
Personality in the Makigg, The Fact-finding Midcentury
White House Conference on Children and Youth, (New York:
Harper a Brothers, i952), p. 94.

throughout life. These constitute his basic
action patterns. This statement does not con-
tradict the proposition regarding the dynamic
character of action patterns....as the situa-
tions confronting the individual vary, his

action patterns change. Consequently, the more
radical and violent the variability In such situa-
tions, the more sweeping the change in his action
patterns. But now I am maintaining that it is

the relatively specific action patterns which
change in this way, and that their change takes
place within the confines of the more general
action patterns which remain fairly stable. In
other words, early in life the individual Special-
izes in his fundamental responses to his environ-
ment, and these individualized responses are re-
tained throughout his life; it is his relatively
superficial and detailed actions implementing
these broad tendencies which change as the situa-
//* tions confronting him vary.2
:J/‘ >X' The parent-child interaction and relationship, these
authorities believe, greatly influence the basic personality
pattern the child will achieve. Louis Thorpe states:

The most important function of modern family
life is psychological in nature....In the fam-
ily situation are provided the setting, the
stimulation and guidance which determine, very
largely, whether the child shall develop into
a personallg well-adjusted and socially useful
individual.

Parents are being reinforced in their child-rearing
task by newspapers, popular "ladies" magazines, radio and

TV, and by other means of mass media which transmit much

 

2d. S. Slotkin, Personalit Develo ment, (New York:
Harper'& Brothers, I952I, p. 232.

3Louis Thorpe, Child Ps cholo and Develo ment, (New
York: The Ronald Press Company, l9 , p. 2i .

information on child deveIOpment. The nursery school with
its opportunity to reach parents is helping to sensitize
them to new insights and understanding of their children's
behavior. It also plays a role in guiding parents to sat-
isfy their children's basic needs of love, guidance, and
sense of belongingness.

The cooperative nursery school has become a strong
development because it is rooted in the belief that most
young children need a good group experience, and in the
faith of parents who, by combining family effort with pro-
fessional educational direction, try to meet this neei;§7.

In this chapter, the general and the specific pur-
poses of the study are stated. A background history of
the Spartan Nursery School, a parent cooperative nursery
school at Michigan State University, is included as well

as some approaches it uses in its parent education program

to encourage friendly parent-child-teacher interaction.

The Stud!

General Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to examine child-
rearing practices of parents before'and after active parti-
cipation in a cooperative nursery school for evidence of
change in their parental practices involving the preschool
child.

Specific Purpose:

The specific puppose of this study was to examine

selected child-rearing procedures of parents before and

after their child had been in attendance and parents had
a .

w.

participated two full quarterfi (frompéwenty-four‘to thirty-
six houcswdepending~en»the~number of days child attended
pegwnepxirin the Spartan Cooperative Nursery School at Michi-
gan State University. The three selected areas considered
were the discipline of children, provision for creative
activities, and health practices in relation to children.

These three areas were chosen for the following rea-
sons: parents in a cooperative nursery school often asked
specific questions on the how and why of discipline; parents
often were at a loss in providing creative activifles for
their children; the Investigator wished to determine if
health practices were relatively fixed before a child
entered nursery school. If these practices were fixed,
the number of changes conceivably could be few.

There were other areas of child-rearing practices
that might have been fruitful for examination and review,
but the schedule was limited both in scope of material and

length of time involved in order to obtain a more effective

interview.

The Seartan Nursery School
The Spartan Nursery School is located on the Michigan

 

State University campus, East Lansing, Michigan. It is a
parent cooperative nursery school jointly administered by

the parents and the teachers. The latter‘ are members of

the staff of the College of Home Economics of Michigan State
University. The nursery school has been named "Spartan" for
the university's mascot and for the Spartan Wives, an organi-
zation of married students' wives, which had an integral part

in organizing the cooperative school.

History
In I946 and I947 Michigan State University, along

with many other colleges in the nation, enrolled large num-
bers of World War II veterans who were resuming or beginning
their higher education. The fact that many married veterans
were accompanied by their wives and children presented new
problems in housing. Play space for children was usually
inadequate.

In I946, the Spartan Wives made a survey of students'
families living on campus to determine how many parents
wished to become active participants ina<Eooperativenur-
sery school program.\iAbout ninety per cent of the parents
surveyed (chiefly mothers) were interested in contributing
theirtime and energy to such a project.

In I947, at Spring term registration of students,

a count was made of the numbers of preschool children liv-
ing with their parents in the married student housing on
campus. The result of the survey indicated the need of a
lowbcost program of nursery education for these children.

In l948 the Spartan Nursery School became a reality

through the efforts of the Spartan Wives, the adult education

program at Michigan State University, with additional support
of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the American Legion Post
Auxiliary of East Lansing, Michigan. The University erected
the building now located at Birch and Willow Streets, con-
veniently located near the large group of housing units pr
ereCted by Michigan State for its married veterans' families.
For the first two years the Kellogg Foundation assumed
much of the financial responsibility. Parents also paid
small fees as their own money contribution to the school's
support. The Parent Council of the nursery school pianned
and executed fund-raising projects to provide extra funds
for equipment and play materials for the children. Since
I950 it has been supported in part by Michigan State Uni-

versity, in part by fees from families enrolled, and in part

 
 

by fund-raising pr
The rtan Nursery School differs from many parent
cooperatives in that it is university-supported and renders
service in training student teachers in Child Development
for the College of Home Economics as well as providing ob-
servation and testing privileges for students In child

psychology and child development.//

The Staff

At present Spartan Nursery school has a staff con-
sisting of two full-time and one part-time, professionally
trained teachers, and a graduate assistant. All have

masters' degrees in child development except the graduate

assistant who is a candidate for that degree. One of the
full-time staff members also acts as director of the nursery
school.

The staff have had years of teaching experience, and
they are well qualified to guide the activities of little
children and to operate cooperatively with parents. The
teachers consistently plan and work with the parents to
execute an organized parent education program. They also
make informal visits to many of the children's homes and
encourage parents to;come into the school for individual'
conferences when they desire. Parents are the teaching
assistants in eaCh group. Mothers do most of the teaching,

but occasionally a father acts as a teaching assistant.

The Parents
The parents of the children in the Spartan Nursery
School represent a geographical cross section not only of

the United S. tea but of the world. On the Spartan roster

   

Eschool year, there were children attending
whose parents were students from England, Sweden, Egypt,

the Phillpines, Brazil, and Mexico. In other years chil-
dren of student families representing Hawaii, China,
Yugoslavia, Thailand, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico were in
attendance. The American parents are not, however, typical
of the national average parent because at least one is a
student at Michigan State, ranging from undergraduate sopho-

mores to Ph.D. candidates. Their ages range from twenty-

three to forty-five. ‘Most of them live in attractive, brick
multiple-unit buildings built on the Michigan State Univer-
sity campus to house married students. The families range
from one to four children.

These parents are concerned with the kind of guidance
and education their children receive and, therefore, are
enthusiastic membecs of the Spartan c00perative Nursery
School. They apply months in advance for admission as

there usually is a waiting list.

The Children

Between seventy-five and ninety children are enrolled
at the Spartan Nursery School at any specified time. The
current school year, l958—59, has six groups of children
in attendance under the direction of four staff teachers,
assisted by two parents in each group.

The children are divided into six groups of twelve
to fifteen children each. Three of the groups meet two
days a week, either in the morning or the afternoon; three
groups meet three times a week. The morning sessions run
two and half hours; the afternoon sessions last two hours.
There are no groups staying for lunch.

The children range from about two and half years
to five years of age. No child is accepted under the age
of two years and six months. Children may complete the
school year during which they reach their fifth birthday.
With few exceptions, the children live with their parents

in married student housing on the university campus.

Parent Education at Sgartan Nursery School

A general meeting for all the parents of the nursery
school and the teachers is held each term. Also each term,
the parents and teacher of the children in each of the six
groups hold their own group meetings. The agenda at these
meetings vary.

The program of the general meeting often presents
professional people in related fields of child development
who are invited to speak or appear on a panel for discussion.
Sometimes members of the staff are asked to speak on specific
child rearing problems interesting the parents. An officer
of the Parents' Council conducts the general meeting.

The smaller individual group meetings each year be-
gin by introducing new parents into the group. Problems
of nursery school policy are clarified. At other group
meetings during the school year problems relating to speci-
fic children in the group may be discussed, suggestions for
field trips may be considered, and other questions that
parents suggest may be explored further.

Each group of parents elects its own officers and
sends a representative to the Parents' Council. This Coun-
cil consists of a council chairman, a vice-chairman, a sec-
retary, a treasurer, a social coordinator, a Work-Party
Coordinator, a Library Coordinator (for the children's
library), and three delegates to the Michigan Council of

Casperatlve Nurseries.

IO

The Parents' Council usually meets twice a term or
more often if Special needs arise. At these meetings coun-
cil members set up the calendar for the term including "work
party" dates, social events, and special events of particular
interest to parents. Often a member of the Spartan Staff is
present to help with the calendar (See Appendix). The offi-
cers plan the topics to be discussed at group or general
meetings. They invite speakers in the fields of child develop-
ment, mental health, and other disciplines, if the council
members agree on this type of meeting.

The Council members also plan any necessary money-
raising projects. They discuss and select apprOpriate
Christmas additions to the play equipment of the Spartan
Nursery School.

Aside from dealing with the minutiae of business that
accumulate, they also act as a governing board within the
scope of the power allowed by the University. For example,
if a parent is unwilling or unable to participate as a teach-
ing parent, the subject is brought up at the council meeting
for decision.

Such experiences in planning and group dynamics,
says Katharine Whiteside Taylor, are the type that foster

group interest and cordiat group identification.4 Meetings

 

4Katharine Whiteside Taylor, Parent Cooperative Nur-
ser Schools, (New York: Bureau of Publicat ons, Teachers
CoII I

ege, Co umbia University, I954), p. 204.

are held in the apartments of the council members where in-
formality is the rule. Committees are appointed for various
tasks, thus giving many parents an opportunity to exercise
leadership and any specific talent they may possess. For
example, after listening to mothers' concern over their chil-
dren's speech habits, one father, earning a doctorate in
speech pathology, offered to speak and lead a discussion on
children's speech at a group meeting of parents.

A representative of the Parent Council helps to organ-
ize "work parties" for Dads, who come once a termito paint,
refurbish, renew, and generally keep the equipment attrac-
tive and functional. They also plan and build new toys,
such as toy telephones, peg boards, gas stations, and other
small play materials for the children.

Other equipment built at work parties includes con-
venient efficient aids for the administration and teaching
of the school such as bulletin boards, pull-out shelves for
orderly arrangement of appropriate pictures for the nursery,
and storage facilities for small equipment. Mothers often
join in the work parties too, by sewing new oilcloth aprons
for the children to wear when painting at the easel, new
oilcloth table covers to protect tables when clay and other
art mediaare used and doll clothes for the many-sized dolls
provided for play.

At intervals, the curtains at the numerous low windows

 

*Michigan State University's school year is divided
into calendar quarters or "terms" of eleven or twelve weeks.

I2

are taken home and washed, ironed and re-hung. Outdoor
equipment, such as slides, storage buildings for wheel toys,
jungle gyms are re-painted in the spring. Fathers who are
students in the Michigan State University School of Veteri-
nary Medicine check the health of pet «animate -- the guinea
pigs and occasional toads and turtles.

An important method of parent education at Spartan
is through the parents' participation as teachers. Each
family is required to teach a specified number of days per
term. It may be the father or the mother who does the teach-
ing, and Spartan Nursery School has had both sexes act as
participating teachers. Before the parent begins his teach-
ing days, a day of observation under the guidance of a trained
teacher is required. She helps a few parents at a time learn
how to observe: what to look for in children's behavior;
why the teacher is handling a particular situation as she
does; how the "teaching mothers" of the day are aiding the
head teacher. Each family is provided with a booklet written
by two Spartan Nursery School director-teachers to serve as
a guide.5 This booklet not only describes the routine of
Spartan Nursery School but also gives helpful hints to
mothers in guiding the children in creative art activities,

music and story activities, the workshop, etc. It is this

 

5Elizabeth Page, and Betty Garlick, Guides For Teach-

in in a C00 erative Nurser School, (East Lansing, Ricfiigan:
Micfiigan STage UniversITy, I§535.

l3

informal education the parents experience by actually doing
and interacting with their child and the other children of
the group that the teachers feel is the most important method
of parent education. Taylor writes:

The increased competence and satisfaction in

guiding their children which many parents de-

rive from their cooperative experience do not

evaporate when their children graduate but are

a permanent foundation for continuing growth--

and learning. The most Important area where

this takes place is, of course, in their own

families. Their improved attitudes, prgctices,

and insights continue to pay dividends.

At the close of each teaching session, the teacher and
the parent assistants of the day have a short conference with-
out interruptions from the children (other provisions are made
for them) to discuss any problems the parents may have, any
specific behavior patterns evident that day which they didn't
understand, and any other questions the teacher or parent
may have. There is also a two-way sharing of comments about
the children's activities in specific areas.

There are no formal classes for Spartan Nursery School
parents at the present time. Because of the democratic nature
of the cooperative, and the turnover of parents (few children
stay longer than two years), a great deal of experimenting is
done to meet group needs. During the winter of I958, after

giving favorable consideration to the idea of a series of

seminars suggested by the school director, the Parents' Council

 

6Taylor, Qg.‘gi_., p. 237.

l4

met to compile a list of topics they wished treated "in
a professional manner". (See Appendix, p. l52.)

Teachers keep the parents' library equipped with
materials on child study, chiefly pamphlets and books on
child guidance. Most of these materials are on loan from
the Michigan State Library. Some are donated by such agencies
as the Michigan Department of Health, and private institutions
like the MetrOpolitan Life Insurance Company. These pamphlets
are usually available to all parents at no cost. Parents are
encouraged to use the library simply by "signing out" a book

for an unspecified time, according to need.

CHAPTER II
THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The shattering impact of the atomic age that descended
upon the world during World War II has had its effect on edu-
cation at all levels. With nations competing literally to
reach the moon, a new age of uncertainty, of unknown poten-
tial is upon us.

Since the family does not exist In a vacuum, these
technological changes are having a profound effect on a
family's way of life.1 There is more mobility, especially
of young families, as breadwinners follow the trail of greater
job opportunities.2 Living arrangements are changing as hous-
ing shortages and greater costs are creating homes and apart-
ments too small for growing children, especially prevalent
in the constant trend to urbanization. Concomitant with
this, Martha Seeling states that:

It is impossible to estimate the extent to which

modern life limits the intellectual development

of young children by limiting their firsthand

experiences. They grow up in a world of techno-

logy, not understanding how things have come to
be. Eggs come out of a carton; so does butter.

 

IWilliam F. Ogburn, and Meyer F. Nimkoff, Technolo
and the Changing Family, (Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton-MIfflin
COO, 9 o

2PauI 0. Click, American Families, (New York: John
Wiley & Sons;. Inc., I937).

 

l5

I6

Milk is delivered to their doorstep; clothing
is purchased ready-made; baby food comes in
small tin cans.3

The nursery school is designed to meet some of the
special needs that limited social horizons pose for chil-
dren. Social needs, however, are not the only raison d'etre
of the nursery school. America is entrusted to promote the
optimum growth of the entire individual and regards its chil-
dren as individuals in their own right with special needs of
their own--social, emotional, physical, and intellectual.4
Foster and Mattson summarize how these needs are met in a

nursery school situation:

Through the provision of interesting, varied, and
stimulating play materials, the school assists in
the unfolding of mental powers and the promotion

of special interests. The presence of other chil-
dren of approximately the same stage of develop-
ment allows for much experimentation in the techni-
que of social contacts. Always the ideal is a
happy child who has plenty to do, accepts certain
routines as inevitable, and in other activities
feels free to follow the dictates of his own

fancy; one who gets along acceptably with others
without being wholly dependent upon them and in
every way grows more mature as the year progcesses.5

 

3Martha Seeung, "Education in a Democratic Society",
Nurser -Kinder arten Education, Jerome Leavitt, Ed., (New
YorR: McGraw-HIII Book Company, Inc., I958), pp. 8-9.

4Ruth Benedict, Nursegy Schools in Relation to
American Culture Pattern, (KTngston, Rfioae Island: M.A.N.E.
DTEfributTon Center, University of Rhode Island, I948), p. 4.

5Josephine C. Foster, and Marion L. Mattson, Nurser
School Education, (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.,

I939)spo K.

I7

Nursery schools can become a strong influence in a
democratic society where learning to respect the individi-
uality of others is as important as cooperative effort in
solving problems. As the world community draws closer to-
gether spatially, nursery school educators are increasingly
aware of the implications for nursery schools:

To the extent that the nursery school group is

composed of children who differ in nationality,

race, religion and home background and to the
extent that teacher guidance helps children to
understand these differences, the nursery may

‘become a potent influence in developing atti-

tudes and behavior that will make for sound

relationships among the people who make up the

world community. People who, although they

come from different cultural groups, have learned

to live and work and play together as children

are less likely to be susceptible to propaganda

which emphasizes group differences in an attempt

to pit members of these groups against each

other.6 ‘

The roster of Spartan Nursery School has been well
represented with children of many nations (see page ‘7),
but it remains for future research to indicate how this
parent cooperative school may have contributed to Inter-

cultural understanding.

History of Nursery Schools in America
Nursery schools in the United States had their be-

ginning shortly after World War 1. Two of the first schools

 

6Gertrude Chittenden, et al., Essentials of Nurser
Education, (Kingston, Rhode IETaRE: M.A.N.E. DistrIEuTIon
Center, University of Rhode Island, I957), p. 9.

I8

were started by the Bureau of Educational Experiments in
New York in l9l9 and at Teachers College, Columbia Univer-
sity in I92l. Another well known school of the period was
the one at 69 Bank Street in New York City under the direc-
tion of Harriet Johnson. (Interestingly enough, prior to
this a group of faculty wives at the University of Chicago
had begun a cooperative nursery school in l9l6J

In I922 the Merrill-Palmer School in Detroit was
founded; in I924 the Iowa State College School opened; a
year later Cornell University and Ohio State began their
nursery schools. In the meantime, the Laura Spelman Rocke-
feller Memorial fund with Lawrence K. Frank as administrator,
began giving grants to enable Child Development Centers to
get under way. Through these grants, the University of Iowa,
Minnesota, California, and Teachers College, Columbia Univer-
sity, "were enabled to make distinguished contributions to
the understanding of child deveIOpment."7

With this spurt of growth the number of nursery schools
increased from three in I920 to 262 in I930, according to the
United States Office of Education.8

The next rapid increase in number took place due to

federal subsidy. In I933, the Federal Emergency Relief

7Rose H. Alschuler, Ed., Children's Centers, National
Commission for Young Children (New York: William Morrow &
Co., I942), p. 7.

BChittenden, 22' CIng p. 5.

I9
/

Administration included many nursery schools as a part of
a program to supply work for unemployed persons. By l936,
the number of nursery schools operating with federal aid
rose to l,650. As the country prospered, federal financial
support was withdrawn; this forced many of the schools to
close. With the advent of the war years (I94l-I945), the
Federal Works Administration program under the Lanham Act
again subsidized nursery schools to take care of the chil-
dren of working mothers needed in war plants. In the clos-
ing months of the war (I945), approximately sixty thousand
children were enrolled in these nursery schools.9

Lanham funds were discontinued after the war, forcing
many of these schools to close. However, the spreading
interest and dissemination of knowledge regarding young
children caught the attention of parents to the need of

providing group experiences for their preschoolers.

The Growth of the Cooperative Ngrsety School Movement

The whole deveIOpment of the cooperative nursery
movement over the past twenty-five years illustrates what
interested parents and the community can do to meet recog-
nized needs not only of preschool children but parents as
well.

Preschools, in most communities, are not a part

9Alschuler, 93. it., p. 8.

20

of local educational systems. Privately supported nursery
schools are too expensive for the large group of middle-
class parents who don't qualify for "welfare" day care
centers.

To make nursery education available to middle income
families, the cooperative nursery school movement has be-
come vital. It undertakes the fundamental, dual respon-
sibility of providing education for the child and his par-
ents. '

In I9I6, a group of faculty wives of the UniverSity
of Chicago started a parent cooperative to provide for
group experiences for their children, and to gain a little
free time for mothers to do Red Cross work. The desire for
some free time away from the constant demands of young chil-
dren is a bona-fide reason for mothers to send their children
to a good nursery schoolZé/gTénn Hawkes'o believes that nur-
sery schools often "provide a needed recess for both parent
and child."%y

The Chicago experiment was followed byfiveothers
during the twenties. Three of these were located at Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts; Schenectady, New York; and Berkeley,
California. Two others were college sponsored at Smith

College and the University of California (Los Angeles).

'OQuoted from an address delivered at M.A.N.E. Con-
ference on Nursery Education, Madison, Wisconsin, April 24,
I959.

2i

The Berkeley School, begun by a group of mothers in
the American Association of University Women, celebrated
Its twenty-fifth anniversary in I953 by buying its own
"home"."

This schooL now called the Children's Community,was
so successful in showing the results of education for both
children and parents through its close collaboration with
the University of California and the Institute of Child
Welfare that it encouraged public school systems in Calif-
ornia and Washington to deveIOp cooperative nursery schools
as part of their parent education program.'§K,
/€7dfi Some representative nursery schools Cf this type
supported financially by parent education programs and
educationally by specialists in childhood and parent educa-
tion are located in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Long Beach,
California. More cooperatives sprang up in Los Angeles and
other California cities, notably Alhambra, Fresno, Sausallto,
Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Sierra Madre. In I954 there were
eighty-four cooperative nursery schools recorded in Califor-
nia. /)

I In I94l, the Seattle Public Schools began a train-
ing program for parents to operate "play groups" as a part
of the Family Life Education Program. This program was

under the direction of a consultant who had had experience

 

"Taylor '22. it., D. II.

in the Children's Community. Twelve years later, Seattle
had eighty play groups, the largest number in any city.
With this stimulation, at least fifteen others have been
established in other cities in Washington.'2

On the East Coast, cooperatives have been developed
in and around New York City (about forty); the Potomac
area lists around sixty in the District of Columbia and
near-by areas of Maryland and Virginia. There are Consider-
able numbers also in Michigan and New Jersey. In Michigan
the cooperatives have founded a Michigan Council of Coopera-
tive Nurseries in which the Spartan Nursery School has had
a prominent role.4y

The Directory_of Nursery_School and Child Care Centers
in the United Stiles, compiled by the Merrill-Palmer school
in I950, lists two hundred eighty-five cooperatives.
Katharine Taylor claims many more have developed since that
time, so a reasonable estimate would place the number of

cooperatives at about five hundred.'3

Attitudes Toward the Coogerative_Ng:§ery_School

Educators have always stressed the importance of
understanding the home and parents of the children they
serve. .The emphasis revolves around providing meaningful

experiences for the whole child in a group situation.

 

23

However, "the school can't do this alone; home and school
must cooperate. The nursery school works with parents in
order to supplement and enrich the child's deveIOpment."'4
Service to parents is also emphasized by Howard W. Pills-
bury when he says: "Not only is the nursery school impor-
tant for its direct effect on the preschool child. It is
also a most valuable laboratory for parent education....we
do very little to prepare young people to becomeefficlent
parents."'5

The basic interest of this study is parent education
via the cooperative nursery school. The literature in this
area is increasing along with the extensive spread of the
parent c00perative nursery school, and the awareness of
its influence as a tool for parent education. The review
of literature will, therefore, be limited to attitudes ex-
pressed on the value of the cooperative nursery school as
a vehicle of parent education and parent reinforcement.
0f necessity, due to the recency of the growth epurt of
cooperatives, professionally trained people in the field
are not always able to support their findings with scientific
research; however, the attitudes they express are sound with-

in the limits of the information available to them. A true

 

'4Chittenden, 22- Cit., p. 7.

'5"Early Childhood Education", Forty-sixth Yearbook
of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part II
(Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, I947):
p. 56.

22+

parent c00perative nursery school, in this context, means
primarily those neighborhood schools formed by about twenty
families, with the parents cooperating not only in the busi-
ness and organizational end, but also in the educational pro-
cesses of guiding the children.'6

Elise Boulding writes: "The fact that the whole
family thinks the preschooler is important enough to warrant
their undertaking a joint project in the cosperative nursery
solely on his behalf increases the small child's sense of
worth."'7 In Silver Spring, Maryland, the authors of the
handbook for the school believethe cooperative nursery school
has "vitality because it is an expression of a democratic
way of living.“8 They further state that the cooperative
schools are providing developmental experience for both the
child and his mother.'9

A. Grey, who Is president of the New Zealand Nursery
Play Association, asserts:

It (the cooperative nursery school) links family

and community together, and is, therefore, an

essential part of education. When parents work
together in a practical setting, education becomes

 

'5Katharlne Whiteside Taylor, "Cooperative Nursery
Schools Educate Families," Teachers College Recggg, Teachers
College, Columbia University, March, I953, pp. 332-339.

'7Elise Boulding, "The Cooperative Nursery and the
Young Mother's Role Conflict," Marriage and Family Living,
November, I955, p. 305.

'8Helen Makie Jones, Editor and Director, Our Coo era-
tive Nursery School, (Silver Spring, Maryland: Silver Spring
Nursery School, Inc., I949), p. l3.

'9Ibid.

25

for them a living experience....Children learn

to know and trust other children, and other

grown-ups who are nottheh'parents. Thus a

foundation of trust is built up, and this is

the beginning of education.20

As parents participate in the cooperative nursery
school program they "gain objective understanding of their
own children and a truer comprehension of the aims and methods
of the school than they could possibly acquire in any other
way."2'

In many ways, cooperatives recapture for participating
families some of the practical support that young parents
used to find by membership in the extended family with
affectionate help available from grandparents and relatives.
As Dorothy Baruch states: "Helping parents gain a greater
measure of security is the primary end and aim of parent
education. It is far more important than helping them
acquire facts concerning the bringing up of their children."22

Few relationships demand more insight than parent-
child relationships. Young parents often lack confidence
in their ability to be good parents, and by participating

in a cooperative nursery school, the mother especially,

becomes "surer and more relaxed in her attitudes as she

2OParent Cooperative Preschools of America Newsletter,
Vol. I, No. 4, (Baftimore, Maryland), p. 2.

2'Foster & Mattson, 2g. CI ., Po 3ll.

29Dorothy Baruch, Parents and Children Go to School,
(Chicago: Scott, Foresman & Co., I939), p. 33.

26

learns what children are really like at various ages."23
The World Health Organization of the United Nations affirmed
this belief when it wrote: "These little groups (parent
c00perative nursery schools) become a family of families,
providing some of the emotional and even practical support
formerly given by large families and in our era, by class-
mates and fellow workers."24

Percival M. Symonds claims that considerable value
has been found in permitting parents to observe in the
nursery school with greater values accruing from actual
participation in a nursery school program. He summarizes
his beliefs as follows:

Parental observation and participation in nursery
school programs have additional values. By ob-
serving a nursery school teacher, a mother can
learn procedures and techniques which no amount
of reading or discussion could quite get across.
As an observer, a mother can attain a certain
amount of detachment from her child's problems
and thereby approach them more objectively when
she takes up the responsibility for them again
at home. By participation in the nursery school
program, a mother can spread over several chil-
dren the Intensity of her feelings and through
approaching problems of these children object-
Ively she can learn to take a more objective
attitude toward problems of her own chIId.25

 

23Jones, Ed., 93. Cit.

24Reported in Parent Coo erative Preschools of Amer-
ica Newsletter, Vol. I No. 2, (Baltimore, Marylana, April,
I958), p. I.

25Percival M. Symonds, The Dynamics of Parent-Child

Relationshi s, (New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers
Coffege, Cqumbia University, I949), p. l4l.

27

There are, hOwever, some problems that need to be
faced and evaluated. Parents are often untrained in the
guidance of preschool children; an even more serious draw-
back may be the sketchy training of some parent cooperative
nursery school teachers. Cooperatives which seem to be
performing to the best advantage for both parents and chil-
dren are those in which the parents can work with a pro-
fessional sChool and with parent education consultants.
Katharine Read is one child development educator who ques-
tions the ability of the relatively untrained mother to be
a teaching assistant In a cooperative nursery school; she
also questions the readiness of the preschool child to share
his mother with other children.26

These objections need to be considered in working
with parents, for as Read says: "The cooperative nursery
schools will make a contribution only if they examine criti-
cally what they are doing and if they evaluate their results."27

For this reason it is particularly important that the
leadership in a c00perative nursery school be well educated
and experienced for their task. The parent cooperative is
still in its infancy, and perhaps should be allowed "growing

pains". As evidence that these schools are expending effort

26Katherine H. Read, What About Coo erative N rser
ESChools?, (Kingston, Rhode Isiana: M.K.N.E. Distrisution

Cknter, University of Rhode Island, I950), pp. 3-6.

271bIcI.

28

in providing an acceptable program, most c00peratives have
evolved systems of pre-service and in-servlce training to
help the participating parents be effective as teachers.28
It has also been the writer's experience that chil-
dren as a whole are delighted to have their "moms" teaching
and "helping". Many a child has come in the morning beam-
ing as he importantly announces, "My mom is teaching today."
The child is a unique individual in the Process of dynamic
growth and the cooperative recognizes that both the parents
and teacher are growing in understanding along with the
child. It is no accident that the trianglerf parent-
teacher-child is used as a symbol for the Spartan Coopera-

tive Nursery School. (See Appendix, p.l46).

28Taylor, EELS—3." p. 95'

CHAPTER III
SCOPE AND PROCEDURE

This chapter states the definition of terms and the
hypotheses tested in the study, explains preparation of
the instrument, gives criteria for selection of the sub-

jects, and describes the method of obtaining the data.

Definition of Terms:

All of the terms used are in the context of parent-
child interaction in the nursery school and in the home.
Discipline: Discipline was defined as guidance (rather
than punishment) of preschool children to accept standards
of behavior neCessary for people to live together in friend-
ship and safety. Understanding the child's needs in accord-
ance with the level of his maturation was considered more
important than any specific technique used.

The Spartan Nursery School staff tend to agree with
Read who states: ".....it becomes all the more important
to remember that limits have a positive value if they are
the right limits and wisely maintained."l

In situation number one in the area of discipline

in the schedule, (Appendix I39 if the parent checked only

 

|Katherine Read, The Nursery Schogl: A Human Rela-
tionships Laboratory, (Second ethion; Philadelphia: W. B.
Saunders Company, I955), p. l97.

29

30

those practices positively (x) at (c) and (e), it was
assumed his practices most nearly represented discipline
characterized by permissiveness with necessary limits.
Situation number one in the area of discipline as it
appeared in the schedule was as follows:
I. If your child is hitting another child with his fists,
would you:
(a) Spank you: child.
(b) Scold your child severely and make him apologize.
(c) Hold him, and say, "You must not do that to Jimmy.
It hurts."
(d Separate the children and ignore the whole affair.
(e Soothe the hurt child; start your child doing
something else away from the other children for
a short time.
(f) Other means (or comments) if any.
Creative Activities: Creative activities for the preschooler
are varied. In this study, creative activities are those
activities that promote in an individual the act of creative
self-expression through the use of several media. They in-
clude use Of art materials which give the child Opportunities
to manipulate, to see color and design, to feel texture and
shape; they encompass music activities which allow the child
to express his feelings in the joy Of sound and therhythm of
dancing; they include stories and books which enlarge his
horizons.
An important concern Of parent educators is helping
parents' to understand the creative process as their pre-
school children are experiencing it and tO differentiate

it from unimaginative activity such as that demanded by

coloring books and patterns.2

g

2Leavitt, Ed., 93. Cl ., p. I90.

3|

In the following situation page four Of the schedule
(Appendix A ) if a parent answered only (b) and (d) posi-
tively, the parent is judged to have insight that to a pre-
schooler process is more important than product and that
realistic modeling sets arbitrary limits to the child's
imagination. The situation reads as follows:

6. When your child plays with clay, do you

(a Show him realistic models to copy.

2b Let him just play by manipulating it with his hands.
c Expect him to make something.

id; Let him use his Own ideas to make a product.

e Other

Health Practices: Many middle class parents in the American
culture tend to feel strongly about matters pertaining to
health habits and try to establish them early in childhood.3

Included in this section are those practices by which
parents help to foster in children good general health habits
as well as more specific habits of self-adequacy in dressing
and in toileting. However, the researcher considered that
certain habits of toileting and cleanliness can be reinforced

without undue concern only as they wait for adequate matura-

tion Of the child.

Hypotheses
The general hypothesis tested in this study was as
follows: In a cooperative nursery school where parents

(usually mothers) are actively engaged in participation by

 

3Read, 93. it., p. 280.

32

teaching, attendance at group meetings, and other parent-
child-teacher activities, their child-rearing practices
will undergo change.

The specific hypotheses tested were:

I. Changes in discipline practices will be from
less permissive to more permissive types.

egg, 2. Mothers, being more actively involved than

fathers in direct contact with the children by teaching,
will make more changes in their discipline practices than
will fathers.

3. Parents will provide greater variety of creative
activities for children.

4. Parents will gain insight into the importance
of process over product for preschoolers.

5. Parents will provide more appropriate kinds Of
play materials for their children.

6. Parents will show slight change in practices

which foster development Of good health habits in their chil-

dren.

Preparation of the Instrument

A schedule was formulated to use In this study in
order to Obtain information regarding child rearing practices
that fathers and mothers followed in three selected areas:
discipline of children; provision for children's creative
activities; and health practices followed by parents in

relation to their preschool children enrolled. Some of the

33

readings are listed which were used as a basis for formu-
lating the statements concerning child behavior in the
schedule. These statements are the substance Of the three
V areas included in the schedule.

Several types of schedules were studied before
embarking on the writing Of the one used in this study.
After reading in the disciplines of psychology, especially
in personality development Of young children, and in child
development literature in the areas Of discipline, creative
activity for children, and parent-child interaction, the
multiple response questions were formulated in three areas
of child rearing: discipline, creative activities, and
health practices. Some of the literature studied included:
Read, Katharine, The Nursery_School; Ridenour, Nina, "Some
Special Problems of Children'; Jersild, A. T., Child Psy-
chology; Cooperative Parents' Group of Palisades, California,
The Challenge Of Children; Green, M. M. and Woods, E. L.,
A_Ngrse£y School Handbook for Teachers and Parents; Landreth,
Catherine, The Psychology of Early Childhood. These refer-
ences, with others, are listed in more detail in the biblio-
graphy.

The researcher's teaching experience Of one year
in the Spartan Cooperative Nursery School with children
and parents also helped as a guide in formulating situa-
tions. The number Of situations described were limited

In order to keep the schedule at'a workable length.

34

Several members Of the Home Management and Child
Development department gave of their time and experience
in helping to revise the schedule.4 They read the schedule
for suitability Of situations dealing with children at the
preschool level and tested the responses against the philoso-
phy and practices Of nursery school education. The schedule
was revised in accordance with their suggestions.

///The revised schedule was then administered to two
mothers. One mother had been a Spartan Cooperative "mother"
for three years. The other mother who consented to the
Interview had two children Of preschool age not attending
any nursery school. The interviewer explained the purpose
of the study and asked the mothers to suggest revisions Of
responses and offer criticism Of the wOrding Of each re-
sponse. They were asked specifically to judge the clarity
of the multiple responses to each situation.

The experienced nursery school mother remarked that
she wanted to qualify her answers to some of the statements
made. The researcher thereupon added an Optional "additional
comment" at the end Of the set Of responses to many situations.
Both mothers thought the situations described "realistic" and

typical child-parent interactions.

 

4The members were Dr. Bernice Borgman, Associate
Professor of Child Development; Miss Betty Garlick, Teacher-
director of the Spartan Cooperative Nursery School; Miss
Mariella Aikman, teacher at the Spartan Cooperative Nursery

School. All are from the College Of Home Economics, Michi-
gan State University.

Minor changes of wording were accomplished, and the
final schedule (See Appendix, p.l38) was written to contain
ten situations concerning discipline with a total of 4i
responses; nine situations on creative activities with a
total Of 34 responses; ten situations on health practices
with a total Of 43 responses. Allowance was made at the
end of each situation for additional comments if the parent
so desired.

A face sheet was included which requested some back-
ground information of each parent: age, sex, years Of
schooling completed, number Of children, and previous experi-

ence with preschool children.

Selection of Subjects

The sample of parents included in this study was
chosen and limited by the following criteria:

I. Parents were new to the nursery school situation.

2. Parents were new to Spartan Cooperative Nursery
School.

3. Parents had not had any of their children pre-
viously enrolled in a nursery school.

4. Parents had to enroll child and had to parti-
cipate two full quarters. Required participation included
teaching fromrflne to twelve hours per quarter for one parent
and participation of fathers at two "work parties". Atten-
dance at two group meetings per term for both parents was

encouraged but was not compulsory.

36

Twenty-nine children from families having no pre-
vious experience in the Spartan Nursery School were added
to the roster in September, I958. Their parents, twenty-
nlne fathers and mothers, in separate interviews, answered
the schedule of child rearing practices which had been pre-
pared. '(See Appendix, p.l38). The Interviews were held
prior to parents' participation in any part Of the nursery
school program and were completed by the opening day Of
classes, Fall quarter, Michigan State University, September
29, I958. At the time of scheduling the second interview
five families did not meet Criteria 4. The remaining
twenty-four sets Of parents were interviewed for the second
time with the schedule in the interval between Winter and
Spring quarters at Michigan State University, from March
24th to April 6, I959. These forty-eight parents comprise

the subjects in this study.

Administering the Schedule

The interview method was used. Before beginning
the first series Of Interviews, the researcher studied the
suggestions for conducting home interviews written by
Burchinal and Hawkes.5

The Fall term "welcoming letter" sent by the Spartan

 

5Lee G. Burchinal, and Glenn R. Hawkes, "Home Inter-
terviews with Families", Journal Of Home Economics: Vol. 49.

I957: pp. I67‘I72.

37

Nursery School staff to its parents contained an item giving
preliminary information concerning the writer's need to reach
all parents new to the nursery school in order tO arrange an
Interview. The parents, therefore, expected telephone calls
to arrange specific times for interviews.

It was explained to the parents that interviews would
be conducted separately for fathers and mothers in order to
avoid any overt influence between spouses. The researcher
also felt that explanatory information was needed as to the
pattern Of the schedule and the type Of responses requested.
This information would be easier to give individually in the
interview situation.

The parents were very cooperative and willingly gave
their time to be interviewed in their homes. In some cases
where parents had irregular work and study hours, the inter-

views were conducted at the Spartan Nursery School.

The First Interview
The first interview was conducted before the child

or parents had had any contact with Spartan Nursery School
except tO have the child accepted for enrollment. The re-
searcher visited with the parents for a few minutes in order
to gain rapport and comfortable interaction. The parents
were told (separately) that there were no "right" answers
versus "wrong" answers; only their reactions to the situa-
tions described were important. Each parent was encouraged

to add comments to each situation if he or she so desired.

38

If a response was one the parent would Often execute in
the situation, he should mark it with a positive (x); if
the response was seldom a part of the parent's child-rearing
practices, he should mark It with a negative (O). Each
parent was requested to check every response with a posi-
tive or negative symbol.

While the parent read silently, the interviewer read
aloud the first four situations with choices of responses
as a way of clarifying the prOcedure Of checking responses
in the schedule. Choices between positive and negative re-
sponses were not discussed with the parents; only the wording
was interpreted if it seemed ambiguous to them. Time required
to complete each interview was usually between 60 to 75 min-

utes.

Second Interview

Most of the follow-up interviews took place either at
the homes of the parents or at the Spartan Nursery School
during the interval between the close of Winter quarter,
March 24, I959 and the opening Of spring quarter classes,
April 6, I959. By this time the children had been enrolled
two full quarters in the Spartan Nursery School, and the
parents had participated as assistant teachers for nine to
twelve hours per quarter, had attended two group meetings,
and fathers had met tO assist at two work parties.

All the parents were very cooperative in taking time

for these interviews. They expressed interest in the study,

39

and especially after the follow-up interview, many inquired
as to the possibility Of being informed Of "results" Of the

study.

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA FOR CHANGE
BY ALL PARENTS IN ALL AREAS

The fathers' and mothers' answers to each situation
in each Of the two interviews were tabulated. The data on
mothers' and fathers' practices were analyzed for:

I. Total changes in all areas-~discipline, creative
activities, and health practices.

2. Changes in each area.

3. Changes In each area in relation to
a. Age Of child enrolled
Ci_ Mg&m_Sex Of child enrolled_mwv

“__ _,__ _ _....--. -.~..

mag-m
. g..." I.
’f. ‘ '""~’-"o v-vr'v n,‘.-‘h:-- *Nfl-"i

vjzv This chapter presents the findings of the analysis
Iof the data with interpretations of the changes recorded in:
I. Total changes in each area.

2. Specific changes in certain situations.

3. Specific changes in certain responses in these
situations.

Additional comments volunteered by parents on each area
are also included. The chi-square test was used to test
the significance of the differences between mothers' prac-
tices in each area and in all areas before and after their
participation In the parent cooperative nursery school. In
like manner, the chi-square test was applied to data on
fathers' practices. U}:3 ~AQ

The chi-square test was;alsOVLsed to test the signifi-

-\ AVA _.._.—-9"“"'
cance Of differences between mothers' and fathers' changes on

each area and in all arerV/u
v

40

4|

All Areas

The total changes in mothers' and in fathers' re-
sponses for all the areas are shown in Tables I and II.
In each area the possibility Of change was mathematically
calculated for mothers and for fathers. For each group of
parents there were:

984 possible changes in discipline (24 x 4i responses)

8l6 possible changes in creative activities ( 24 x 34
responses)

l032 possible changes in health practices (24 x 43
responses)

2832 total possible changes in the three areas.

TABLE I
CHANGES IN 24 MOTHERS' CHILD REARING PRACTICES IN ALL AREAS

 

Possible Motfiers'

 

Area Changes Changes Significance
Discipline 984 I94 n.s.

4l responses

Creative 8l6 I69 n.s.
Activities

34 responses

Health I032 I82 n.s.
Practices

43 responses

Total 2832 545 n.s.

Against these mathematically possible changes, the
mothers had a total Of 545 changes in the three areas. Disci-

pline accounted for I94 changes, creative activities for I69

42

changes, and health practices for l82 changes. When tested
by the chi-square formula none of these figures was signifi-

cant at the five per cent level.

TABLE II
CHANGES IN 24 FATHERS' CHILD REARING PRACTICES IN ALL AREAS

 

 

PossIEIe FaThers' ”v . ,_5M,

Area Changes Changes OISignificance
Discipline 984 I83 n.s.

4i responses '

Creative ' 8l6 I98 n.s.
Activities

34 responses

Health I032 I78 n.s.
Practices .

43'responses

 

Total 2832 559 . . n.s.

. Fathers had a total of 559 changes. Among fathers'
changes, discipline accounted for l83 changes, creative
activities for I98 changes, and health practices for I78
changes. None Of these figures was significant at the five
per cent level.

The difference between the mothers' total changes
(545) and the fathers' total changes (559) was slight, and
when tested by chi-square was not significant at the five
per cent level. The test measured a 2.3 difference, but
to be significant it should have been 5.99. Differences

between mothers' and fathers' changes in each area were

43

found to be non-significant. The greatest number of changes
in practices reported by mothers was in the area Of disci-

pline and by fathers, in the area Of creative activities.

TABLE III

COMPARISON OF MOTHERS' AND FATHERS'
CHANGES IN ALL AREAS

 

W
Mothers Fathers Significance
Area Change Change f Othhe
_infferences
Discipline I94 I83 n.s.
4i responses
Creative I69 I98 n.s.
Activities
34 responses
Health I82 I78 n.s.
Practices

43 responses

 

Total 545 559 n.s.
============================================================

Although the number Of changes in mothers' and in
fathers' practices in any area and in all areas between first
and second interviews was not statistically significant, the
researcher would like to point out that some change in parental
practices did occur during the period of parents' and childrens'
nursery school eXperience. In the group of subjects compris-
ing this study, whose median year Of education was four years
of college for mothers and five years Of college for fathers,
it could be interpreted that there was no need to change.

Perhaps parents' practices in the three selected areas were

44

already much like those taught by the nursery school. If
this were true, the expected changes would be slight. Care-
ful investigation Of the responses seemed to verify this
supposition. This will be elaborated further as each area
is discussed.

It is interesting, also, to note how nearly parallel
were the number Of changes in the group of fathers and in
the group of mothers. There appeared to be relationships
between the thinking Of the two groups of parents in the
three areas. The relationships will be described more

fully in each area.

CHAPTER V
ANALYSIS OF DATA IN AREA OF DISCIPLINE

Analysis of ChangesfiMade by Fathers and Mothers

One Of the hypotheses regarding discipline was that
mothers would have more changes In their discipline practices
than fathers. As shown in Table III, more mothers than fathers
changed their responses in discipline practices between the
first and second interviews. When tested by chi-square,
no significant difference was found between the I94 changes
among mothers and I83 changes among fathers.

Throughout the forty-one responses comprising disci-
pline, fathers closely paralleled the mothers in number Of
changes made in the ten situations. This Is shown in Table
IV. The greatest number Of changes made by both fathers and
mothers was in situation one which read as follows:

I. If your child is hitting another child with his fists,
would you:

(a) Spank your child.

(b; Scold your child severely and make him apologize.
c Hold him, and say, "You must not do that to Jimmy.
It hurts."

5d; Separate the children and ignore the whole affair.
e Soothe the hurt child; start your child doing

something else away from the other children for
a short time.
(f) Other means (or comments) if any.
The mothers indicated 39 changes to the fathers'
33 changes. The difference between the fathers' and mothers'
changes was not significant when tested by chi-square.

Sixteen mothers and eleven fathers used spanking

In response (a) before the entrance of the child in the

45

46
TABLE IV

CHANGES IN 24 MOTHERS' AND 24 FATHERS'
PRACTICES IN DISCIPLINE

L

 

 

Discipline Changes Mothers' Fathers'
Situation For Each Changes Changes
Ggoug» A,

l. - 5 responses '20//.}” g 39 33
2. - 4 responses 96””"7I l8 l7
3. - 4 responses 96 I6 I8
4. - 4 responses 96 I6 2i
5. - 3 responses 72 l3 l3
6. - 3 responses 72 8 8
7. - 4 responses 96 28 32
8. - 6 responses I44 25 23
9. ~ 4 responses 96 I2 I4
IO. - 4 reSponses 96 I9 4
Total

4lire8ponses 984 I94 l83

./

 

 

 

 

nursery school. Of these parents, nine mothers and five
fathers changed to nO-spanking response at the second inter-
view after their experience in the nursery school.

If the ratios l6/9 and ll/5 were significantly
different, then by chi-square test the eXpected number
should be considerably different from observed value. In

the case considered here the difference between the expected

47

and Observed was so small it was unnecessary to run a chi-
square test to prove that the difference between these ratios
was not significant.

Eleven fathers and eight mothers gave nO-spanking
choices in both interviews, and two fathers changed from nO-
spanking to spanking responses.

In response (b) of situation number one, there appeared
slight difference between number Of mothers and fathers re-
porting scolding, both before and after the child had been
in nursery school. Of l8 mothers and I6 fathers reporting
scolding in the first interview, nine mothers and five
fathers changed to a no-scolding response at the time Of
the second interview.

Five mothers and four fathers indicated in both inter-
views that they would not use scolding in this situation.
Four other fathers changed from a non-scolding to a scold-

lng response.

Analysis Of Data in lg_§elected Responses in Discipline

Another hypothesis in the area Of discipline was that
parents would change their discipline practices in the direc-
tion Of more permissiveness after nursery school participation.

To test this hypothesis, twelve selected responses were
examined from the area Of discipline in which changes from
positive to negative could be interpreted as changes in the
direction of greater permissiveness. These changes are shown

in Table V for mothers and Table VI for fathers. For each

 

48

TABLE V

CHANGES TOWARD MORE PERMISSIVENESS BY MOTHERS

IN SPECIFIC RESPONSES

 

 

Number Of NO. of Changes

IN DISCIPLINE

 

 

 

Situation Response Non-Permissive to Permiss. Percent of

Responses Responses Change

I (a) I6 9 gtlfesse
(b) l8 9 ,/.Icv--—»=50.0

2 (d) I I I 00 . 0
3 (a) I5 7 46.6
(b) I3 4 30.7

4 (a) I8 I 5.5
lb) 5 2 40.0

5 (a) 5 5 I00.0
6 (a) I5 5 33.3
7 (c) I3 6 46.l
9 (a) 4 3 75.0
ID (a) 4 4 IO0.0
Total I26 56 44.4

 

 

“ —T

 

-:_

49

TABLE VI

CHANGES TOWARD MORE PERMISSIVENESS BY FATHERS IN
SPECIFIC RESPONSES IN AREA OF DISCIPLINE

 

Possible No. of Changes

 

 

Situation Response Changes to permiss. Percent

I (a) II 5 t?‘”'””\45.4
(0) l6 5 3l.2

2 (d) 2 2 IO0.0
3 (a) I7 3 l7.6
(0) l4 3 2I.4

4 (80 I7 3 l7.6
(b) 5 3 60.0

5 (a) 5 2 40.0
6 (a) I4 5 45.7
7 (c) 9 5 55.0
9 (a) 7 2 28.5
IO (a) - - -
Total ll7 38 53%”53.'*32.5

 

 

50

response the number Of mothers and Of fathers who had re-
ported the less permissive type of discipline in the first
interview was tabulated and checked against the number of
these parents who had changed their discipline practices
as indicated in the second interview. Mothers and fathers
who had used the more permissive type of discipline before
the child entered nursery school and who then changed to
less permissive practices after the nursery school experience
are tabulated in Tables VII and VIII.
Responses (a) and (b) in Situation one were among
the I2 selected responses for analysis Of permissiveness
in discipline. Situation one reads as follows:
I. If your child is hitting another child with his fists,
would you:
(a) Spank your child.
(b; Scold your child severely and make him apologize.
c Hold him, and say, "You must not do that tO Jimmy.
It hurts."
(d; Separate the children and ignore the whole affair.
e Soothe the hurt child; start your child doing some-
thing else away from the other children for a short
time.
In response (a), situation one, nine mothers out of
I6 and five fathers out of II changed to a no-spanking re-
sponse at the time of the second interview, indicating a
shift to greater permissiveness.
Eight mothers and eleven fathers recorded in both
Interviews that they would not use spanking. There were
no mothers in this response who shifted from no-spanking to
the less permissive spanking. Two fathers, however, did

change from no spanking to spanking at the time of the

second interview.

5i
TABLE VII

MOTHERS' CHANGES FROM PERMISSIVE RESPONSES TO LESS
PERMISSIVE RESPONSES IN DISCIPLINE

RumEer OT NumEer OT

 

 

Situation Response Permissive Changes Percent of
Responses to Less Change
Permiss. Responces

I (a) 8 o _
(b) 6 l I6.6

2 (d) 23 0 -
3 (a) 9 3 33.3
(b) ll 2 I8.l

4 (a) 6 I l6.6
(b) I9 4 ' 2l.0

5 (a) I8 I 5.5
6 (a) 9 O -
7 (C) II 2 I8.l
9 (a) 20 2 I0.0'
IO (a) 20 l 5.0
Total .I60 I? IO.6

52

TABLE VIII

FATHERS' CHANGES FROM PERMISSIVE RESPONSES TO LESS
PERMISSIVE RESPONSES IN DISCIPLINE

mm

 

 

WW
Situation Response gzggggzzze Egaflgzz Percent
Permissive
i (a) I} 2 l5.3
(b) 8 4 50.0
2 (d) 22 2 9.0
3 ‘ (a) 7 0 -
(b) IO 2 20.0
4 (a) 7 5 7I.1I
(b) I9 4 2|.O
5 (a) I9 I 5.2
6 (a) IO 3 30.0
7 (c) I5 4 26.6
9 (3) I7 3 l7.6
IO (a) 24 O -
Total I?! 30 l7.4

53

In response (b) of the same situation one a change
from less permissive practices to more permissiveness is
shown by the fact that of l8 mothers and l6 fathers re-
porting scolding at the first interview, nine mothers and
five fathers changed to a no-scolding response at the time
of the second interview.

Five mothers and four fathers reported no-scolding
in both interviews. One mother and four fathers changed
in the direction of less permissiveness by reporting a
change to scolding at the second interview.

Situation two reads as follows:

2. If a child being hurt is your own, would you:
a Separate youngsters for the rest of the day.
Eb; Separate them and explain: "Don't let Johnny do
that to you." Encourage him to defend himself.
(c) Explain that Johnny was perhaps tired and suggest
a new diversion that starts a new line of activity.
(d) Forbid him to play with that "rough boy."

In response (d) at the time of the first interview
one mother and two fathers reported they would "forbid".
All three parents changed to a negative response at the
second interview indicating change in the direction of
greater permissiveness. In this response, twenty-three
mothers (95.8%) and twenty fathers (83.3%) did not believe
in forbidding in either interview. However, there were two
fathers who changed from non-forbidding to forbidding,

apparently indicating a change to less permissiveness.

*igsSituation three reads as follows:
/

54

3. If your child is hurting another child by wielding an
ob ect or stick, would you:
(a; Spank him.
(b Isolate him and keep him indoors.
(c) Explain that if he uses any object to hurt another
child, the object will be taken away from him.
Explain why.
(d) Suggest a new activity incorporating the object
used in a safe manner
Responses (a) and (b) were selected to analyze
changes in permissiveness. In response (a) of sixteen
fa’ ....
mothers who indicated in the first inte vie' that they would
spank, eight of them (50%) changed to non-spanking in the
second interview. Fewer fathers changed. Of seventeen
fathers who would have spanked at the time of the first
interview, only three changed to a no-spanking response.
Six mothers and seven fathers would not have spanked either
before or after participation at nursery school as indicated
in both interviews. In this response, there were three
mothers who changed from non-spanking to spanking at the
second interview, showing some change to less permissiveness.
In reSponse (b) in situation three of l3 mothers and
l3 fathers who would have isolated the child in the first
interview, four mothers and three fathers changed to non-
lsolation at the second interview indicating change in the
direction of greater permissiveness.
In this response, mothers and fathers closely paralé
leled their more permissive as well as their less permissive
choices. Eight mothers and eight fathers did not approve

of isolation in either interview. Nine mothers and ten

fathers approved of isolation in both interviews. Two

55

mothers and two fathers changed to less permissiveness at
the time of the second interview.

Situation four reads as follows:

4. Jimmy has been warned against playing "roughly" in the
living room. He is throwing a ball and barely misses
a fine lamp. Would you:
(a; Take away his bail.
b Spank him and send him to his room.
(c) Remind him of the rules and suggest another place
for him to play bail....the yard or basement.
(d) Suggest a quiet game instead.

Responses (a) and (b) were chosen to analyze for
changes in permissiveness. In response (a), of eighteen
mothers who would take away his bail, only one indicated
she would not do so in the second interview. Of fifteen
fathers, three changed and would not take the ball away.
Seventeen mothers and twelve fathers approved of "taking
away the ball" in both interviews.

In this response one mother and five fathers changed
from a negative to a positive symbol indicating a shift to
a less permissive practice.

This appeared to be a decision away from permissive
discipline, but the parents apparently thought it more
permissive than enforcing response (b). This appeared to
be verified by choices made in reSponse (b). Three of these
fathers did not show spanking (b) in either interview; one
father changed to the more permissive non-spanking at the
second interview.

Response (b) also had few changes. Of five mothers

and five fathers who would spank the child and send him to

56

his room in the first interview, two mothers and three
fathers changed to no-spanking at the second interview.
There was an apparent reluctance at the time of the first
interview to spank for this type of behavior. Fifteen
mothers and fifteen fathers did not indicate Spanking in
either interview. In this response also, four fathers
and four mothers changed from no-spanking to spanking.

Situation five reads as follows:

5. Johnny puts his hand in the goldfish bowl, nearly
upsetting it. Would you:
(a) Threaten to give the fish away.
(b) Put bowl down on floor and give him a chance
to see and touch the goldfish.
(c) Explain how fish need to exist in water and
let him feed them.

Response (a) was one of the twelve selected responses
in the analysis of change in permissiveness. Of five mothers
who would have used threatening at the time of the first
interview all five changed their practices at the time of
the second interview. Of five fathers, only two would use
non-threatening at the second interview. This seemed to
indicate that more mothers changed to permissiveness than
fathers. (See Summary of discipline, page 59). However,
in this response seventeen mothers and eighteen fathers
indicated in both interviews they would 22; use threaten-
ing. There appeared high agreement between fathers and
mothers in permissive practices in this response.

Situation six reads as follows:

6. Jimmy draws on the walls although having been warned
against such behavior. Would you:

57

(a) Spank him for disobeying.

(b) Explain walls are not for drawing pictures and
give him something on which he can draw, either
a blackboard or large pieces of paper.

(c) Buy him his own crayons and pad of paper for
drawing.

(d) Other means (or comments) if any.

In this situation the number of parents who gave
like answers was nearly equal. 0f fifteen mothers and
fifteen fathers who had indicated spanking (a) at the
time of the first interview, five mothers and six fathers
changed to no-spanking showing a change to more permissive-
ness. In this situation also there were nine mothers and
seven fathers who did not indicate spanking in either inter-
view. There were three fathers, however, who changed to
positive symbols at the second interview, indicating they
would spank and, therefore, would be less permissive.

Situation seven reads as follows:

7. If Johnny is purposely destroying a toy belonging to a
brother or sister, would you:
(a) Let the children fight it out.
(b) Give him something he can "destroy" or tear up,
etc. and try to understand why he wants to destroy
stbling’s toy.
(c; Spank him and explain toy belongs to his brother.
d Try to give him a duplicate toy of his own to
destroy if he wishes.

Response (c) was selected for analysis of permissive-
ness. Offburteen mothers and nine fathers who had given
spanking responses in the first interview, seven mothers
and five fathers changed to no-spanking. Nine mothers and
eleven fathers would not use spanking at the time of either

interview. Although there were two mothers and four fathers

58

who changed to spanking at the second interview, the major-
ity of changes were toward greater permissiveness.

Situation nine reads as follows:

9. Johnny, age 4, doesn't want to pick up small blocks

that he has strewn on the floor. Would you:

(a) Threaten him with punishment because "all four
year old boys pick up their toys." ,

(b) Bribe him by offering a sweet if he picks them up.

(c) Get down and "help" him pick up blocks.

(d) Play a game and pretend they are something else
to be picked up as for a trip, etc.

In response (a) of four mothers and seven fathers
who had indicated threatening in the first interview, three
of the mothers and two fathers had changed to non-threatening
at the second interview. However, many parents, l8 mothers
and l4 fathers, did not choose threatening punishment at
either the first or the second interview. Generally, parents
in this study did not use the threatening reSponse in this
type of situation. Two mothers and three fathers schanged
from non-threatening to threatening, a less permissive prac-
tice.

Situation ten reads as follows:
lO. Jimmy, age 4, insists on having the same teddy bear

belonging to his sister. Do you:

a Force his sister to give it to him.

(b) Find him a substitute animal toy to have as
his own.

(c) Suggest that he offer a toy to his sister in
exchange for using the teddy bear.

(d) Arrange an "exchange" of toys for one day.

In the selected response (a) there were four mothers
who would use force in this response at the first interview.

All four changed their practices to non-forcing at the second

59

interview. All twenty-four fathers and l9 mothers indi-
cated in both interviews that they would not use force in
this situation. There seemed to be a high level of agree-

ment among parents against using force.

Summary--discipiine

After participation in a parent cooperative nursery
school it was found that both mothers and fathers changed
their choices to responses in the total area of discipline.
These figures are shown in Tables I and II, pages 4| and
42. Mothers tended to have more changes than fathers.
When tested by chi-square, the difference was found to be
non-significant. (See Table III, page 43).

Tables V and VI, pages 48-49, indicate that in speci-

"spanking", "threatening", "isolating",

fic responses where
"forbidding", etc. were considered to be discipline of a
non-permissive type, the total changes made by both fathers
and mothers toward greater permissiveness was less than 50
per cent in both cases. These figures were in relation‘to
the total non-permissive responses made at the time of the
first interviews. Out of i26 non-permissive responses,
mothers had 56 changes (44.4%) toward greater permissiveness.
Fathers had 38 changes (32.5%) toward greater permissiveness
out of ii? non-permissive responses. The statistics indi-
cated that mothers had a greater percentage 0f change to-

ward more permissiveness than fathers. The difference be-

tween the changes of fathers and of mothers by the "t" test

60

applied to the percentage of changes toward permissiveness
was barely significant (t=l.9) at the five per cent level.

In Tables VII and VIII, (pages 5l-52), mothers' and
fathers' changes toward less permissiveness were tabulated.
These changes were less in number than the changes toward
greater permissiveness in discipline. Out of l60 permissive
responses, mothers made only i7 changes (lO.6%) toward less
permissive practices. Fathers, however, had 30 changes,
(l7.4%) toward less permissiveness out of l7l permissive
responses. The difference between mothers and fathers in
the change to less permissiveness was found to be statisti-
cally significant at the one per cent level. The "t"
equalled 6.8 whereas 2.6 was significant at the one per cent
level. ‘

The results revealed that parents tended to change
their discipline practices in the direction of more per-
missiveness, the mothers more than the fathers. The differ-
ence between mothers' and fathers' changes toward permissive
discipline was found statistically significant (page 60).

Some mothers and some fathers changed in the direction
of less permissiveness at the time of the second interview.
The difference between fathers and mothers in this respect
was highly significant, revealing that the fathers had more
changes to less permissive practices than did the mothers.

However, it is necessary to note that after partici-
pation and experience in a parent cooperative nursery school,

both mothers and fathers made changes to more permissive

6i

practices which were greater than their changes in the
direction of less permissiveness. The differences are

shown in Table IX.

TABLE IX

COMPARISON OF PERCENTAGES OF MOTHERS' AND FATHERS'
TOTAL CHANGES IN l2 SELECTED RESPONSES

Sig. of The

 

Change Mothers thhers Difference
Percent of change 44.5 32.5 Significant
to more (t:l.9)*
Permissiveness

Percent of change lO.6 l7.4 Significant
to less (t=6.8)**

Permissiveness

    

“w— .— ~—

 

   

significant at 5. level._~
**2.6 significant at l% level.

2......

The inconsistency, evident in the fact that some
parents changed to more permissiveness and others to less
permissiveness after experience in a cooperative nursery
school, may be interpreted as part of the general confusion
regarding discipline that exists. In less than a lifetime
the attitude toward discipline has shifted from tradition-
ally rigid with punishment and reward to the overly permissive
discipline of the twenties and thirties. Then followed the
revolt against "progressivism" and a return toward a more
traditional type of discipline.

Parents were often caught in the middle of the argu-

ments advanced by "authorities" in the field of child develop-
ment and psychiatry.‘

 

lKatherine M. Wolf, The Controversial Problem of

62

Spartan Nursery School parents, having access to
educational materials, apparently integrate their readings
with their own Judgment and tentatively try to hold firm
to their beliefs whether of a less permissive or more
permissive type of discipline. This is shown in Table X
where in the twelve selected reSponses regarding discipline
of a non-permissive type, mothers had 2l5 and fathers 220
responses indicating no change between the first and second

interview.

TABLE X

COMPARISON OF PERMISSIVE AND NON-PERMISSIVE RESPONSES OF
PARENTS WHO DID NOT MAKE CHANGES IN DISCIPLINE

No cfiange No. 0? Per- No. 0? Non-

Subject Possible responses missive re- permissive

 

Responses in both sponses in responses in
interviews both inter- both inter-
views views
24 288 215 l43 72
Mothers
24 288 220 l4l 79
Fathers

In this group, mothers had almost twice as many permissive
responses as non-permissive ones (l43 to 72). Fathers nearly
paralleled this finding by also having nearly twice as many

more permissive responses as lesspermissive ones (l4l to 79).

 

Disci line, (New York: The Child Study Association of

63

The Permissive discipline choices of l43 by mothers
and l4l by fathers are of the type that are practiced in
the Spartan Nursery School.) These permissive choices
unchanged in both interviews when added to the changes made
taward greater permissiveness at the time of the second inter-
view (56 changes for mothers and 38 for fathers) confirmed
the fact that many of the parents at Spartan Nursery School
practiced more permissive discipline at the time of the

second interview.

Comments bngarents

Many parents wrote comments reflecting their atti-
tudes toward their experience in the nursery school and
how it changed (or did not) some practices of discipline.
Some of these comments are quoted below:

Father: Nursery school has helped me to have a little more
patience with C----- and not expect so much from him.

Father: I find it much easier to converse with children and
feel that I can talk to my son and hold his interest far better
than formerly. Also I find that discipline is less of a pro-
blem than formerly and it seems that L ----- can be talked out
of things that might have required sterner discipline mea-
sures previously.

Mother: I feel my experience as a Nursery School teacher--
mother has given me many ideas for play, ways of discipline
-(I feel I was too strict until I watched others accomplish
the same thing in a milder manner) and was glad for the
opportunity of seeing my son in comparison with others of
the same age giving me an idea where he needs help and just
what Hcan expect from him.

Mother: Help child get his feelings out in the open. I

feel that there is a definite need for cooperative nursery
school experience. Esoecially for the parent. The teaching

and observing experience has given me a good deal of insight
into child development. Good is no longer good. Nor bad, bad--

64

but the reasons for are more important--the reasons for the
behavior without the labels of good and bad. Children grow.
They need to be guarded from the consequences of some of
their big feelings; ‘But they need to know it is all right
to have the big feelhgs and that they themselves are capable
of controlling them in acceptable means-~and that we love
them none the less.

Mother: Nursery school has aided me in developing more
permissiveness toward my child and shown the importance of
overlooking minor squirmishes.

Father: Each child must be both disciplined and understood
individually. Each child's character traits will differ from
others.

Mother: I don't feel that I have changed my feelings about
methods of child rearing--unless to more firmly believe that
a child must have definite rules and regulations to follow
and must be expected to behave within the limits of their
regulations. Nursery school has helped D--- in that it has
given him a new experience to add to his background. He now
has confidence in this particular experience and I will be
curious to see whether this experience will give him confi-
dence in himself in kindergarten.

Mother: Our nursery school experience has been most reward-
ing. It has certainly reinforced my attitudes concerning
permissive self-expression.

Mother: My ways of discipline have changed since the start
of nursery school-~I don't know if it is because of nursery
school or because the child is older--my methods are less on
the spanking side and more on the verbal and talking it over
side. Have let the child do more things for himself and
figure things out by self. I feel there is more understand-
ing between myself and the child since the start of nursery
school.

Mother: My ideas have changed due to nursery school in these
areas. Letting M------ have more freedom in choosing his own
play and the procedure. Also with the equipment he is furnished
with. Discipline--fewer spankings, more talking. Also, I
understand better what causes him to react like he does in many
more circumstances.

Mother: I think I over disciplined before. Now I think it
was unnecessary.

CHAPTER VI
ANALYSIS OF DATA IN AREA OF CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

The number of mothers' and fathers' changes in prac-
tices regarding creative activities is shown in Table XI.
The total number of changes for the nine situations in
creative activities was l69 for mothers and I98 for fathers
out of a possible 8i6 responses for each group. Tested by
inspection, there was no need to complete a chi-square test
to find that thereImsno significant difference between the
changes either of mothers or of fathers and the total changes

that either group could have made.

TABLE XI

CHANGES IN 24 MOTHERS' AND 24 FATHERS'
PRACTICES IN CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

 

 

 

Situation Possible Chagges Change:
l. - 4 responses 96 l7 22
2. - 5 responses l2O l9 2O
3. - 2 responses 48 l0 l3
4. - 4 responses 96 59 5|
5. - 3 responses 72 - l6 l9
6. - 4 responses 96 lO 2i
7. - 4 responses 96 l9 l9
8. - 4 responses 96 IO l9
9. --4 responses 96 9 l4
Total 34 responses 8l6 I69 I98

55 ~
.- IN
I i

I

, .

66

The area of creative activities was the only one
of three areas in this study in which fathers had more
changasthan mothers after involvement in a cooperative
nursery school program, as shown by the totals of l98
changes for fathers and l69 changes for mothers. Fathers
had more changes than mothers in every situation except
situation four. By inspection, it was obvious that the
difference between the total changes of mothers' and of

fathers' practices was statiStically-non-significant.

Proyision of Greater Variety of Creative Activities

One hypothesis regarding creative activities stated
that, after involvement in a parent cooperative nursery
school program, parents will provide a greater variety of
creative activities for children at home.

In situation 4 there occurred more changes for both
groups of parents than in any other situation. Situation
four reads as follows:

4. Has your child ever done any
a Fingerpainting.
(b) Easel painting.
2c; Spatter painttng.
d Wet chalk painting.
(e) Other

Mothers had 59 changes and fathers 5i changes from
negative to positive. Before participation in a parent
cooperative nursery school ten parent couples had supplied

fingerpainting activities for their children, only three

parent couples had supplied easel painting (with tempera

67

paints), and no families had supplied spatter painting or
wet chalk painting.

Of 24 parents who had not provided fingerpainting
(a), 2| did so at the time of the second interview; in
easel painting (b) all 36 parents who had not provided
this media changed at the time of the second interview.

In spatter painting (c) and wet chalk painting (d)
there were 23 positive changes from 45 negative responses
for (c) and 27 changes from 42 negative responses for (d),
indicating use of these materials. The numbers of change
were slightly lower than for (a) and (b) and will be dis-
cussed further under "change according to age of child
enrolled", page lO9.. Many children under three and a half
did no spatter painting.

The substantial number of changes in this situation
occurred in the parents who apparently saw the possibility
of easy ways to adapt these creative activities to home
use. There was almost complete change among parents who
had not previously offered their children the opportunity
for experimenting with fingerpainting (a) and easel paint-
ing (b).

Data from situations five and three also were examined
for evidence to support the hypothesis that parents, after
participation in a parent cooperative nursery school, will
provide greater variety of creative activities for children

at home. Situation five reads as follows:

5. Does your child play with dough at home?
(a; Homemade type dough.

(b Commercial play dough.
(c) Commercial type clay.
(d) Other. .

Ten parent couples had supplied commercial dough,
and fifteen parent couples had supplied commercial clay
before and after participation in the nursery school.

By the time of the second interview four more parent cou-

ples were supplying commercial dough, and three more parent

couples were supplying commercial type clay at home. The
reason for preference of the latter might have been that it
was less expensive than play dough.

Situation three reads as follows:

3. Do you prefer toys advertised to "teach" a youngster or
do you prefer to let them use appropriate articles avail-
able at home?

(a) Advertised toys.
(b) Appr0priate home articles.

In this situation the data indicated that the major-
ity of parents (20 parent couples) supplied both types of
play articles (a and b) and generally eXpressed no preference
for either type. Consequently there were few changes in this
situation.

The fewer changes in this situation resulted from
the fact that parents were already supplying both types of
articles at the time of the first interview. Most of the
parents indicated orally that they thought their children
enjoyed both kinds, and they (the parents) had little prefer-

ence for either.

It may be concluded from the changes in situations

69

four and five that the nursery school provided parents
with some ideas for activities in the home. The Guides
for Teaching booklet given to the parents at the beginning
of their eXperience in the nursery included recipes for
making fingerpainting material and dough.‘ These recipes
were used in the Spartan Nursery School, and many parents
indicated they used them at home. The results in situa-
tions 4 and 5 lent support to the hypothesis that parents
may provide a greater variety of creative activities for
children after involvement in a cooperative nursery school.

The results in situations four and five were similar
to the_findings in Johnston's study, which revealed that
"an important change was that parents provided for their
children creative materials like those used in the nursery
school".2

(The Johnston study compared and contrasted the prac-
tices of mothers and of fathers in several areas of child
guidance practices, one of which was "choice of play mater-
ials." Her subjects were l7 fathers and l7 mothers who had

children enrolled at the Spartan Nursery School.

 

'Page and Garlick, 92. Cit. p. l3.

2Norejane, Johnston, A Comparison of Mothers' and
Fathers' Practices in Guiding Their Children in Regard to

ILde endence Choice of Pia TMafeFTaTs, Self Assertion and
Ogedience, UnpuElisfied Master's Thesis, MicthanState

University, East Lansing, Michigan,l95l, p. 88.

 

7O

Insight into Importance of Process Over Product

Another hypothesis in creative activities stated
that after a cooperative nursery school experience, parents
will gain insight in the importance of process over product
in creative activities for preschoolers. Situations six,
seven, and nine deal with this aspect of creative activities.

Situation six reads as follows:

6. When your child plays with clay, do you:
(a Show him realistic models to copy.
(b Let him just play by manipulating it with his hands.
c Expect him to make something.
id? Let him use his own ideas to make a product.
e Other.

Mothers had lO changes in situation six while fathers
had more than double the number with 2i. This difference
led to the supposition that mothers might have previously
acquired more information than fathers, and needed to make
fewer changes.

Eight fathers and i7 mothers said in both interviews
that they would not show their child realistic models to
copy. At the time of the first interview, l6 fathers and
7 mothers would do so. Of these, ten fathers and six mothers
changed from "patterning" to "non-patterning" at the time of
the second interview indicating a trend in the direction of
allowing "children's imagination to be free to experiment

rather than cope with the limitations imposed by realistic

modeling."3

 

3Read, 92, _11., p. 259.

7i

In response (c): "Do you expect him to make some-
thing?", l6 fathers and 22 mothers marked the response with
a negative symbol in bath interviews. Six more fathers
changed to negative at the time of the second interview.

Thus the concept which states "process is more im-
portant than product" at the nursery school level was accepted
by many parents on an intellectual level. However, parents
may experience difficulty in internalizing this concept into
behavior. It was the writer's experience that many of the
teaching mothers needed subtle reminders against expecting
children to make a "product" at the clay table.

To test further the hypothesis of "process over pro-
duct" (page 70), the data from situation seven, responses (c)
and (d) and situation nine were analyzed. Situation seven
(c) and (d) reads as follows:

7. When your child is cutting, do you:
(c Give him pictures to cut out.
(d Give him blank sheets of newspaper to cut in any
shape he wants.
(e) Other.

Sixteen mothers marked responses (c) and (d) positive
in both interviews while (c) was marked with a positive sym-
bol by l4 fathers and (d) by l9 fathers in both interviews.
This data seemed to indicate that many parents already were
following the practices of the nursery school with regard
to situation seven.

In reaponse (c) one mother and two fathers changed

from positive to negative; in reSponse (d) three mothers

72

and three fathers changed from negative to positive. These
changes might have indicated a trend toward understanding
more acceptable practices in "process over product", but
the numbers of change were too small to arrive at broad
generalizations.
Situation nine was the following:
9. Jimmy likes to listen to music on a record player.
Would you:
(a) Start him on lessons either on piano or another
instrument.
(b) Buy him children's records for listening.

c Teach him songs to sing.
(d Buy him or make him simple rhythm instruments to

play.
(e) Other.

Mothers and fathers made only nine and fourteen changes
respectively in this situation. The data revealed that most
mothers and fathers were already following the practices of
the nursery school in this situation by their responses in
(b) and (d). Twenty-three mothers and all 24 fathers indi-
cated in both interviews that they would buy children records
for listening. Twenty-two mothers and l8 fathers would follow
the practice stated in (d) as marked in both interviews. At
the time of the second interview two mothers and three fathers
had changed to the more acceptable "buy him or make him simple
rhythm instruments to play."

The results in situation six, seven, and nine revealed
that the majority of parents' were aware of acceptable prac-
tices in these situations. The largest number of changes
occurred in situation six which showed a trend to more in-

sight gained in understanding the concept of "process over

73

product" in the area of a manipulative material like clay.
In situation seven, dealing with cutting activities, and
situation nine, dealing with music activities, the majority
of parents were already following the acceptable practices
in these media. Although there were a few changes, numbers
were too small to establish a general trend in either direc-

tion.

Provision of Appropriate Types of Play Materials

The third hypothesis in this area stated that parents
would provide more appropriate types of play materials for
preschoolers as a result of their participation in a parent
cooperative nursery school. To test this hypothesis the data
from situations one, two, and eight were analyzed. Situation
one reads as follows:

i. What kind of train would y u buy your three-year-old?
2a; Wooden push-pull toy rain.

b Metal wind-up train.
(c) Electric train.
(d; Paper board train.

e Other.

Mothers had seventeen and fathers twenty-two changes
in situation one.

Twenty-two mothers and 20 fathers would not have
purchased an electric train at the time of either interview.
Of l8 fathers and l5 mothers who would have purchased a
metal wind-up train before nursery school participation,

seven fathers and four mothers changed to negative responses

at the time of the second interview. However one father and

74

three mothers changed from negative to positive, or less
appropriate choices. The next largest change was in re-
sponse (d) where seven fathers and two mothers changed in
favor of buying paper board trains. Two fathers and five
mothers recorded a change at the time of the second inter-
view in favor of supplying a wooden push-pull toy train.

The low number of changes in situation one seemed to
support the previous supposition that these parents, having
access to authoritative child rearing materials, already
follow many nursery school practices before active parti-
cipation in the nursery school program. However, most of
the changes that did occur were in the direction of more
appr0priate types of trains for preschoolers.

Situation 2 reads as follows:
2. Do you supply your child with

a Commercial coloring books.
(b; Blank sheet of paper for coloring.

(c Pencil size crayons ("Crayola" type).
(d Half inch wide "kindergarten"crayons.
2e Magazine pictures to color.

f Other.

The types of activities in this situation that were
considered least creative were the coloring books and the
magazine pictures to color. Coloring books are anathema
to most nursery school teachers, but because they are so
easily available, few mothers and fathers avoided giving
them to their children. In fact, l8 mothers and l8 fathers
responded in both interviews that they supplied coloring
books for their children. Many parents commented that

their children "liked" coloring books. For the same reasons

/

75

l8 mothers and 2i fathers supplied thin "Crayola" type
crayons (c). However, some changes were made that seemed

to reflect the parents' experience in the nursery school.

Six fathers and five mothers who had not supplied pre-
viously the larger type "kindergarten" crayon that is more
suitable for preschoolerS' use changed to positive responses
as marked in the second interview. This was the largest
change made in the direction of more appropriate materials

in situation 2. Responses (b), (c), and (e) had few changes.
In response (a) only two mothers and one father changed their
response in favor of‘ggt supplying coloring books. In re-
sponse (c) four mothers and two fathers had changed their
reSponses to negative, indicating they would not buy pencil
size crayons. In response (e) three mothers and two fathers
changed their answers from positive to negative in the second
interview.

Although these changes were in the direction of more
acceptable practices, the majority of fathers and of mothers
supplied the media described in situation two to their chil-
dren both before and after nursery school experience with
apparently no distinctions being made as to appropriateness
for preschoolers.

Situation eight reads as follows:

8.. Assuming he has none of the following which would you
choose for your son's birthday?

gag Latest outfit (Ex-Zorro, Lone Ranger, etc.)

b Set of building blocks.

c Book of Grim's Fairy Tales.

(d; A tricycle.
e Other.

76

All reSponses were considered appropriate for pre-
schoolers except response (c). Fairy tales are usually
confusing and often frightening to preschoolers because
young children are not mature enough to differentiate im-
aginative situations from reality. [It is better to limit
young children's books to helping them understand the real
world about them>K As Read states: "The real world is
certainly sufficiently wonderful to stimulate the imagina-
tion of a preschool child."4 ,

In response (c) 9 mothers and 4 fathers had marked
a negative symbol in both interviews to indicate they would
not buy Grim's Eglgy‘lngs. However, of the 20 fathers and
IS mothers who had chosen this book in the first interview,
9 fathers and 4 mothers changed their responses after partici-
pation in the nursery school. Eleven fathers and ii mothers
gave positive answers to both interviews. Six were parent
couples indicating some similarity in fathers' and mothers'
practices. Any differences in parents' practice concerning
the use of fairy tales according to age will be discussed
on page ll7.

In responses (a), (b), and (d) the majority of fathers
and of mothers chose the acceptable answers in choice of
playthings at the time of the first interview before nursery
school participation.

Nine fathers and six mothers indicated they would buy

 

4Read, 92- Cit., p. 49.

77

"Zorro, etc." outfits (a) at the time of the first interview.
The majority of fathers and mothers would not do so: l5
fathers and IB mothers. Only one father and one mother
changed to a negative response at the time of the second
interview. Although the positive choice in this response

was not especially inappr0priate, the large number of fathers
and mothers who would not buy this type of outfit might have
been motivated by the relatively high cost of this kind of
costume. This would be of consequence to the subjects of
this study who were families with limited incomes.

In response (b) l9 fathers and 2l mothers indicated
they would buy a set of building blocks as recorded in the
first interview. Two fathers and 2 mothers changed their
responses from negative to positive at the time of the second
interview.

All the fathers and mothers (48) indicated they would
buy a tricycle (d) at the time of the first interview. One
mother changed her response to negative in the secondinterview.

The most obvious conclusion from the data in situa-
tions one, two, and eight was that many parents were already
providing appr0priate types of play materials. There was a
tendency for parents, however, to change after involvement in
the nursery school in the provision of more appropriate mater-
ials. Fathefs made 27 changes and mothers 26 changes in that

direction.

78

Summagypof Changes in Creative Activities

Fathers made more changes (l98) in practices in this
area than in any other area in this study. Mothers, with
l69 changes, had fewer changes in this area than in either
of the other two included in this study. It should be re-
peated here that the sophistication and education of these
parents prior to their experience in the nursery school may
have made them quite aware of child devel0pment principles.
Therefore, they may have had little need to change in their
child-rearing practices. There were no substantial differ-
ences between mothers and fathers in this area. In most
situations mothers and fathers had approximately equal num-
ber of changes. However, the direction of changes indicated
that the cooperative nursery school gave parents ideas for
use of creative materials at home. As one mother stated:

\.
"I gained a lot of ideas for simple things that the children
could enjoy at home."

Typical comments made by parents were as follows:
Mother: The nursery school experience has taught me how to
handle special problems with less fuss. Has given me new
ideas on the type of toys and experiences that children need.
Father: I think that nursery school has given me a greater
appreciation of the interest and the activities that my son
participates in. Secondly, I have learned that a child does
not need or require all the dime store toys that are on the
market today and that many toys or activities can be engineered
at home to a greater advantage.

Mother: In the child rearin practice I believe I have changed
my mind in several ways. (I? You can learn to separate chil-
dren or get them interested in other activities when they are

quarreling. (2) I have learned that a three year old can be
interested in so many things that I didn't think possible.

79

Mother: As far as pets go--it helped a lot how to handle
animals--lot more freedom with pets. Helps you relax with
your children when you see other children act the same. Helps
to be with other children. Give you ideas how to handle chil-
dren.

Mother: I have gained a lot of ideas for simple things to
make that the kids have enjoyed at home.

These comments, together with the changes revealed
in the analysis of the data, tended to support the hypotheses
made in this area: 4

l. Parents will provide a variety of creative activi-
ties for their children after involvement in a cooperative
nursery school. This was true especially in situation four.

2. Parents will gain insight into the importance
of "process over product" for preschoolers through partici-
pation in a cooperative nursery school. This was especially
true for fathers in situations six and nine.

3. Parents will provide more appropriate types of

materials for their nursery school children.

CHAPTER VII
ANALYSIS OF DATA IN HEALTH PRACTICES

Analysis of Changes Made

According to Table I and Table II (pages 4| and 42),
numbers of mothers' changes and fathers' changes were more
nearly equal in the child-rearing health practices than in
any other area of the study. With ten situations consisting
of 43 responses each group of parents, 24 mothers and 24
fathers, could have had l032 changes. (24 x 43).

Mothers had a total of l82 changes and fathem, l78
changes between the first and second interviews. When
tested by inspection, it was obvious that the number of
changes of either group of parents was non-significant.

Nor were there any significant differences between the num-
ber of mothers' and fathers' changes in the total area of
health practices nor in any of the ten separate situations.
These figures are shown in Table XII.

The hypothesis in this area predicted that parents
would show slight change in health practices between the
time they enrolled their children in the Spartan Nursery
School and the time of the second interview.

Most of the practices included in the schedule were
acceptable by child development standards. It was pre-
dicted that parents in this study would mark them with
the x symbol. The few practices that were not acceptable

had few positive responses as shown. The number of positive

80

8i

TABLE XII

CHANGES IN 24 MOTHERS' AND 24 FATHERS'
PRACTICES IN HEALTH PRACTICES

 

Health 'ract ces “065 b e Mothers Fathers
Situation Changes Changes_ Changes
l. - 4 responses 96 8 l3
2. - 5 responses I20 l2 l5
3. - 4 responses 96 29 l8
4. - 4 responses 96 I 2i 26
5. - 4 responses 96 24 l6
6. - 4 responses 96 20 2|
7. - 5 responses l20 l9 24
8. - 5 responses l20 24 l7
9. - 4 responses 96 l7 l5
0. - 4 responses 96 8 l5

 

Total 43 responses l032 l82 l78

 

 

 

82

responses given in the first interview before any parent-
child involvement in the Spartan Nursery School and the
number of positive responses after particiation in the

nursery school were as follows:

 

lst Interview 2nd Interview M:Mothers FzFathers *
M F M F
i. Does your child have:
24 23 22 23 (a) A physical checkeup at
regular intervals.
l0 l2 l0 l6 (b) A dental check-up at
regular intervals.
23 24 22 23 (c) A regular schedule for
~ immunization shots.
2 4 2 4 (d) A visit to the doctor in

an emergency only.

2. Do you insist that your child

24 24 23 24 (a) Usually wash his hands
before eating.

20 l5 23 l9 (b) Usually wash his hands after
he has used the toilet.

2| IS 23 2| (c) Usually brush his teeth at
least once a day.

l8 2| 22 22 (d) Usually cover his moUth
when he coughs.

24 24 24 24 (e) Usually use a handkerchief

or kleenex when necessary

3. How do you "check" on him (for
the activities above in No. 2)?

2 23 2| 22 (a) Ask him. .
l7 l9 l9 l9 (b) Watch him to see that he
does it.
23 23 23 23 (G) Help him do it.
9 l2 8 9 (d) Do it for him.

4. After your child has been success-
fully toilet trained, do you

4 9 4 5 (a) Help your child when he uses
the toilet.

2i 20 22 22 (b) Help him only if he requests
it.

l7 l7 l3 l5 (c) Remind him to use the toilet.

20 22 2| 22 (d) Let him decide when he needs

to go to the bathroom.
*Only positive symbols from both interviews are recorded.

83

let Interview 2nd Interview M=Mothers F:Fathers
M F M F

5. Would you keep your child home
from school if

l0 4 ll 3 (a) He has the first sign of
a sniffle.

23 23 22 24 (b) The symptoms develop into
a cold.

l4 l2 I? II (c) He's listless and fatigued;
otherwise appears all right.

23 2| , _ 2| 22 (d) His throat looks unusually
red.

6. Do you put your child

19 2O 22 20 (a) To bed at a regular time at
night.

I7 18 l2 l3 (b) To nap or rest at a regular
time each day.

7 5 9 II (c) To nap or rest only when
he acts unusually tired.

6 9 4 8 (d) To bed at night when he

becomes sleepy.

7. If your child "snacks" between
meals, does he have

22 2| 23 23 (a) Fruit

22 2| 2| 22 b Milk

9 l7 6 ll (c) Cake or sweets

2| 22 22 24 (d; Cookies or crackers
7 9 2 5 (e Soft drinks.

8. In dressing your child do you
usually

13 l2 6 5 (a) Dress him almost entirely.

2| '9 23 23 (b) Let him do some of it for
himself.

I l l l (c) Insist that he do the en-

tire job himself.

2| 22 23 24 (d; Help him with difficult parts.

24 24 22 24 (e Give him praise for honest
effort.

9. If four year old Johnny has an
accident before he reaches the
bathroom, do you

.I 2 0 0 (a) Spank him and explain why.
I4 '2 2| '5 (b) Simply clean up, and tell him

that next time he'll probably
get to the toilet on time.

7 7 3 5 (c) Warn him that you'll spank
him "next time' if he's not
more careful.

84

 

lst Interview 2nd Interview M=Mothers F=Fathers
_hM F M F
2i 24 22 23 (d) Help him clean up and suggest

that the next time he should
go the toilet as soon as he
feels the need.

IO. Four year old Johnny dislikes
dressing himself. Would you

O 3 0 0 (a) Force him to dress himself
while you stand and watch.
23 22 24 . 23 (b) Help him with the more diffi-

cult parts, but tell him you
expect him to do the easier
parts.

3 9 l 6 (c) Tell him he pr0pably'is not
a four year old because he
is acting like a three year
old. Say no more.

23 24 23 24 (d) Praise him for dressing him-
self, meanwhile giving him
more help if he's tired.

The data showed a close similarity between fathers'
and mothers' answers both in the "accepted" practices and
in the generally less desirable practices. These answers
and the number of changes will be discussed in each situation.
In situation one, the total of eight changes made by
mothers and thirteen by fathers were not statistically signifi-
cant in comparison to the possible 96 changes each sex might
have recorded. In (a) and (c) the parents were almost un-
amlnous (24 mothers and 23 fathers) in having a regular
schedule for physical check-ups and for immunization shots
for their children. The one father- who did not check a
positive symbol for response (a) changed his answer in the

second interview. Slight differences between mothers and

85

fathers might have been due to misinformation or chance
at the time of the interviews.

In response (b) where most of the changes in Situa-
tkhl occurred, five for mothers and six for fathers, many
of the parents with children under four at the beginning of
the study commented that they would have dental check-ups
for their children as soon as the children were older.

In reaponse (d) where a negative response was more
acceptable to child-reading practices, only two mothers and
four fathers marked a positive symbol. One of these fathers
changed to a negative answer at the second interview.

Six of the fathers commented that they changed their
answer for (c) from positive to negative because by the
time of the second interview their child had completed
his immunization shots. In situation i the evidence seemed
to favor strongly the study's hypothesis in this area. (See
p. 80).

In situation two which listed five acceptable stan-
dards for child-rearing practices, parents at time of first
interview were unanimous (24 parent couples) in two of them:
(a) washing hands before eating, and (e) using a handkerchief
or kleenex when necessary. One mother changed to negative
at the second interview. This might have been due to chance.
In (b) and (c) five sixths of the mothers and approximately
five eights of the fathers insisted on positive practices

before participation in nursery school. In (b) l5 fathers

86

and 20 mothers had marked a positive symbol in first inter-

view indicating their insistence on child washing hands after
he had used the toilet. At the second interview an additional
six fathers and four mothers had changed to a positive symbol.

In response (c) two mothers and three fathers had
changed to the positive symbol at the time of the second inter-
view.

In response (d) l8 mothers and 2| fathers marked a
positive symbol at the first interview. After participation
in the nursery school, mothers had four, and fathers one,
additional positive answers. The evidence in situation two
is heavily weighted in the positive direction in insistence
on these child-rearing practices? A supposition may be made
that these practices are important to middle class families
and receive much attention in early childhood training. Davis
and Havighurst are emphatic on this point: "In the middle-
claSs culture, cleanlineSs and respect for property are the
basic values. Middleclass parents, therefore, are anxious
that their children learn this behavior well and early."I
What the cost of this early stress in cleanliness training
is to the personality of the child was beyond the scope of
this study. -

In situation three, mothers and fathers closely

 

'W. Allison Davis and Robert J. Havighurst, Father
of the Man, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., l947), p. l05.

87

paralleled each other in their answers, and for (a), (b),
and (c) two thirds or more of mothers and of fathers had
a positive symbol in the first interview. Responses (a)
and (c) which were considered the most desirable had the
largest number of positive answers. The changes made were
also in the direction of agreement with the more desirable
practices. Mothers and fathers had four changes each to-
ward almost unanimous practices of the first three responses
in situation three. I

In reSponse (d) in which a negative symbol was the
more acceptable answer, only nine mothers and twelve fathers
had positive symbols indicating they would "do it for him."
At the second interview is fathers anf l5 mothers had changed
to the more desirable practice and would.ggt "do it for him."

In situation four, approximately two thirds of the
parents had already established their practices regarding
childrens' use of the toilet as shown by their answers in
(b), (c), and (d) in both interviews. In (c) the changes
to fewer positive symbols (four) seemed to indicate that
parents needed to do less "reminding" as the child grew
older. Only four mothers and nine fathers would help a
child when he used the toilet. Parents' child-rearing prac-
tices regarding toileting in relation to age and sex of
child will be discussed later.

In situation five, response (a) ten of the mothers
and only four of the fathers in first interview would keep

youngster at home at the first sign of a sniffle. Five

88

additional mothers but no more fathers had decided by the
time of the second interview to keep youngsters home with
a sniffle. The other response that had "room" for change
was (c): To keep the child home from school if "he's
listless and fatigued; otherwise appears all right." Four-
teen mothers and l2 fathers indicated they would at the
time of the first interview. Only three mothers and one
father had changed their practice by the time of the second
interview. The data in this situation lent support to the
hypothesis that parents would make few changes in the area
of health practices.,/G2

In situation‘Six most of the parents were following
acceptable child rearing practices at the time of the first
interview as indicated in (a) and (b). Three mothers did
change from the less acceptable practices of (c) and (d)
to (a) and (b) at the time of the second interview. No
fathers changed. I

In situation seven the majority of parents, espec-
ially mothers, were agreed that the more desirable be-
tween meals "snacks" for children should not have high
sugar content. At the time of the first interview only
nine mothers would give "cake or sweets" between meals,
but seventeen fathers indicated they would. Six fathers
and three mothers had changed this practice at the time of
the second interview.

In situation eight the majority of parents indicated
by positive responses in (b), (d), and (e) that at the time

89

of the first interview they were following the acceptable
practices leading to self-help in dressing for children.
Parents made few changes, six in (b) and 4 in (a) all in
the direction of the more acceptable practice. In (e):
"give him praise for honest effort," two mothers made the
unexplainable change to a negative symbol at the time of
the second interview.

The largest change was in (a), "dressing the child
almost entirely." At the first interview l3 mothers and
l2 fathers would, but seven mothers and seven fathers had
changed at the time of the second interview in the direction
of more self-help by children in dressing.

In situation nine 2| mothers and 24 fathers already
were following the most acceptable practice at the time of
the first interview: (d) "help him clean up and suggest
that the next time he should go to the toilet as soon as
he feels the need." The largest change occurred in (b)
when eight mothers and three fathers changed to more willing-
ness to "simply clean up, and tell him that next time he'll
probably get to the toilet on time". Very few parents would
punish or threaten to punish child for a toilet accident.
This attitude prevailed both before and after participation
in the nursery school program.

In situation ten almost all parents agreed on (b)
and (d). Twenty-three mothers and 22 fathers would help
a child with most difficult parts in dressing; 23 mothers

and 24 fathers would "praise child for dressing himself,

9O

meanwhile giving him more help if he's tired." Whereas
few parents (3 mothers and 9 fathers) had marked a posi-
tive symbol in (c) at the time of the first interview, two
mothers and three fathers had changed to negative at the
time of the second interview in this moderatay acceptable
practice of telling the child "he is not a four year old

because he is acting like a three year old", and saying

"no more."

Summary-~Health Practices

The results of the data in the area of health prac-
tices clearly supported the hypothesis that parents would
make few changes in this area because the practices were
"set" before the child entered nursery school. Parents
made 329 changes in the total area of health practices to
more acceptable responses, and made only 3| changes away
from acceptable responses. It should be noted here that
what changes did occur were usually in the direction of
the more acceptable health practices, indicating that nur-

sery school participation may have been influential.

‘CHAPTER VIII

PARENTS' CHILD REARING PRACTICES ANALYZED
ACCORDING TO SEX OF CHILD

In the group of twenty-four children included in
this study were l3 boys and ll girls. Changes made by
their parents in the areas of discipline, creative acti-
vities, and health practices were analyzed according to

the sex of the child enrolled.
Changes infigiscipline Practices, According to Sex of Child

Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Changes in Discipline.

In the total area of discipline mothers of l3 boys
had |l4 changes (2l.3%). and fathers of boys had 98 changes
(l8.4%) out of a possible 533 responses for fathers and for
mothers.

There was no substantial difference between number
of changes made by mothers and by fathers of boys, but the
findings indicated that mothers of boys made more changes
than fathers.

In the total area of discipline mothers of ii girls
had 84 changes (l8.6%) out of a possible 45l responses, and
fathers of girls had 87 changes (l9.2%) out of a possible
45l. The data revealed that fathers of girls made a few
more changes in discipline practices than mothers of girls.
The hypothesis that mothers will make more changes in disci-

pline practices than will fathers was not supported by the

9|

92

data on parents of girls. The data on parents of boys'

showed a slight trend in favor of the hypothesis.

Changes Toward More Permissiveness or Toward Less

Permissiveness

Changes in discipline practices of parents of girls
and of parents of boys were analyzed to discover whether sex
of child was a factor in parental change from less permissive
to more permissive discipline and from more to less permis-
siveness. Twelve selected responses in discipline (see page
47) were used as a basis for testing the hypothesis that par-
ents will change from less to more permissive discipline prac-
tices.

In the change from less permissive discipline prac-
tices to more permissive practices, 26 parents of boys made
49 changes (35.7%) out of I37 non-permissive responses in the
direction of more permissiveness. Twenty-two parents of girls
made 40 changes (4|.2%) out of a possible 97 to more permis-
siveness.

In the change from more permissive to less permissive
practices in the twelve selected responses, parents of boys
made 23 changes (l4.5%) Out of a possible l59 in the direc-
tion of less permissiveness. Parents of girls made l5 changes
(l0.3%) out of a possible I46 to less permissiveness. The

percentages compared as follows:

93

Parents of Boys Parents of Girls

Toward 35.7% 4I.2%
more permissiveness
Toward l4.5% l0.3%

less permissiveness

There were no substantial differences between number
of changes of parents of boys and parents of girls either
in change toward more permissiveness or in the change to
less permissiveness.

Both parents of boys and parents of girls made more
changes in the direction of permissiveness than changes to-
ward less permissiveness, thus showing a trend in favor of
the hypothesis that parents will change their discipline
practices in the direction of greater permissiveness after
participation in the nursery school program. However, boys'
parents made fewer changes to more permissiveness and more
changes to less permissiveness than did girls' parents,
thus indicating a slight difference in amount of parent
permissiveness in relation to sex of child. Parents of
girls tended to be slightly more permissive in disciplining

girls than parents of boys were in disciplining boys.

Summarye-Chagges in Discipline Practices According to Sex

of Child

The data revealed that sex of child made a slight
difference in the changes made by mothers and by fathers.

Mothers of boys made more changes than fathers of boys,

94

(2.l3 and l8.4 per cent respectively) and showed a slight
trend in favor of the hypothesis. Mothers of girls, how-
ever, made fewer changes than fathers of girls (l8.6 and
l9.2 per cent respectively), and this data did not sup-
port the hypothesis that mothers will make more changes
in discipline practices than will fathers irrespective of
sex of the child.

In the changes regarding nature of permissiveness,
the data showed that

i. There were few differences between number of
changes of parents of boys and parents of girls either in
change toward more permissiveness or in the change to less
permissiveness.

2. Both parents of boys and parents of girls made
more changes in the direction of permissiveness than non-
permissive discipline.

3. These facts showed a trend in favor of the
hypothesis that parents will change their discipline prac-
tices to greater permissiveness after participation in a
nursery school program.

4. Parents of girls made more changes in the direc-
tion of permissive discipline practices and less changes
in direction on non-permissiveness indicating a slight
difference of parent permissiveness in relation to the

sex of the child.

95
Changes in Creative Activities According to Sex of Child

Parents' changes in the total area of creative acti-
vities were analyzed according to the sex of the child en-
rolled. Responses of parents of boys and parents of girls
in situations 3, 4, and 5 (see Appendix, p.l39) were analyzed
to determine whether sex of child was a factor in parents'
provision for greater variety of creative materials.

Reaponses in situations 6, 7, and 9 (See Appendix,
p. I40) were analyzed to discover whether sex of child was
a factor in the hypothesis that parents will gain insight
on the importance of "process over product."

Responses in situations I, 2, and 8 (See Appendix,
p. l39) were analyzed to discover whether sex of child was
a factor in the hypothesis that parents will provide more

appropriate types of materials for their preschool children.
Changes in Provision of Greater Variety of Creative Materials

Situations 3, 4, and 5 read as follows:

3. Do you prefer toys advertised to "teach" a youngster or
do you prefer to let them use appr0priate articles avail-
able at home?

(a; Advertised toys.

b Appropriate home articles.

4. Has your child ever done any
(a; Fingerpainting.
b Easel painting.

(c Spatter painting.
(d Wet chalk painting.
(e Other

96

5. Does your child play with dough at home?
(a; Homemade type dough.

Commercial play dough.
(a) Commercial type clay.

Other.

In the total changes recorded in the responses to
these situations, boys' parents made 77 changes (32.5%)
out of a possible 234 (26 x 9). Girls'.parents made 60
changes (30.3%) out of a possible l98 responses (22 x 9).
These changes were changes in the direction of parents'
providing a greater variety of materials. By situation,

the percentages of change were as follows:

 

 

Bgys' Parents Gjrls' Parents
Situation 3 26.9 9.6
Situation 4 48.0 45.2
Situation 5 l6.6 lO.2
Total changes made 32.5 30.3

Both parents of boys and parents of girls made sub-
stantial changes in the direction of providing greater
variety of materials for children at the time of the sec-
ond interview. Situation four had the greatest number of
changes for both groups of parents. Boys' parents made

slightly more changes than did girls' parents.
Insight Into Importance of Process over Product

ReSponses of boys' parents and of girls' parents
in situations 6, 7, and 9 were analyzed to reveal if sex
of child were a factor in gaining understanding of "process

over product". The situations read as follows:

97

6. When your child plays with clay, do you

(a; Show him realistic models to copy.

(b Let him just play by manipulating it with his hands.
(C) Expect him to make something.

(d Let him use his own ideas to make a product.

7. When your child is cutting, do you
(c) Give him pictures to cut out.
(d) Give him blank sheets of newspaper to cut in any
shapes he wants.
9. Jimmy likes to listen to music on a record player.
Would you
(a) Start him on lessons either on piano or another

instrument.
(b; Buy him children's records for listening.
c

Teach him songs to sing.
(d) Buy or make him simple rhythm instruments to play.

Parents made few changes in these three situations.
Apparently many were aware at the time of the first inter-
view of acceptable child rearing practices in these situa-
tions.

In the second interview parents of boys made l3
changes out of 260 (5.0%) while parents of girls made 22
changes (l0.0%) out of 220. By situation, the percentages

of changes were as follows:

Boys' Parents Girls' Parents

Situation 6 3.8 l2.5
Situation 7 7.6 l3.6
Situation 9 4.8 5.5
Total changes made 5.0 l0.0

All changes were in the direction of more under-
standing of "process over product". Parents of girls
tended to gain more understanding of "process over product"

than did parents of boys.

98
Provision of ApprOpriate Types of Play Materials

ReSponses of boys' parents and girls' parents in
situations l, 2, and 8 were analyzed to indicate any differ-
ence in the two groups of parents in their provision for
more appropriate types of materials for their chtldren.
Situations l, 2, and 8 read as follows:

|. What kind of train would you buy your three year old?
(a Wooden push-pull toy train.
(b Metal wind-up train.

(C) Electric train.

d Paper board train.

2. Do you supply your child with

a; Commercial coloring books.

b Blank sheet of paper for coloring.

(c; Pencil size crayons (Crayo|a" type).

d Half inch wide "kindergarten" crayons.
(e) Magazine pictures to color.

8. Assuming he has none of the following, which would you

choose for your son's birthday?

(a Latest outfit (Ex-Zorro, Lone Ranger, etc.)

b Set of building blocks.

(c) Book of Grim's Fairy Tales.

(d) A tricycle.

Parents of boys had 3| changes (9.l%) out of 338,

and parents of girls had 29 changes (l0.l%) out of 286
in the direction of providing more appr0priate materials
for their children. By situation, the percentage of changes
were as follows:

Boys' Parents Girls' Parents

Situation l 9.6 l4.6
Situation 2 7.6 7.2
Situation 8 lO.5 9.0

Total changes made 9.l lO.l

99

Summary--Creative Activities According to Sex of Child

The data showed that sex of child in this study
made slight differences in the number of changes made by
parents of each sex. Parents of boys had a slightly greater
percentage of change than girls' parents (32.5% to 30.2%
respectively) in providing greater variety of creative
materials for their children.

In regard to gaining insight into importance of
"process over product," girls' parents had a larger per-
centage of changes in direction of more insight then did
boys' parents (l0.0% and 5.0% respectively).

There was almost no difference between the percentage
of changes of boys' parents and of girls' parents (9.|%
and lO.|% respectively) in providing more appropriate
types of creative materials for children.

Although the sex of the child in this study made
some differences in the number of changes made by their
parents in the direction of acceptable practices in creative
activities, the differences were not substantial enough to

be statistically significant.

Changes in Health Practices According to Sex of Child

Enrolled

It was hypothesized that parents will make few
changes in health practices for children because these

will have been quite well established by the time the

lOO

children are ready for nursery school.

In analyzing the data in relation to the sex of the
child enrolled, it was shown that boys' parents made l84
changes (l6.4%) out of a possible lll8 responses (26 x 43
responses). Girls' parents made l54 changes (l6.3%) out
of a possible 946 responses (22 x 43 responses).

Glrls'parents and boys' parents made almost the
same pr0portion of changes (l6.3 and l6.4 per cent respec-
tively), but in pr0portion to the total possible changes
that could have been made, the number of changes were few,
and therefore supported the hypothesis that parents will

make few changes in health practices for their children

regardless of the sex of the child.

CHAPTER IX

PARENTS' CHILD REARING PRACTICES IN THREE AREAS
ANALYZED ACCORDING TO AGE OF CHILD

The 24 children in this study ranged from 2 years
6 months to 4 years, ll months. For analysis of data
according to age of child, the children were divided in-
to two age categories: the younger group consisting of
l2 children aged 2 years, 6 months to 3 years, 5 months,
inclusive; and the older group, I2 children aged 3 years,
6 months to 4 years, ll months, inclusive. These were the
ages as of September I, l958, the beginning of the study.
The age span in the younger group was one year. Although
the older group had a range of l7 months, in effect, the
span was slightly less than a year since only one child
was aged 4 years ll months, and the next oldest was 4 years,
4 months. This division gave two groups equal in size and
of approximately equal spans in age. At the time of the
second interview the younger group ranged from 3 years i
month to 4 years, inclusive, and the older group 4 years,
I month to 4 years, li months inclusive, with the exception
of one child who was 5 years 6 months old.

The data supporting each hypothesis advanced in
this study were analyzed according to age of children. In
this chapter the two hypotheses regarding discipline will
be discussed according to the two different age groups of
children.

lOl

l02
Changes in Discipline Practices According to Age of Child

Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Changes in Discipline.

The first hypothesis in discipline was that mothers
will change their discipline practices more than will fathers.
The data were analyzed for differences between changes of
mothers and fathers of the younger children and of the
older children.

The l2 mothers of the younger group had |O7 changes
in discipline (2|.7%) and l2 fathers had 79 changes (l6.0%)
out of a possible 492 changes each.

The l2 mothers of the older group made 94 changes
in discipline (l9.|%), and the l2 fathers had l04 changes
(2|.l%) out of a possible 492 changes each. The percent-

ages of changes were as follows:

Mothers Fathers
Younger children 2|.7% l6.0%
Older children l9.l% 2|.l%

These findings indicated that age of children tended
to make a difference in the number of changes made. The
hypothesis that mothers will change more than fathers re-
ceived some Support from the findings in the younger group,
but in the older group the hypothesis was refuted when
fathers had more changes than mothers. The difference be-
tween mothers' and fathers' changes was more substantial

in the younger group (5.7%) than in the older group (2.0%).

lO3

Parents' Changes Toward More Permissiveness or Toward
Less Permissiveness
Another hypothesis in the area of discipline was

that parents would change their discipline practices from
a less permissive to a more permissive type after partici-
pation in a parent cooperative nursery school. To test
this hypothesis according to the age level of the children
involved, the same set of l2 selected responses from the
area of discipline was used as in Chapter V. These re-
Sponses were selected because they most clearly indicated
degree of permissiveness or non-permissiveness practiced by
parents. They are recapitulated below.
i. If your child is hitting another child with his fists,

would you:

(a) Spank your child.

(b) Scold your child severely and make him apologize.

2. If a child being hurt is your own, would you:
(d) Forbid him to play with that "rough boy."

3. If your child is hurting another child by wielding an
ob'ect or stick, would you:

(a) Spank him.

(b) Isolate him and keep him indoors.

4. Jimmy has been warned against playing "roughly" in the
living room. He is throwing a ball and barely misses
a fine lamp. Would you:
(a) Take away his bail.
(b) Spank him and send him to his room.

5. Johnny puts his hand in the goldfish bowl, nearly up-
setting it. Would you:
(a) Threaten to give the fish away.

6. Jimmy draws on the walls although having been warned
against such behavior. Would you:
- (a) Spank him for disobeying.

7. If Johnny is purposely destroying a toy belonging to
a brother or sister, would you:
(c) Spank him and explain toy bebngs to his brother.

lO4

9. Johnny, age 4, doesn't want to pick up small blocks
that he has strewn on the floor. Would you:
(a) Threaten him with punishment because "all four

year old boys pick up their toys."

IO. Jimmy, age 4, insists on having the same teddy bear
belonging to his sister. Do you:
(a) Force his sister to give it to him.

Changes to More Permissive Discipline (Table XIII)

The total number of changesTFom less to more per-
missiveness made by parents according to age is as follows:
Parents of the younger group gave l22 non-permissive re-
Sponses for the twelve selected reSponses at the time of
the first interview. Of these l22, parents of the younger
group made 43 changes (35.2%) to more permissiveness. Par-
ents of the older group of children orginally gave l2l non-
permissive responses to the twelve selected reSponses. Of
these l2l, parents of the older group made 48 changes (39.6%)
to more permissiveness.

The differences between the parents of younger
children and the parents of older children were very slight.
The“parents of the older children had a few more changes (5)
to more permissiveness than the parents of the younger chil-
dren.

The conclusion follows that there was no statisti-
cally significant evidence that age of child enrolled was

a factor in the changes parents made to more permissiveness.
According to Table XIII, mothers made more changes

than fathers toward more permissive discipline practices

in both age groups. Mothers of younger and of older chil-

dren made almost the same number of changes. Fathers of

I05
TABLE x111

FATHERS' AND MOTHERS' CHANGES TO MORE PERMISSIVE
DISCIPLINE PRACTICES, ACCORDING
TO AGE OF CHILD

Tounger Group Eider Group

j2_y_r. 6mo. -j yr. 5 mo. 3jr. 6mo. - 4yr. ll mo.
Non Perm. No. of Per Non Perm. No. of Per
Responses Changes Cent Responses Changes Cent
in lst in 2nd of in lst in 2nd of

' Interview Interview Changes Interview Interview Changes

Changes 0f

Fathers to 6| l6 26.2 60 23 38.3
More Per-

missive-

ness

Changes of

Mothers t0 6| 27 44.2 6| 25 40.9
More Per-

missive-

ness

 

Total l22 43 35.2 l2l 48 39.6

older children, however, made more changes than fathers of
younger children.
Changes to Less Permissive_stcipline (Table XIV)

Parents of the younger group marked l66 permissive
symbols for the l2 selected responses at the time of the
first interview. Of these, parents of the younger group
had 28 changes (l6.8%) to less permissiveness. Parents of
the older group marked l67 permissive symbols for the l2
selected responses at the first interview. Of these, par-
ents made 25 changes (l4.9%) to less permissiveness.

The differences between the parents of younger chil-

dren and parents of older children were not significant,

but the parents of younger children showed asNghty greater

|O6

trend to less permissive practices than did the parents
of the older group. There was no statistically significant
evidence that age of child was a factor in the change parents

made to less permissiveness.

TABLE XIV

FATHERS' AND MOTHERS' CHANGES TO LESS PERMISSIVE
DISCIPLINE PRACTICES ACCORDING
TO AGE OF CHILD

 

Yignger Group Oldeg Group 4
2 yr. m0. - 3yr. 5 mo. gyr. mo. - yr.|lmo
Fern-Iissrve No. of er - ermissWe No. of Per
Reaponses Changes Cent Responses Changes Cent

in lst in 2nd of in lst in 2nd of
Interview Interview Chagges Interview IntervievLGIam

 

 

Total change
of Fathers 83 l4 l6.8 84 l6 l9.0
to Less Per-
missiveness

Total change

of Mothers 83 l4 l6.8 83 9 lO.8
to Less Per-
missiveness

Total 'l66 28 l6.8 l67 25 l4.9

 

Table XIV shows the difference between fathers' and
mothers' changes from more permissiveness to less permis-
sive practices according to the age groups of children.
Fathers and mothers of the younger group of children made
exactly the same number of changes (l6.8%) to less permis-
siveness. The fathers and mothers of the older group, on
the other hand, had a difference in percentage of changes

made toward less permissiveness. Fathers had l9.0% changes

lO7

to the mothers' lO.8% toward less permissiveness. However,
the data showed that age differences of a child did not
necessarily affect the trend to less permissiveness of
fathers and mothers except in the case of mothers of older
children. These mothers were more permissive than mothers
of younger children or fathers of either older or younger

children.

Summary of Parents' Discipline Practices Accordingflto Age
of Child

The data and changes in discipline, when analyzed
according to the age of the child, showed that child's age
was a factor in number of changes made by mothers and by
fathers. Mothers of the younger group made more changes
in discipline practices than did fathers. However, in the
older group, fathers made more changes than mothers in
discipline practices. Therefore, only in the younger
group was there support for the hypothesis that mothers
will make more changes than fathers.

The data analyzed also favored the hypothesis that
parents will change from less permissive to more permissive
practices after participation in the Spartan Nursery School,

regardless of the age level of the child.

Changes in Creative Activities Analyzed According to Agg
of Guild ‘
Changes in parents' practices in the total area of

creative activities were analyzed according to the age of

l08

the child. The children were divided into two groups, the
younger and the older (see Chapter 9, p.lOl). Situations
3, 4, and 5 (See Appendix, p. Hi9) were analyzed to deter-
mine whether age of child was a factor in parents' change
toward providing greater variety of creative materials for
their children after involvement in a parent c00perative
nursery school. Situations 6, 7, and 9 (Appendix, p.lZKD)
were analyzed to discover if parents' gain in insight in
the importance of "process over product" was related to
age of child. Situations l, 2, and 8 (Appendix, p. IE9)
were analyzed for evidence that parents will provide more
appropriate types of play materials for preschoolers of

different ages.

Changes in Total Area of Creative Activities

In the total area of creative activities parents
of younger children had l66 changes (20.3%) out of a possi-
ble 8l6 responses, and parents of older children had 2l|
changes (25.7%) out of a possible 8l6 reSponses. Apparently
age of child enrolled had ngMLeffect on the changes made
in creative activities, for parents of older children had
5.4 per cent more changes than the parents of younger chil-

dren.

Changes Toward Providing Greater Variety of Creative Activities
The total changes to the reSponses in situations 3,

4, and 5 for parents of the younger children were 6| changes

lO9

out of 2l6 possible changes (28.2%) in the direction of
providing greater variety of art materials at the time
of the second interview.

Parents of the older children in reSponse to the
same situations 3, 4, and 5 made 69 changes (3|.9%) out
of a possible 2l6 also in the direction of providing
greater variety of art materials. By inspection, there
was no significant difference between the changes of the
parents of younger children and parents of older children.
In the three situations relating to the hypothesis that
parents will provide greater variety of art materials
after involvement in a nursery school, age of children en-
rolled had no impact on the number of changes made at the
time of the secondinterview.

The largest change occurred in situation 4 in
which parents of the younger children made 40 changes
(4|.6%) out of a possible 96 toward providing easel paint-
ing, fingerpainting, Spatter painting, and wet chalk paint-
ing. The number of changes might have been larger, but
some parents of younger children thought spatter painting
too advanced for them, and therefore did not provide it.
Parents of the older children made 50 changes (52.l%) in
situation 4 out of 96 possible changes.

The large numbers of changes in situation four among
parents of both the younger and older children tended to

agree with the substantial number of changes in situation
four for all parents irrespective of ages of children, dis-

cussed on page 66.

llO

Changes Toward Greater Insight into the Importance of
Process Dyer Product

In situations 6, 7, and 9 (See Appendix, pllKD), the
changes made in parents' responses were analyzed according
to the age of the child enrolled to determine whether age
of child was a factor in parents' change toward greater
insight into the importance of process over product.

The total changes in these three situations were 35
(l2.l%) out of a possible 288 for parents of the younger
group, and 50 changes (l8.3%) out of a possible 288 for
parents of the older group.

Situation six reads as follows:

6. n your child plays with clay, do you

2
) Show him realistic models to copy.
Let him just play by manipulating it with his hands.
) EXpect him to make something.

Let him use his own ideas to make a product.
) Other
In situation 6, changes from positive to negative
symbols in responses (a) and (c) indicated change from
"patterning" to "non-patterning". Analysis of responses
showed that between the first and second interviews, par-
ents of the younger group had made in response (a) and (c)
8 changes to negative (6l.5%) from l3 positives and the
older group had made l3 changes to negative (8|.8%) from
l5 positives.
Percentage of parental change in the direction of

less patterning increased with the age level of the child

enrolled in Spartan Nursery School.in clay modeling.

In Spite of the relatively few changes, the percent-
ages of change were high because the number of possible
changes from positive to negative were few. The majority
of parents were already following acceptable nursery school
practices in this situation before participation in the nur-
sery school. The negative responses in (a) and (c) given
in both interviews were as follows: parents of the younger
group had 33 negative responses (68.7%) out of 48, and par-
ents of the older group had 32 (66.6%) out of 48, thus in-
dicating some understanding of this concept. The changes
that did take place were in the direction of gaining insight
into "process oVer product", and may have been influenced
by parents' involvement in the cooperative nursery school.
7. When your child is cutting, do you

(c) Give him pictures to cut out.
(d) Give him blank sheets of newspaper to cut in any
shape he wants.

Situation seven, responses (c) and (d) followed
the same pattern as in situation 6. Most of the few changes
that parents made were in the direction of acceptable nur-
sery school practices, but most parents had followed accept-
able practices before entrance into as well as after parti-
cipation in the cooperative nursery school.

Changes from positive to negative responses in (c)
and changes from negative to positive reSponses in (d) indi-
cated changes in the direction of less patterning expected

in children's cutting activities. Percentage of changes

in (c) and (d) combined were: for parents of younger children

il2

23.8%, for parents of older children, 26.6 per cent.

The Percentages of changes were so similar that they
seemed to indicate that age of child was not a factor in
change of parental practices toward expecting less pattern-
ing in children's cutting activities.

Comparison of responses made for (c) and (d), how-
ever, revealed an apparent inconsistency in the thinking of
parents, (34 out of 48 with the younger children and 32 out
of 48 with the older children), supplied their children with
both pictures and blank sheets of paper as indicated in both
interviews. However, the positive responses to (c) were
qualified in many cases by parents' statements that they
didn't expect the children to cut around the "lines" of a
picture, but simply to cut at random the colors and shapes
the picture might hold.

SituationIfine, (Appendix, p.llKl) deals with music
activities. The data showed some understanding among par-
ents as to the role of music in children's lives. In re-
sponse (a)

9. Jimmy likes to listen to music on a record player. Would
(2): Start him on lessons either on piano or another

instrument.

there was almost unanimous agreement among parents with

children at every age level in this study 323 to start a

child on music lessons. Only two parents of younger children

and one parent of the older children marked positive symbols

at the first interview. They changed them to negative at the

time of the second interview.

l|3

In response (d): Buy him or make him simple rhythm
instruments to play, the majority of parents already appear-
ed to know acceptable practices by positive responses at
both interviews. One parent of a younger child and two
parents of older children gave negative responses at the
first interview. At the time of the second interview, the
parent of the younger child had changed to positive.

The data from situations 6, 7, and 9 showed the
change of parents toward more insight about "process over
product" to be similar for parents of children in both the
younger group and the older group, suggesting that age of
child was not a factor in Change except in Situation 6.

However, it must be mentioned that the number of
changes were too few to be significant according to age
differential. The majority of parents apparently had a

good understanding of this concept, especially in the speci-

fic areas of music, before involvement in a nursery school.

Ehggges Toward Providing_Appropriate Materials for the
Preschooler

In situations l, 2, and 8 . (see Appendix, p.l39),
the changes made in parents' responses were analyzed accord-
ing to age of child to determine if age were a factor in
parents' change to provision of more appropriate play
materials.

The total changes in these three situations were

42 (l3.4%) out of a possible 3l2 for parents of the younger

ll4

group, and 66 changes (2l.|%) out of a possible 3l2 for
parents of the older group.

Situation l dealt with the purchase of toy trains.
Response (a) and (d) were the most desirable, and changes
from negative to positive would lend support to the hypothesis
that parents will provide more appropriate materials for their
children.

In responses (a) and (d) parents of the younger group
at the time of the second interview had changed to 9 positive
responses (50%) out of l8 negative responses given in the
fint interview. Parents of the older group had changed to
9 (56.2%) positive responses out of l6 negative reSponses
given in the first interview.

In responses (b) metal wind-up train, and (c) elect-
ric train, changes from positive to negative were indicative
of greater understanding of appropriateness of play materials.
In this response the parents of the older group made more
changes than parents of the younger group to more appropri-
ate types of trains. In response (b), 3 out of 7 parents
of younger children and 8 out of l2 parents of older chil-
dren changed from positive to negative answers between the
first and second interview.

In response (c) all 24 parents of the younger group
and 20 parents of the older group gave negative responses
in both interviews. Apparently these parents understood
even before contact with a nursery scnool program that

electric trains are too complicated for most preschoolers.

liS

Two parents (fathers) of the two oldest boys in the older
group did indicate in the second interview that they would
purchase an electric train because the parentscommented
they thought these children were now old enough.

In situation i the majority of parents had a good
understanding of what trains are appropriate for preschool-
ers. What changes were made, however, were generally in
the direction of appropriateness lending support to the
hypothesis.

Situation 2 (a) reads: "Do you supply your child
with commercial coloring books." Most of the parents in
both groups did supply coloring books an indicated in both
interviews. There were very few changes indicated to this
response at the time of the second interview: | change for
parents of the younger group and two changes for parsits
of the older group in the direction of not supplying color-
ing books.

There was only one couple with a younger child and
one mother of an older child who did not supply coloring
books either before or after nursery school involvement.
All the other parents did buy coloring books. On this re-
sponse the majority of parents of either age group (2|
parents of the younger group and 20 parents of the older
group) did not budge even after nursery school involvement,
and, therefore, age was no factor in the hypothesis.

In response (e) "magazine pictures to color", there

were five changes toward more appropriateness: i change

ll6

in the parents of younger children and 4 in parents of the
older children. However, there were more changes away from
appropriateness in this response: 4 parents of the younger
group and 4 parents of the older group indicated they would
supply magazine pictures to color. Most of the parents wade
no changes after nursery school involvement: 7 parents of
younger children and 9 parents of older children would not
provide "magazine pictures to color", and ii parents of
younger children and 7 of older children would in both inter-
views. The data on neither age group gave support for the
hypothesis that parents would provide more appropriate play
materials. Of the few changes made, parents of younger chil-
dren tended slightly in the direction of providing less
appropriate materials.

In response (b) "blank sheet of paperfor coloring"
there was only one change (older group) in the acceptable
direction of proViding it. However, the other 47 parents
provided this acceptable material both before and after
nursery school involvement.

In reoponse (c) "pencil size crayons" ("crayola"
type), l7 parents of the younger group and 20 parents of
the oloer group supplied them as indicated in both inter-
views. This was the majority of 48 parents; age differ-
ences of children apparently had little effect nor did
involvement in the nursery school.

In response (d) "half-inch wide "kindergarten

crayons" some negative reSponses were changed to positive.

ll7

Three parents of younger children out of 8 (37.5%) who had
marked a negative symbol at the time of the first interview
changed to positive at the second interview, and seven par-
ents of older children out of l6 changed from negative to
positive (43.7%) at the time of the second interview. By
inspection, there were no significant differences between
age groups in this response, but parents of older children
made more changes than parents of younger children toward
providing more appropriate crayons.

Situation eight presented several choices for an
appropriate play object for a preschool child's birthday.
Changes in reSponse (c), Book of Grim's Fairy Tales seemed
to indicate an understanding of the unsuitabillty of fairy

tales for preschoolers.'

They were not in the majority,
however.

Four parents of young children out of l4 (28.5%)
who had given positive responses changed to negative at
the time of the second interview. Four parents of older
children out of l6 (25.0%) who had given positive responses
changed to negative at the time of the second interview.
These few changes indicated that of the parents who would

use fairy tales at the time of the first interview, few of

them in either age group changed in the acceptable direction

ISee Chapter 6, p. 76.

ll8

0f discontinuing their use.

In response (b) and (d) the majority of the parents
originally accepted the suitability of building blocks (40
parents) and a tricycle (45 parents) for preschoolers.

In (b) there were only 2 changes in parents of younger chil-
dren and two changes in parents of older children, all in
the direction of more appr0priateness in the type of play
equipment for preschool children.

In situations l, 2, and 8 the great majority of
parents originally accepted the suitability of the play
materials in regard to types of trains and building blocks,
but were also accepting of the non-desirable play materials
like coloring books, fairy tales, and pencil size crayons.
They made few changes in these three irrespective of age
of child. Age of child was generally not a factor in parents'

change to more appropriateness in play materials.

Summaryg-Creative Activities According to ége of Child
Enrolled '

There were no significant differences in the data
showing the percentage of change in the direction of pro-
viding greater variety of art materials for children by
age of the child enrolled in nursery school.

In situation 6,7, and 9 dealing with understanding
the child development profeséional's feeling to the need
to stress "process over product" there were no significant

number of changes between parents of the younger and older

|l9

children. Most of them were already accepting nursery school
practices before participation in the nursery school program.*

What changes there were in appropriateness of materials
provided some support to the hypothesis that parents will pro-
vide more appropriate types of materials after nursery school
involvement, but would do so irrespective of the age of the
child enrolled.

The age of the child was not a factor in parents'
providing more appropriate or greater variety of play mater-
ials nor in understanding the importance of process over pro-
duct except in clay modeling. The few changes that occurred
were in the direction of support of the three hypotheses

advanced in this area.

gaggges in Parents' Health Practices in Relation to Age of
Child Enrolled in Nursery School

Data on health practices were analyzed according to
the age of the child to determine whether child's agewas a
factor in number of changes in health practices. The chil-
dren were divided into two groups, the younger and the older
group (see Chapter 9, p. lOl). The supposition was made
that parents would have health practices in relation to
preschoolers established before entrance to nursery school,
and therefore, it was hypothesized that parents will show
slight change in health practices for children.

The twenty-four parents of the younger group had l98

 

*See Chapter 6, p. 7| for discussion of the diffi-
culty of internalizing behavior indicated by the symbols
marked on the interview schedule.

changes (l9.l%) out of a possible l032 changes, while the
twenty-four parents of the older group had |62 changes
(l5.7%) out of a possible l032.

There was no significant difference between the
two groups in percentage of change. When percentages of
change in the two groups were compared, the data showed
that as the child became older, there was a tendency for
parents to make fewer changes in health practices. It
might be interpreted that middle class parents‘ggg concerned
with health practices and try to have them established as
early as possible in the child's life. It would follow,
therefore, that as the child became older, there were few-
er practices that had not been established and hence fewer

changes to be made.

Summary
The hypothesis that parents will show slight change

was further supported by the findings in both groups of
parents. There were only slight differences between number
of changes in the two groups, the parents of older children
tending to have fewer changes then parents of younger chil-
dren. The conclusion was that age of child had only small
effect on number of changes made in health practices, there
being a slight trend toward less change as the child grew

older.

CHAPTER X
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This study was carried out with parents of children
enrolled in the Spartan Cooperative Nursery School, located
on the Michigan State University campus. The Spartan Nur-
sery School is available to the children of married stu-
dents of Michigan State University. Most of these students
live in the married housing units built by Michigan State

for its married student population.

The Problem

The primary objective of this study was to examine
child-rearing practices of families before and after active
participation in a cooperative nursery school for changes of
parental practices in accordance with what professional tea-
chers accept as desirable for a child's optimum development.

The specific objectives of this study were to examine
child rearing practices of fathers and mothers in three
selected areas: discipline, creative activities, and health

practices in relation to children.

Subiects
Subjects in this study were 24 sets of parents of
24 children enrolled in Spartan Nursery School. One of
the criteria for the subjects was that the parents be new
to the nursery school situation. A second criteria was that
the child be enrolled in the Spartan Cooperative Nursery

School at least two full quarters.

l2l

l22

Preparation of Schedule

The schedule contained situations of typical child
rearing practices in three areas: l0 situations in disci-
pline, 9 situations in creative activities, and lO situa-
tions in health practices in relation to children. The
schedule was given to three members of the department of
Home Management and Child Development for evaluation and
criticism. After it was revised, the schedule was admin-
istered to a mother of three yearé= nursery school experience
as.a participating mother, and a mother of young preschoolers
not connected with any nursery school. The schedule was re-

vised again in line with the suggestions they made.

Procedure

The data for this study were collected by the sche-
dule-interview method before and after participation of
parents in the parent education program of Spartan Nursery
School for two full quarters. The first interviews took
place during the month of September, l958, and the second

interviews took place between Winter and Spring quarter,

_ March l959.

Analysis of Data and Findings

The data were analyzed to determine the amount of
change by all parents in all areas. Mothers made more
changes than fathers in the area of discipline and health
practices, but fathers made more changes in the area of
creative activities. None of these changes was statistically

significant when tested by the chi-square test.

1}

l23

This pattern of change might have been due to the
fact that fathers' major participation in the nursery school
was at the "work parties" at which time they often made new
play materials as well as renewed the old ones. This ex-
perience may have contributed to better understanding of
creative activities for preschoolers. Experience at the
school in discipline and health practices for children was
limited for fathers since most of them did not participate
in the teaching program of the school. The mothers did
assist in the teaching program.

The data were analyzed also to reveal parents' changes

according to the hypotheses advanced in each area.

Changes in Discipline Practices

In the area of discipline the first hypothesis stated
that mothers will make more changes than fathers in disci-
pline practices. The data showed a trend in favor of the
hypothesis although the difference was not statistically
significant. The second hypothesis stated that parents
will change from less permissiveness to more permissiveness
in their discipline of young children. Twelve discipline
practices were selected, the responses to which would in-
dicate degree of permissiveness in the parents.

After participation in the Spartan Nursery School,
both fathers and mothers made changes to more permissive
practices which were greater than their changes in the direc-

tion of less permissiveness. The differences are shown in

Table 7, p. 5|.

l24

“l
i: f"

i” In the change to more permissiveness mothers had
a greater percentage of change than fathers. The differ-
ence in amount of change was statistically significant at
the five per cent level. In the change to less permissive-
ness fathers had a greater percentage of change than mothers.

This difference was significant at the one per cent level.

Change In Creative Activitiestractices

In the area of creative activities, three hypotheses
were advanced: that after participation in a cooperative
nursery school program, (I) parents will provide a greater
variety of creative activities for their children, (2)
parents will gain insight into importance of "process over
product for preschoolers, and (3) parents will provide more
appropriate types of play materials.

The findings indicated that parents made changes
between the first and second interview to show that they
provided a greater variety of creative activities after
involvement in a cooperative nursery school. This was es-
pecially true in situation four which had the largest num-
ber of parents' changes in the direction of providing
creative materials like finger painting, easel painting,
Spatter painting and wet chalk painting.

The changes made in responses to situations six,
seven, and nine were considered as evidence of gain in

parents' understanding of the importance of the concept

l25

of "process over product" for preschoolers. The data
showed that many parents, especially in the area of music,
were already following accepted practices. In situation
six, and seven dealing with media like clay and cutting
materials, parents tended to make changes in the direction
of understanding the importance of "process over product",
thus SUpporting the hypothesis. I

In sfiuations one, two, and eight, concerned with
appropriate types of play materials, the data again showed
that many parents were already providing appropriate play
materials for their children. What changes that were made
after participation in the nursery school were in the direc-
tion of providing more appropriate play materials, thus
favoring the hypothesis.

The one exception in this category was coloring books.
The majority of parents provided coloring books not only
before the time of the first interview, but they did not

change their reSponses even after nursery school involvement.
I‘\

l

“77%; ne-largest number of changes in the total area of
creative activities was in situation 4, which dealt with
provision of greater variety of creative activities, es-
pecially in fingerpainting, easel painting, spatter painting,

and wet chalk painting.

Changgs in Health Practices for Children
The hypothesis advanced in this area was that parents

will make few changes in health practices for children. The

l26

supposition was made that parents would already have es-
tablished health practices in relation to their children
before the child entered nursery school.

The data supported this hypothesis. Changes were

few. Reaponseswere similar in both interviews.

Analysis of Data According to ng of Child

There were l3 boys and ii girls in this study. The
data were analyzed to discover if sex of child enrolled in
the nursery school was a factor in the changes parents made

in the three areas of child practices included in this study.

Parental Changes in Discipline According to Sex of Child

The hypothesis that mothers will make more changes
in discipline practices was not supported by the data on
parents of girls. The data on parents of boys showed a
slight trend in favor of the hypothesis.

In support of the hypothesis that parents will change
toward greater permissiveness in discipline, the data showed
that parents of both boys and girls changed in the direction
of more permissiveness, but that parents of girls tended to

be more permissive than parents of boys.

Parental Changes in Creative Activities According to Sex of
22.1.12

The data indicated that sex of child in this study
made only slight differences in the number of changes made

by parents of each sex. Parents of boys had only slightly

greater percentage of change than girls' parents in pro-
viding greater variety of creative materials for their chil-
dren.

In regard to gaining insight into understanding of
the importance of "process oVer product", girls' parents
had a larger percentage of changes in direction of more in-
sight than did boys' parents.

There was almost no difference between parents of
boys and parents of girls in the number of changes toward
providing more appropriate play materials. Both groups
tended to change in the direction of more appropriateness.

Although the sex of the child in this study made
some differences in the number of changes made by their
parents in the direction of acceptable practices in creative
activities, the differences were not substantial enough to

be significant.

Parental Differences in Health Practices for Childrgg,
According to Sex of Chilg

The data supported the hypothesis that parents will
make few changes in health practices afterinvolvement in a
cooperative nursery school. Sex of child in this area made
very little difference in the responses made by parents
with boys' parents making only a slightly larger percentage

of changes than girls' parents.

l28

Analysis of Data According to Age of Child

The ages of children in this study ranged from 2
years 6 months to 4 years ll months at the beginning of
the study. They were divided in two groups of twelve L
children each with an almost eQual age span of approxi-
mately one year. The data were analyzed in the three
areas to discover if age of child were a factor in par-

ents' changes.

Parental Changes in Discipline Practices According to Agg
of Child

The data on change in discipline practices showed
child's age may have been a factor in number of changes
made by parents. Mothers of the younger group made more
changes than fathers, thusshowing a trend in favor of the
hypothesis that mothers will change their discipline prac-
tices more than fathers. In the older group, however,
fathers made more changes than mothers.

In the second hypothesis regarding permissiveness
in discipline practices there was no statistically signifi-
cant evidence that age of child was a factor in changes
parents made to more permissiveness or to less permissive-
ness. Difference between parents of younger and of older
children were slight, with parents of older children show-
ing a few more changes toward more permissiveness and fewer
changes to less permissiveness than the parents of younger

children. The data on both groups of parents favored the

l29

hypothesis that parents will change from less to more
permissive discipline practices after participation in

a cooperative nursery school.

Parental Changes in Creative Activities According to Age
of Child

In support of the hypothesis that parents will pro—
vide greater variety of creative activities after partici-
pation in a cooperative nursery school, the data showed
that both parents of the older group and of the younger
group changed in the direction of providing greater variety
of materials to their children, irrespective of their ages.

In regard to gaining insight for the concept of
"process over product", the data indicated that the majority
of parents of both the younger and older children were already
following acceptable practices, indicating their understand-
ing of this concept at the time of the first interview. The
changes that were made were toward more insight into process
over product, but were similar for both parents of the younger
group and parents of the older group suggesting age of child
was not a factor except in situation six. In situation nine
on music activities, age of child was again not a factor. The
majority of parents had a good understanding of music activities
for preschoolers, and few changes were made.

The data analyzed in situations l, 2, and 8 toward
provision of appropriate types of play materials indicated

that a large majority of parents of younger and of older

l3O

children originally accepted the suitability of play
materials in regard to types of trains and building blocks.
Parents also accepted the use of the less desirable color—
ing books, fairy tales, and pencil size crayons. In these
few changes were made irrespective of age of child.

The changes in the direction of providing appropri-
ate play materials were very similar for parents of the
younger group and parents of the older. Age was not a
factor in parents' change except for parents of older chil-
dren in regard to changing to the specific type of play

material called "large kindergarten crayons".

Changes in Health Practices According to Age of Child

The data showed that parents made few changes in
the area of health practices, and that parents' responses
were very similar in both interviews. Parents of younger
children, however, made more changes than parents of older
children, thus indicating that age of child may have been

a factor in parents' changes.

Conclusions

Participation in a cooperative nursery school tended
to effect changes in parents' child-reanng practices in
discipline and creative activities but not in health
practices. Parents' experiences in the school tended to
increase their permissiveness in discipline, provide greater
variety and appropriateness of creative materials, and en-

courage better understanding of "process over product".

l3l

Health practices had been established earlier, and experi-
ence in the nursery school had almost no effect. Mothers'
greater involvement through teaching tended to effect more
changes in discipline for them than for fathers, particular-

ly in the direction of becoming more permissive.

L)
‘fiKF
lead them to greater insight into variety, appropriateness,

//Fathers' involvement in "work parties" seemed to

and use of creative play materials for children.

(:The sex of the child was a slight factor in changes
made in the three areas. Parents of boys changed less in
the direction of permissiveness in disciplining boys than
parents of girls did in disciplining girls. The parents
in this study appeared to be more inclined to administer
harsher punishment to boys than to girls:)

In creative activities the very slight difference
between parents of boys and of girls indicated that parents
were interested in providing creative materials for their
children irrespective of their sex.

In the area of health practices little difference
between parents' changes seemed to indicate that parents
trained their boys and girls equally in health habits.

r7;;/’The age of the child may have been a factor in par-
ents' changes in the areas of discipline, creative activities,
and health practices for children. Apparently, as a child
grew older, the parents could use reasoning and talking in

discipline rather than a less permissive practice such as

'32

h
\i

‘\

‘Typhysical punishment. Many parents expressed this View in
3 their additional comments written on the schedule. The
experiences in the nursery school offered a great many
varieties of creative materials to children. Parents
apparently adapted many of them to home use, eSpecially
for the older children who were more mature and could en-
joy more complicated types of art materials. In the Specific
area of music, where age was not a factor in parents' change,
the general availability of children's record players and
inexpensive children's records may have favored their use
since early childhood. The high educational level of the
parents in this study may also have been a factor in general
appreciation of providing music in the home.
25¢ In health practices the decreasing number of changes
made by the parents of older children reflected the thinking
of authorities of child development that middle class parents
tend to establish health practices for their children in early

Childhood.

Suggestions For Future Stugy

i. The writer intended to analyze the data to
discover if ordinal position of the child in the family
were a factor in parents' changes to the responses in the
three areas included in this study, However, of 24 chil-
dren included in this study, l8 were first born, and the
remaining six were second children. This uneven division

of subjects did not warrant analysis according to ordinal

l3}

position of the child. It would be interesting in a future
study with a sample adequate for the purpose to analyze the
data to discover if ordinal position of child in a family
were a factor in child-rearing practices of parents.

2. Another aspect to be included in a study using
the type of data used in this study would be analysis in
relation to the number of children in the family to dis-
cover if this would enter -into parents' change in child-
rearing practices.

3. Another analysis of data of this type that might
yield significant findings would be the analysis of responses
by families to discover the number of changes made by each
family. Would certain families make most of the changes or
would changes be scattered among all families? The charact-
eristics of families who make the greatest and least change
might then be investigated to discover what types of families
profit most and least by experience in a cooperative nursery
school program.

4. It was observed that teaching parents needed re-
minding in the importance of "process over product" at the
clay tables, although their written reSponses indicated they
understood this concept.' A study of interest would be to
check for differences between written reSponses made by par-
ents to a schedule-interview and the actually observed be-
havior of parents participating in the nursery school pro-

gram.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alschuler, Rose H. (ed.). Children's Centers. National
Commission For Young Children, New York: William
Morrow and Company, l942.

Baruch, Dorothy, Parents and Children Goyto School. Chicago:
Scott, Foresman and Company, l939.

Benedict, Ruth, Nursery Schools in Relation to American Cul-
ture Pattern. Kingston, Rhode Island: M.A.N.E.
Distri5ution Center, University of Rhode Island, l948.

Boulding, Elise, "The Cooperative Nursery and the Young
Mother's Role Conflict," Marriage and Family Living,

November, l955, p. 305.

Burchinal, Lee G. and Hawkes, Glenn R. ”Home Interviews
with Families," Journal of Home Economics: Vol.

49’ I957.

Chittenden, Gertrude, et ai, Essentials of Nursery Education,
Kingston, Rhode-TsTand: M.A.N.E. fiisfFTbufion
Center, University of Rhode Island, I957.

Davis, Allison W. and Havinghurst, Robert J. Father of
the Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,TT9E7.

Edwards, Alien L., Statistical Analysis, New York: Rine-
hart and Company, Inc., F946TV,

Foster, Josephine C. and Mattson, Marion L., Nurser School
Education. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.,

1939.

Click, Paul C., American Families. New York: John Wiley
and Sons, Inc., l95 .

b//Green, Marjorie M. and Woods, Elizabeth L. A Nursery School
figndbook for Teachers and Parents. Sierra Madre,
CaTiforni§:_—Sierra Madre Community Nursery School
Association, l948. ,0, ,
W4 Cpl/I55
Johnston, Norejane, A Comparison of Mgthers' and Fathers'
Practices in Guiding Their Children in Regard to
Independence,_Choice ofeiTay MaferTaTs, Sel
Assertion and—Ubedience, Unpublished Masters Thesis,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan,
i95i.

l34

|35

Jones, Helen M. (ed.). Our Cooperative Nursery School.
Silver Spring, Maryland: S Iver Spring Nursery
School, Inc., I949.

Kotinsky, Ruth and Witmer L. Helen (eds), P rsonalit in
the Makin . The Fact-findin Midcenfiur White House
Conference on Children and—YOUEH. New York:

Harper & Brothers: I952.

 

 

Landreth, Catherine, The Psychology of Early Childhood.
New York: Alfred A. Knoph, I95

National Society for the Study of Education, Part II:
Earl Childhood Education. Forty-sixth Yearbook,
Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press,
I947.

Ogburn, William F. and Nimkoff, Meyer F., Technology and
the Chan in' Famil . Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton-
Miffl n Company, i955.

Page, Elizabeth and Garlick, Betty, Guides For Teaching
in a Coo erative Nurser School. East LansTng,
Michigan: Michigan Staie University, I953.

Parent Coo erative Presc ooIs of America Newsletter, Vol.

, , more,v ary an pr , .

Parent Coo erative Preschools of America N wsletter, Vol.
I, fio. 3, Baltimore, Maryland: Fosier aha Mattson,
November, I958.

Read, Katherine, The Nurser -School: A Hpman Relationships
Laborator . second edition, Philade ph a: . B.
Saunders Company, l955.

, Katherine H. What About Cooperative Nursery Schools?
Kingston, Rhode s an s r but on
Center, University of Rhode Island, l950.

Ridenour, Nina. $ome Special Problems of Children.
Philadeiph a, ennsy van a: e Nat ona ental

Health Foundation, Inc., I947.

      

 

Seeling, Martha, "Education in a Democratic Society”, Leavitt,
Jerome (ed.). Nurser -Kinder arten Education. New
York: McGraw-Hlll Book Company, inc., l953.

Slotkin, J. 8., P rsonalit Develo ment. New York: Harper
& Brothers, i§5§.

l36

V/’/Symonds, Percival M. The Dynamics of Parent-Child Rela-
tionships. New York: Bureau of Publications,
Teachers College, Columbia University, I949.

Taylor, Katharine W. "Cooperative Nursery Schools Educate
Families," Teachers College Record. Teachers College,

 

Columbia University, March, i953.

, Katharine W., Parent Cooperative Nursery Schools.
New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College,
Columbia University, I954.

(Thorpe, LQuis, Child Psychology and DeveIOpment. New York:
The Ronald—Press Company, T946.

Wolf, Katherine M. The Controversial Problems of Discipline.
New York: The Chde'Study AESociation 6? America,

i953.

APPENDIX A

Schedule and Cover Sheet Used

in This Study

|38

G n o t

Age of parent....al... Sex 0f Parent........
How many years of schooling completed?. -. . . . . .Father. . . . . . .Mother. . . . .
Any other children in the family? Older;..s...l....Younger...ii....s
Age of child to be entered in the Spartan Nursery School.............

What experiences have you had with pre-school children (ex. camps,
church activities, etc.)?

Have you taken any courses relating to child development?

PSYChOIOgyoeeeeoeeeeeeeeeeeeesee Child Developments-0000.000...
SOCiOlogeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoee EducationOOOOOOooo000000000000
Nursery School Education......... Family Life courses...........

Otheruuuu.........o.o.......

.l

.0.

i 39
sci e

Directions: Indicate by a cross ( ) the practices you mgd follow;
by zero (0) the ones you would 92E.

1. If your child is hitting another child with his fists, would
you:
$33 Spank your child.
__ b Scold your child severely and make him apologize.
(c) Hold him, and say, "You must not do that to Jinmy. It hurts."
(d; Separate the children and ignore the whole affair.
(e Soothe the hurt child 3 start your child doing something else
away from the other children for a short time.
(f) Other means (or comments) if any.

 

2. If a child being hurt is your own, would you:

Sag Separate youngsters for the rest of the day.

b Separate them and explain: "Don't let Johnny do that to you."
Encourage him to defend himself.

(a) Explain that Johnny was perhaps tired and suggest a new
diversion that starts a new line of activity.

éd) Forbid him to play with that "rough boy."

e) Other means (or comments) if any.

 

3. If your child is hurting another child by wielding an object or
stick, would you:
(a) Spank him.
(b) Isolate him and keep him indoors.
(c) Explain that if he uses any object to hurt another child,
the object will be taken away from him. Explain why. _
(d) Suggest a new activity incorporating the object used in a
safe manner.
(e) Other means (or comments) if any.

 

1.. Jimnw has been warned against playing "roughly" in the living
room. He is throwing a ball and barely misses a fine lamp.
Would you:

(3) Take away his ball.

(b) Spank him and send him to his room.

(c) Remind him of the rules and suggest another place for him to
play ball. .. . the yard or basement.

(d) Suggest a quiet game instead.

(e) Other means (or canments) if any.

5.

I40

Johnny puts his hand in the goldfish bowl, nearly upsetting it.

would you:

_(a) Threaten to give the fish away.

_(b) Put bowl down on floor and give him a chance to see and
touch the goldfish.

“(c) Explain how'fish need to exist in water and let him feed
them.

(d) Other'means (or comments) if any.

6.

7.

8.

Jimmy draws on the walls although having been warned against

such behavior. would you:

_(a) Spank him for disobeying.

:(b) Explain walls are not for drawing pictures and give him
something on which he can draw, either a blackboard or
large pieces of paper.

*(c) Buy him his own crayons and pad of paper for drawing.

:(d) Other means (or comments) if any.

If Johnny is purposely destroying a toy belonging to a

brother or sister, would yelu

_(a) Let the children fight it out.

:(b) Give him something he can "destroy" or tear up, etc. and
try to understand why he wants to destroy sibling's toy.

:Ec) Spank him.and explain toy belongs to his brother.

d) Try to give him.a duplicate toy of his own to destroy if
he wishes.

.___(e) Other means (or comments) if any.

What methods of discipline do you usually use?

(a) Spanking the child when needed.

(b) Removal of privileges, such as watching a favorite TV program.

9.

(c) Isolation in his room.
(d) Withdrawal of "loving him" until he learns "how'to behave."

____(e) Threaten the child with punishment if he repeats undesirable

behavior.
_(f) Scolding child.
:(g) Other means (or comments) if any.

Johnny, age 4, doesn't want to pick up small blocks that he

has strewn on the floor. 'Wbuld you:

_(a) Threaten him.with punishment because "all four year old
boys pick up their toys."

*(b) Bribe him.by offering a sweet if he picks them.up.

l4l

 

{cg Get down and "help" him pick up blocks.

Play a game and pretend they are something else to be
picked up as for a trip, etc.

_____(6) Other means (or We) it arm.

10. Jim, age 1., insists on having the sametsddy hear belonging
to his sister. Do you:
(a; Force his sister to give it to him.
b Find him a substitute animal toy to have as his own.
___(c) Suggest that he offer a toy to his sister in exchange for
using the teddy bear.
:(d; Arrangean "exchange" of toys for one day.
(e Other means (or cements) if any.

MW

I 42
”tive Actiflflep

Directions: Place a cross (X) to indicate a positive answer, a serotO)
to indicate a negative answer.

1. What kind of train muld you buy your three year old?

(a) Wooden push-pull toy train.
(b) Metal wind-up train.
c) Electric train.
((1) Paper board train.
(9) Other.

2. Do you supply your child with
(a) Cannercial coloring books.
(b) Blank sheet of paper for coloring.
(0; Pencil size crayons ("Crayola" type).
d Half inch wide "kindergarten crayons .
a) Magazine pictures to color.

(1) Other

---l

3. Do you prefer toys advertised to "teach” a youngster or do you prefer
to let them use appropriate articles available at home?
(a) Advertised toys.

(b) Appropriate heme articles.

 

1.. Has your child ever done any
(a) Finger-putting

(b) Easel painting.

(3) Spatter painting.

d) Wet chalk painting.

6) Other

 

5. Does your child play idth dough at home?
(a) Homemsde type dough.
(b; Comercial play dough.
c Comercial typo clay.

(d) Other.

6. “man your child plays with clay, do you
Is) Show him realistic models to copy.

lb) Let him Just play by manipulating it withhis hands.
c; Expect him to make someti'iing.

 

____ld Let him use his on ideas to make a product.
(0 Other

 

0‘

'¢

 

143 5

7. When your child is cutting ,, do you
(a) Let him use only small blunt scissors.
(b) Let him use any available scissors.
(c) Give him pictures to cut out .
(d) Give him blank sheets of newspaper to cut in any shapes
he mntSe
(e) Other.

8. Assuming he has none, which would you choose for your son's
irthday?
._-"__(a) Latest outfit( Eerorro, Lone Ranger, etc.)
(b) Set of building blocks.
c) Book of Grim's Fairy Tales.
_ d) A tricycle.
(e) Other.

9. Jimmy likes to listen to music on a record player. Would you
(a) Start him on lessons either on piano or another instrument.
(b) B uy him children's records for listening.

(c) Teach him songs to sing.

(d) Buy him or make him simple rhyttm instruments to play.

6) Other.

He th e

Directions: Place a cross(x) for positive answers, a zero (0) for
negative ones.

1. Does your child have
(a) A plvsical check-up at regular intervals.
(b) A dental check-up at regular intervals.
(c) A regular schedule for immization shots.
(d) A visit to the doctor in an emergency only.
(e) Other

2. Do u insist that your child
(a Usually wash his hands before eating.
2b) Usually wash his hands after he has used the toilet.
c) Usually brush his teeth at least once a day.
(d) Usually cover his mouth when he coughs.
(e) Usually use a handkerchief or kleenex when necessary.

3. How do you "check" on him (for the activities above in No. 2)?
(a) Ask him.

(b) Watch him to see that he does it.

EC) Help him do if"

d) no it for him.

(8) Other

 

:44

h. After your child has been successfully toilet trained, co you
(a) Help your child when he uses the toilet.
(b) Help him only if he requests it.
(c) Remind him to use the toilet.
(d) Let him decide when he needs to go to the bathroom.
(e) Other.

5. would you keep your child home from school if
(a) He has the first sign of a sniffle.
(b) The symptoms develop into a cold.
(c) He3s listless and fatigued; otherwise appears all right.
(d) His throat looks unusually red.
(6) Other

 

6. Do you put your child
(a) 1o bed at a regular time at night.
(b) To nap or rest at a regular time each day.
(c) To nap or rest only when he acts unusually tired.
(d) To bed at night when he becomes sleepy.

7. If our child "snacks" betweenumeals, does he have
(a) Fruit
(b) Milk
(c) Cake or sweets
(d) Cookies or crackers
(e) Soft drinks.
(f) Other

8. In dressing your child do you usually
(a) Dress him.almost entirely.
(b) Let him do some of it for himself.
(c) Insist that he do the entire job himself.
(d) Help him.with difficult parts.
(e) Give him.praise for honest effort.

9. If four*year old Johnny has an accident before he reaches the bath-
room, do you

(a) Spank him.and explain why;

(b) Simply clean up, and tell him.that next time he'll probably
get to the toilet on time.

(c) warn him that you'll spank him "next time" if he's not more careful.

(d) Help him clean up and suggest that the next time he should go to
the toilet as soon as he feels the need.

(e) Other.

10. Four year old Johnny dislikes dressing himself. would you

(a) Force him to dress himself while you stank and watch.

(b) Help him.with the more difficult parts, but tell him.you expect
him.to do the easier parts.

(c) Tell him he prObably is not a four year old because he is acting
like a three year old. Say no more.

(d) Praise him.for dressing himself, meanwhile giving him.more help if
he's tired.

APPENDIX 8

Symbol of the Spartan COOperative
School

Michigan State University

I45

I46

PROGRAM AND POLICIES
OF THE

SPA RTAN NURSERY SCHOOL

MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE

 

CHILDREN

APPENDIX C
Newsletter Sent to Parents of
Spartan Cooperative Nursery School

Michigan State University

:47

I 48 Dec. 6, 1957

Dear

 

Fall term has gone rapidly with many happy experiences
for all and more fun ahead.

ngk Partigg have been fun and many worth while projects

were completed along with the very necessary cleaning

and repair jobs. We have several new shelves built and

painted at work parties which will help to take care of

our serious storage problem. Some good ideas for projeets

0 I g for future work parties have been suggested. Every family
( w has contributed in some way to the up keep of the nursery

Q, 0 0 school thus this very valuable work party time.

 

@0 Our Social Function on Nov. 16th was a great success even
0 ?\ if we did have to compete with a very interesting
g C Notre-Dame - Oklahoma game. This time to visit with
each other infomally over very tasty hot chocolate and
0 delicious home braked goodies made for a very special
\\ “433} occasion.
‘ $0 . We enjoyed them so much that some of our Mom‘s thought
°\ 1 you'd like to "swap" some recipes , so enclosed are
several recipes. Save them and share yours with us and
perhaps we can compile a Spartan Nursery Recipe Book be-

' fore too long.
a / a: /
fir / We are looking very Christmasy at S.N.S. these days. We
\/ o hepe you noticed how nice the locker rooms h've looked.
£5 31$. These decorations are things that can be made very easily
$14» at home. If you have any Christams ideas, or items please
{’// / U 9 bring them over so others can see them too. All these items
440 will, of course, be returned when school is out for Christ-
0 o mas Vacation. Carol Edwards and Dolores Niemczyk have arranged
this display with the help of many others sharing .theiriidese. The
children have enjoyed these pretty "decorachums."

The Christmas Trees again have been fun to have to decorate. They again are gifts
of the American Legion Auxiliary. each year for many years, they h vs wanted us to
have these trees for the children and have given us the money to buy our own trees.
For the past several years we have taken the children to the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Samuel Cardone, L133 S. Hagadorn Rd. to select their trees. we took all groups
this year and they enjoyed driving or walking down the lane and thru the field to
the grove of pine trees and then the search to find the right tree, the conference
and final decision to out. Then with a rope tied on, the rope gang pulled the tree
back to the cars. What fun! we appreciate Mrs. Cardone's patience as she went
three times with 5 different groups to get three tree's. The third tree is £93_
the birds - really. Group V is concentrating on things they can decorate it with so
the birds can have a Christmas too.

We left many pretty trace out in the woods, so if you've been wondering where to i
find your tree, this may be the answer.

We appreciate the American Legion Auxiliary ladies doing this for us. They have
done many things for us including purchasing some records for the children's use.
We had a pleasant afternoon with than in November when many of them came with Juice
and cookies and had a "tea" with a .. N 'V “P we a good way for them to see our
PrOgram, and children in action and ‘.-' g. ‘n 1 “perience for all.

I49

Since we are getting a Christmas spirit, we would like to have you come on the
children's last day of Nursery School for this term and join in our fun. If
morning groups come arond 10:30, we would like you to have juice with the children.
This is a time when we like families to be together so younger and older children
are invited to our very simple party. Afternoon group come at 3:15.
Time for partiejs are as follows:

Group I Friday, Dec. 13 - 10:30 a.m.

Group II Friday, Dec. 13 — 10:30 a.m.

Group III Thrusday, Dec. 12 — 10:30 a.m.

Group IV Thrusday, Dec. 12 - 10:30 a.m.

Group V Thrusday, Dec. 12 - 3:15 p.m.

- Your treasurer, Barb Maelntosh would like to remind you that we have our Toothbrush
Kits, now on sale for 20¢. Severa1.Mom's have suggested that they make nice little
items to tuck in the Christmas stockings. Several children have enjoyed making the
purchases.

Your Council would like to mention that a Rummage Sale has been scheduled for Mon.
Feb. 10th. So when you're going thru your things, save items of clothing, toys,
household goods, etc. for our rummage sale. You'll be hearing from.your parent
committee after the holiday about how you can help.

Your staff will be at school on Dec. 16 and 17 to work together. If you would like
to plan a time to visit with your child's teacher about his N.S. experience, please
set a time so we'll be sure to be free.

we are giving out fee cards for next term in compliance with a request from the
Comptroller's office. They have asked us to ask you, to please pay this by the
second week of Nursery School.

School Re-opens:
Your staff will be back in East Lansing on Jan. 2 but will be attending a workshop

for staff members in the College of Home Economics. we will be back at the Nursery
School on Mon. and Tues. Jan. 6 and 7. Children will return on wed. and Thu;§.,
Jan. 8 an 9.

Participation schedules are up for next tenm so sign up now for your teaching days.
Please try to get the first few days signed in - it helps us so much.

Students:

The many fine students who have been helping us this term will not be with us after
next week. we shall miss them. we know you and your children will. we know you
join us in wishing them.success in their future University work and their profess-
ional and personal lives.

1e really have appreciated the many ways they have helped us and know that as your
regular teacher and two parents are struggling to get 15 pairs of boétsoon next
term, we‘ll especially appreciate what they contributed.

o c.
O
we all join in wishing Em 32m 1‘0? Y0“ and W‘
C

      
 

     
     

your families. 0 \ h;-
Betty Garlick 0 ~ /’fl—
Mariella Aikman o , .A
Priscilla Bevens " P rér/
Vera Borosage /L\-,\ '\ @0671 o ‘3
Sally Svec *2 \

APPENDIX D
Typical Calendar Arranged by
Spartan Nursery School's Parent Council

and Teachers

'50

Mar. 3

‘J

Apr.
Apr. 5

Apr. 6

Apr. l5
Apr. l5
Apr. 20
Apr. 2|

Apr. 23-25

Apr. 27
May l
May 4
May 5
May 9
May ll-l2
May l8
May 23
May 25
June l
June IO

June ll

l5l
Spartan Nursery School
Calender for Spring Term l959
Teachers return to Nursery School.
Groups begin.
Dad's and children's party. Sunday 2:00-4:00 p.m.
‘Seminar in Child Develogment 8:l5 - IO:OO p.m.
Group Meetings 8:00 - lO:OO p.m. at Spartan Nursery
Groups I and II Monday School
Groups III and IV Wednesday
Seminar in Child Devel0pment 8:5! - lO:OO p.m.
Area III M.C.C.N. Meeting in Jackson, Michigan.
Tuesday evening.
Midwestern Association for Nursery Education Con-
ference in Madison, Wisconsin. Staff attending -
Students in charge.
Group Meeting - Groups V and VI
Work Party. Friday 7-9 p.m.
Seminar in Child QeveIOpment 8zl5 - lO:OO p.m.

Combined Coffee Hour for new and old Spartan
Nursery School Council Officers

Work Party. Saturday 9-ll a.m.

M.C.C.N. Meeting at Kellogg Center, M.S.U. No
school for children.

Seminar in Child Devel0pment 8:l5 - IO:OO p.m.
Work Party. Saturday. 9-ll a.m.
Rummage Sale. Monday. Nursery School will be held for

children of parents working at the sale.
Seminar in Child Development 8:l5 - lO:OO p.m.
Family Picnic for Groups I, III and IV

Family Picnic for Groups II, V and VI

APPENDIX E

 

Topics for Parent Seminar

As Requested by Parents

l52

l5}

TOPICS FOR STUDY BY SEMINAR
Settling di3putes (How much adult intervention?)

Permissiveness - defining limits - consistency - rules
asking permission - Making and enforcing rules.

Effect of various disciplines on personality development -
permissiveness vs. rigid training.

Stimulating children's thinking (problem solving)

Crying - How to treat whining - when not a part of a
physical hurt.

Sibling relationship - how to promote friendship.

How much rearranging of the household do you do for children?
Explaining death and birth to children.

Eating a enjoyment - selection - manners.

Cartoons - TV - Fairy Stories.

Protection from strangers without fear.

Dates for Topics to be discussed.
(by number)

April 20 (3-2)
May 4 (llulO)
May l8 (l-5-6)
June I (4-8)

APPENDIX F
Formulas for the Chi-square test

and the "t" test

l54

l55

Formula for the Chi-square test:l
/"'

X? = 5.10 - e)2

/
,“M/
e f://

Formula for the "t" test:2

tzpl- p2
6"(p'- p2)

 

 

IEdwards, Allen L., Statistical Analysis, New York:
Rinehart and Company, Inc., I946, p. 204.

2Ibid, p. l82.

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9 Oct 59

 

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