Question

What is the big picture according to best practices in family involvement in early education?

Case 4 Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Head Start The Teacher city. Home-based programs are also a part of the New Rock Head Start. With a population of about variety of communities economically prosperous than others. Also, some neighborhoods are more cultur- ally diverse than others. All of the Head Start pre schools are held in churches and agency buildings in the downtown area. Transportation is provided for all of the children enrolled in the program Jenny was assigned to be an assistant teacher room. Ms. Alice has been a lcad teacher for four years. She accepted this posi- ion after she worked for two years as an assistant teacher and completed her bachelor's degree in child development. Ms. Alice greeted Jenny at the beginning of their week of professional develop- ment meetings before the start of school. Jenny was pleased to hear that the classroom she would be working in was based on developmentally ap propriate practices. The campus child care center from which she gained most of her experience had been accredited by the National Academy of Early Jenny had developed many skills that would be useful in her new job. Jenny Kim n early childhood education from her county com munity college. During her two years of teacher preparation, Jenny had many hours of experience at the campus child care center She completed the required practicum there and had also been em ployed as a student assistant to help staff the center in late afternoons. Jenny often had opportunities to interact with parents and other family members when they came to pick up their children. She began to feel quite comfortable chating with par ents, informing them about how their child's day had gone, and taking messages for the morning child care staff just completing an associate degree was 100,000, New Rock has a some of them more in Alice Jones' Jenny had been required to visit other early childhood settings. She spent at least two hours in an early intervention program, a Montessori preschool, Head Start, and a United Way-funded child care center. With the information she gained from her coursework and from these visits, Jenny knew that her goal was to be a lead teacher in a Head Start program in the nearest city, New Rock After her graduation in May, she accepted position with a YWCA summer camp program leading the prekindergarten group. Later in the summer, she interviewed for a position with Head Start. Jenny teacher. Even though she wanted a lead teacher position, she accepted the offer and began her Head Start work in the middle of August Childhood Programs, so a Jenny in Head Start The night before the first day for children to come to school, Jenny could hardly sleep. She was thrled to be working n Head Start. Alice and Jenny worked together to plan for all aspects of the first day. Jenny believed that Alice valued her con tribution and that she could make a difference in the lives of the children The first week of school was everything that Jenny had hopcd it would be. She loved the chi dren, she felt capable, and Alice was an excellent role model. At the end of the week, when Jenny was offered a position as assistant The Early Childhood Program and the Community New Rock has a large Head Start program. Twenty preschool classrooms exist in various parts of the 290 Corig 002 Ce Lesing All Rights Reed May be copd al w h docmod tht y appeod co dos ot marialy af o dp De te ec hd pty coet t k Ch Copyrighted material ig the werall caning cspericnce. Ceagage Leaing the ghe so nmne adtioal cosncen at ay tinwaboaghsictioas que . Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Head Start 291 CASE 4 and Alice had their daily planning meeting, Alice mentioned that next week parents would be vol- unteering in the classroom. One of their tasks was to assign parents to specific days and times as to think trough in advance what the parents could do to contribute in the classroom. Alice had already collected information from them about activities. The parents who were volunteering that day included one mother, Lois LeGrange ther, Pete Stovall; and one grandmother, Felicia Sanchez. Lois was assigned to the blocks center Pete to the art center, and Felicia to the dramatic play center. Lois and Petc sat on chairs at the periph ery of each of their centers and next to each other Soon after the children were busy at play, the two parents started talking with one another. This tinued, even when children were asking them ques tions and in need of some direction or redirection Although Jenny could not be sure, it seemed that they were talking about Felicia. They looked in her direction on occasion and then talked some more Jenny did not think that she should intervene in this situation in front of the children, so she chose to ignore it. A few minutes later, Felicia raised her voice and threatened to "send you to time out if one fa- as well their interests and available times. Jenny remembered reading about the impor tance of family involvement to the Head Start pro- gram. There had even been a guest speaker from New Rock College during professional develop ment week who had provided innovative strategies for involving families in their children's education Although she had experience interacting with fam ily members, t was rare at the campus child care center that parents came to the classroom to vol- con unteer. There seemed litle need for more adults when staff and students provided very good ratios of adults to children. The child care center did have some meetings and events for family mem bers, but since they were often at the same time as Jenny had a class, she had not attended them During the second week of the Head Start year, many parents and other family members vol unteered in the classrooms. Each day, there were at least three adult volunteers in the classroom. Alice had organized a chart in advance and directed each volunteer throughout the course of the day Everything seemed to be well organized and to adept at working with the adults as she was with the children. At the beginning of the next week, Alice was i the director asked Jenny if she could take over as lead teacher for the few days Alice expected to be out and to have the assistants. Jenny agreed to this plan she was actually pleased to have the opportunity you don't stop that." Again, although Jenny was un- comfortable with this approach to disciplining chil- dren in the classroom, she did not want to correct the adult in the presence of children, She began to feel very nervous and stressed. By the end of the day, Jenny was questioning whether having family volunteers in the classroom was such a good idea. It seemed to work for Alice, but she'd rather have just the teachers in the classroom. Questions for Reflection and Discussion 1. Explain the perspectives of Alice, Jenny, Lois, Pete, and Felicia. With which of these view points do you most easily identify? 2. Discuss your life experiences that might relate to the perspective you have taken for this scenario. flow; Alice was as volunteers as 3. Referring to the textbook, what knowledge and skills might help Jenny feel more pre- pared to work with family volunteers in the to be in charge for a few days As children and parents entered the class Jenny's first day of lead teacher duty she greeted hem all. Most of the children and all of the adults seemed happy to be there. Jenny had carefully planned a group time that would have the children actively nvolved and then cas ily transitioned the children into learning center classroom room on TEXT REFERENCES: Chapter 7 Epstein's frame- work, PTA national standards, and embracing diversity; Chapter 8 communication and conflict resolution

Answer 1

The big picture according to best practices in family involvement in early education is definitely the fact that they will feel more involved.  Parent involvement helps for extending teaching outside the classroom, creates a more positive experience for children and helps children perform better when they are in school. It helps the children to stay grounded and connected.Such children always follow the right path in life if directed and supervised in the best possible manner. They also have some guiding force to assist them become a great person in life. It keeps them active and inspired about the goodness around and helps them become successful.