Fathers’ parenting practices and the children’s cognitive development from three through five years; a case for Mityana district, Uganda

Cognitive development begins right from birth, and as a child develops with time his/her mental abilities increase, depending on stimuli and people he/she interfaces with. The research study focused on examining the fathers’ parenting practices and the children’s cognitive development from three through five years of Mityana District. The study used a cross sectional research design and data was generated using focal group discussions, interview guides and child behavior rating scale. The study revealed that there were various parenting practices among fathers’ which contribute to the Children’s development of language, problem solving skills as well as growth in intelligence from three through five years. After the Pearson correlation coefficient statistics was done it was established Fathers’ parenting practices and Children’s concept development were found to have a very positive relationship (r=0.417, p<0.05), Fathers’ parenting practices and Children’s development of language were found to have a significant positive relationship (r=0.532, p<0.05) and Fathers’ parenting practices and children’s problem solving were found to have an average positive relationship (r=0.380, p<0.05).Arising out of the findings, the study recommends that fathers’ parenting programs be put in place to help them commit more quality time with their children for better mental development.