Children, Families, and Community

Building partnerships for our children

Corina Barrera ECE497 Instructor Karen Foster April 7, 2014

Period of Development
Middle Childhood usually ranges between ages 6-11. Lincoln Elementary School consists of mostly children within this period of development. Being able to recognize your childs period of development can assist you in enabling information and materials to create the best environment for your child, as well as influence and improve your childs development, learning abilities, and overall wellness. Working together with school, families and the community allows us to gain a better sense of what our children need and how we can improve our program. The partnerships we build with families and the community are crucial, and these partnerships will expand the learning and development of our children.

My role as a child development professional is to ensure that the children in this program are receiving ageappropriate care and instruction that will benefit them throughout their academics, social experiences, and present relationships with their families, teachers and community. I am here to provide guidance to children and adults about the difference we can make when we work together and support one another. I am here to answer questions, provide support and to provide referrals for resources throughout our community. I am also here to help all of you understand your childs development and to help with language barriers that may be present as well as programs that ensure our children are understanding of each others cultures and differences. The more our children understand about each other, and the more we understand about our children, the stronger all our relationships will be.

We need to work together because

Children are vulnerable in their middle-childhood period of development. In this age range, they are learning from the adults and peers around them. Providing appropriate care allows our children to recognize appropriate behavior towards adults as well as towards each other. The influences we have on our childs life is astounding and many times, we may not realize it. The way we speak to our children or deal with different situations teaches them appropriate social and emotional behavior. If we speak negatively to our children, they will think that is appropriate. If we speak with stern kindness, our children will be more understanding and pick up on that type of appropriate behavior. The behavior of one family member helps sustain a form of interaction in another that either promotes or undermines childrens well-being (Berk, 2014, pg. 569). The interactions between the people around them will also influence them. Parents who fight or community members who dont get along will all play a part in how your child views the world and relationships. Bringing families, school and communities together to influence our children positively is important because children learn from those around them and each of us is their greatest influence.

Bronfenbrenners Ecological System

Bronfenbrenners ecological systems describes influences that affect a childs development on different levels. The Mesosystem can consist of some very large influences on a childs learning and development, which consists of family, school, peers, etc. These large influences shapes a childs everyday life and development which in turn influence a childs learning process, behavior, social skills, etc. Parents who spend time playing and teaching their kids through reading and by performing various types of hands-on games and activities can have a positive impact on their childs development (Eitel, 2013). If a parent ignores or becomes less involved in a childs needs, the child can be influenced negatively. Each of these influences affect a child all together. The child is exposed to all of these things, and therefore each one plays a role in how the childs learns acceptable behavior, learning techniques, etc. Since families, schools, and the community are all connected, it is important that each of these influences work together to provide the best influence and care for all children.

Epsteins Types of Involvement

Parenting
Parenting influences a childs learning and development through setting examples, providing support, teaching family values and beliefs and health practices. Parents also provide children with nutritional habits, culture, expectations and discipline. They provide their children with life skills and model appropriate behavior as well as set examples for social skills, community involvement and much more. Much of this school is Hispanic, but there are also White and American Indian children. The school and community could invite parents to share their family background through a culture day at school. The school could put together a fun day where children can dress to represent their culture and parents can share food and music so children can learn about the different types of Hispanic cultures, as well as the White and American Indian cultures.

Communicating

Communication is crucial in finding a common balance of involvement with your childs school. Teachers and parents should be communicating consistently through email, phone, conferences or any other means. Often parents get busy and may not be able to attend conferences. It is important for teachers to find different ways to communicate with parents that will keep them involved in their childrens school life.

Since many parents work or are busy with their home life, teachers should find a way to communicate on a regular basis to keep parents informed. Some families may not have a computer at home, so an internet class website may not be ideal. A great way to communicate with families on a regular basis is to send monthly newsletters home with the child. These newsletter can describe what concepts the class is working on, upcoming events, and can have a section for notes specifically from the teacher to that individual family.

Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way for parents to stay involved in the school and community. It shows their children that lending a helping hand is always useful and that it can go far in many ways. It shows children that responsibility and generosity are important concepts to learn in life. When parents volunteer within the school, it shows children that their parents are engaged and dedicated to being involved in their school and that can boost their self-esteem. The school and community can begin getting a group together to re-paint the school or to paint murals on sides of the buildings. Parents can volunteer to come help paint or just volunteer to come up with a supplies list. For parents who may not have a lot of free time to come paint, teachers can send out forms for ideas on murals. The parents who may not have time to paint could at least input their thoughts on what the murals should look like or represent.

Learning at Home
Learning at home is important for not only students, but for teachers and parents as well. When children bring schoolwork home (homework), they are given an opportunity to keep their family involved in what they are learning. This allows students to have a positive attitude about schoolwork and for parents to understand what their child is learning and will learn how to support, encourage and help their child. (Epstein, n.d.). The school can provide detailed practices for parents to help their students at home. Many times, students may not communicate with their parents or may have trouble with a concept they are learning and sometimes the parent can feel lost. Teachers can send home notes or weekly calendars that include detailed descriptions of what the child is learning for that week and where to find resources that may help if the parent and student are stuck on a concept.

Decision Making
Decision making is important when involving parents and the community. When parents dont have a say in what goes on at their childs school, then they may feel less comfortable with volunteering or may feel unwelcome in making a difference in their childs school life. Parents often see school and home life separately, but finding ways to keep parents involved in decision making will enable them to view school and home life as an importance connection in their childs life. Schools should encourage parents to participate in PTA/PTO groups or to come to school and community meetings. This allows the parents to stay involved and be a part of making decisions. For those parents who may not have the extra time for those groups, teachers or community members can send polls home to parents. This allows parents to answer questions and be a part of making decisions by simply writing an answer on a piece of paper and sending it back with their child.

Collaborating with Community

It is important for families to collaborate with the community and get their children involved with different activities or groups. This can be through sports, nutrition groups, recreation centers, youth centers, etc. Families will be able to connect with other children and parents who have similar interests and will be allowed to express those interests while staying involved within the community, family and school.

Schools can send home notices when sports or youth group sign ups are happening, or send out information on counseling or tutoring. They can also provide information on different activities happening around the community for parents and children to attend and stay involved. The community can set up car-pooling or other means to help each other out.

References
Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Eitel, J. (2013, October 12). Factors Affecting Early Childhood Development. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/217996-factorsaffecting-early-child-development/ Epstein, J. (n.d.). Epstein's framework of six types of involvement. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein_s_Fra mework_of_Six_Types_of_Involvement(2).pdf