Abstract
Father involvement is linked to children's positive developmental outcomes in social-emotional development, cognitive development, and academic achievement (Wilson & Prior, 2011). While previous research in relation to children's development focuses on mother´s involvement, current research on father´s involvement continues to grow. Research reveals evidence-based strategies for increasing the quality and quantity of time fathers spend with their children to help support development (Wilson & Prior, 2011). Research also suggests that fathers who attend parenting workshops show increased involvement with their child (Doherty, Erickson, Farrell & La Rossa, 2006). The current project sought to inform fathers about how increasing involvement with their children could benefit children's overall development, as well as provide tools for fathers to help support them in increasing involvement. Research was disseminated through the development and implementation of a Father Involvement Workshop. A variety of sources were used to compile materials for the current project including: articles, books, literatures reviews, and parent education materials. These sources provided research from the fields of child development and early childhood education, as well as parent education courses. This information was used to provide a foundation for the workshop that discussed the topics of father-child attachment, socialemotional development, cognitive development, academic achievement, and coparenting practices. The workshop was reviewed by experts in the field, then presented to a group of 20 fathers of preschool children. Fathers´ evaluation of the workshop verified it was resourceful and beneficial to fathers in attendance and most participants reported learning new information. This reveals a need for additional implementation of workshops to help support increased father involvement.