Sharing Web Resources

The National Association for the Education of Young Children
http://www.naeyc.org/
(Review also the position statements: http://www.naeyc.org/positionstatements

 

The website that I chose to study was NAEYC. This website is a very common website to teachers and families. This organization supports early childhood care, teachers, and families with their efforts of nurturing and caring for young children. I am a member of naeyc and receive a monthly newsletter that I appreciate. This week I researched an article that shared the importance of family engagement. In many of our childcare centers, we see that families are important and are very much involved in their children’s education. I’ve noticed that programs are even requiring families to participate in the planning, organizing, and implementing a family engaged curriculum. The article I red shares the importance of family engagement.

Engaging Diverse Families:

This article shared 6 effective principles that support family engagement in preschool programs and environments.  Principle 1: Programs invite families to participate in decision making and goal setting for their child. This principle encourages families to act as advocates for their children. Parents are encouraged to participate in making individual education plans for their children. During orientation, it is the time for parents to share with the teacher about their family’s culture and beliefs. During conferences, parents have the opportunity to engage in a joint goal-setting process.

Principle 2: Teachers and programs engage families in two-way communication. Communication is very necessary between the teacher and the parent. During all forms of communications, information is exchanged. The article shares that environments have to be warm and welcoming to parents in order for a relationship to be established. Families are more likely to become involved when they feel warm and accepted at their children’s schools. The best way to communicate is always in the family’s home language. With the large scale of diversities, teachers and classroom must have staff that is able to communicate in a second language. Amongst the many ways of communicating, 2 ways stand out the most. Face to face communication, and written communication. Face to face communication takes place when the teacher meets with the family in their home during home visits. Face to face takes place during parent-teacher conferences. Personally I would prefer that face to face communication. I believe that face to face is warmer and inviting than any other type of communication. It is also a more personal style of communication. Written communication takes place during daily logs, handouts, bulletin boards and therefore. Written communications are great for infant toddler programs. Parents are able to take information home that shares their child’s day.

Principle 3: Programs and teachers engage families in ways that are truly reciprocal. This principle allows teachers to educate their children and their families. During this time, the teacher collects important information which allows them to incorporate into the curriculum and lesson planning. The article shared how the Rainbow School and Sunnyside child Care Center at Smith share their parents unique gifts with the children and families of their school. Many parents have special talents and gifts that are shared. Some of their families have the gift of music. These families are able to schedule days to come in and perform music selections for the children. Another great way to engage families is to share the life of the staff. There are centers that have photos of their staff posted by their classrooms and a small bio about the staff. It’s great to share with families the life that their children’s teachers have. Providing staff updates and successes makes programs a more family oriented which leads to bring families and staff more closely together.

Principle 4: Programs provide learning activities for the home and the community. This principle focuses on sharing community resources with families. Communicating with families about the many resources that are available for their children such as libraries, parks and recreations, book stores, children concerts are great ways to encourage parents to further support and engage in their children’s learning experiences. Offering adult education course is another great way to support families in supporting their children by receiving a higher or better education. There are many families who are divers and speak a second language. Offering ESL courses during the evenings would be a great program tool for bettering families.

Principle 5: Programs invite families to participate in program-level decisions and widen advocacy efforts. The NAEYC understands the importance that families play in their children’s lives. Family members are welcomed and invited to be a part of and sit on formal boards and become the voice of key decisions regarding program policies, tuition process, and staff decision planning. Parents are also invited to be actively engaged in social and educational planning. The article shared how one school formed a diversity committee. This committee applied for a grant to update their children’s library. The school was awarded the grant and gave their school library a diversity makeover. The committee purchased many diversity books and materials in the efforts of supporting diversity at their school.

Principal 6: Programs implement a comprehensive program level system of family engagement. The article shared how in order for programs to be strong, they must involve their families. The leader or director of programs must evaluate their program carefully and understand what’s best for the divers group of families the program serves. With diversity being at a high, leads must assure that their staff is divers as well. The diversity of staff welcomes families of diversity. Implementing anti-bias curriculums sets the stage for effective family engagements. This approach helps children and families feel secure in themselves and the culture from which they are a part of. Programs should always make sure that all families feel welcome and appreciated for their individuality.

Professional Contacts: This week again I was not able to receive any contact or feedback from any of the professionals I reached out to. I did receive an email from a young lady by the name of Tamara stating that she would not be able to help due to the overwhelming replies from Walden students.