Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

Story One:

The Wrighten Family     

                This family was introduced to the Head Start program by two parental advocates that also had their children participate in this program. Once Mrs. Wrighten got involved with this program she them became an advocate and latter a policy maker and official over this program. She became active just as a parent and because of how she was pleased she obtained a place of leadership over this program.

Story Two:

Charmayne Thomas:

                Mrs. Thomas had three children that were initially apart of the Head Start family. Charmayne is currently working in the school district in Philadelphia. Mrs. Thomas started volunteering with this program and also grew to working with them in public policy. In conclusion, she has a 22 year old that is currently attending college at Penn State University.

The professional and personal significance you drew from these stories:

                In reading these stories I see how important parental involvement is the school is. In both of these stories these families were very active in their child’s academic journeys. I also see that when parent are pleased with the programs they then become advocates for you as a EC professioanal and also for the school.

Why involvement opportunities for parents and family members benefit young children, families, and the early childhood field

                I feel that involvement creates success opportunities just like these two families. One family stated that : their child never missed a day of school and also becoming a part of the school as a volunteer has provoke both of these families to work within this program as a policy changer. I feel that parental involvement is contagious. The parents with become advocates and tell others about what going on at the Head Start programs.

The value that hearing such stories has for early childhood professionals, for the public, and for policymakers and government officials

                Hearing this type of experiences within in the Head Start family creates a hope that this system has not been opened in vain. This system was created to help all families that desired to get better education but could not afford it to be able to receive the education for their children they wanted.

Your opinion regarding why or why not parent/family involvement is an essential system element for all strands of service in the early childhood field

                I feel that early childhood development is a critical parent of a children success in early childhood development because this is the initial transition that the child is having to a new learning environment. Since this is new to the child it is so important for the child’s family to be active in this environment so that it is easy for that child to feel comfortable to receive everything they need to move into academic success.

Quality Programs for All Children

Throughout the years early chilhood education has evolved from developing Head Start programs to assit with poor familes to public policies that have influed the curriculum taught in our schools. I feel the the United States public poinion is regard to the value and importance of providing quality service for young childrne and failies have drasticllly changed over the years. From lookin gat this weeks media I see how the governments influence changed the different strands of educaiton. Presiden Lyndon Johnson, during his presidency, offered Head start and other programs to assit with ending poverty. Kindergarden was formed to prepare kids for transitioning to primary school. Some educational normalities that are common now weren't so common in earlier years. Understanding the changes that have been made makes me appreciate my position in the early chilhood field.

Their are some things that I would like to see in the next five years within the early chilhood strand. One thing I would like to see is Head Start open their doors to infant and toddlers. Learning starts in the womb of every mother. I feel that introducing chidlren to socialization and cognitive skills at an early age will help to pull up the succes rate of the Head Start program. Lastly, I would like to see the Head Starts curriculum included some form of parent invlovement where they can get their parents involved with their school.

Public Policies have changed within the United states Government. I will enjoy seeing the new regulations that are to come.

What Resonates With You About Early Childhood Public Policy and Advocacy?

Why did you choose this specialization?

I choose to Major in Early Childhood Studies focusing in Public Policy and Advocacy because I want to help families as both my family was helped. I was adopted at 3 months and my family had lots of support that helped both me and my adopted sister transition to our new family. I want to work with foster families and also adopted families as a liaison connecting them with resources they need to transition to their new families. I also want to open a group home were I can help neglected children to be connected with families. I feel that as an advocate I can help people.


 Why are advocates essential in the early childhood field?

Advocates are very important in the early childhood field because most families don't relate know how much resources are available for their children. Most children are going from home to school and some families feel that they are the only ones going through growing pains. As an advocate I can connect these families with different support groups and also resources that can help them transition smoothly.

What do you hope to learn about public policy and advocacy?

I hope to learn testimonies from my colleagues about different resources that are out their and how they found them. I want to leave this class understanding my role as an advocate and where the needs are in my community. I will make my self available for my community and my working environment. In this class I want to also learn about different policies that are out their for early childhood learning.

Collaborative Learning Community

At the beginning of this class I started off by reading my colleagues welcome post. This was the beginning of our collaborative learning community. I feel that in this time were beginning to learn more information on the people we are working with. Throughout the class I really enjoyed the sharing that this class had through our discussion and blog post. I feel the more I read about each one of us through our post I got more familiar with everyone. I love how this school sets up the class into small groups so that it is possible to get very familiar with our teammates. The thing that I gained the most from this class was the "Platinum Rule" This rule allows me to trust and respect anyone that I am communicating with. In this exchange of respect it allows everyone to get their point across and allows a positive exchange of information. This rule makes understanding communication easier. Thanks colleagues for all you have given me!

I feel that this picture displays how this class is now after going through this class. I do hope that this class opened the door for each one of us to continue to study more about communication!

Adjourning

Sometimes the worst part of a conversation is to say good bye. In these good byes you can never say enough how much you will miss someone especially when the time spent with them was unforgettable. When think of the phase Adjourning in relation with team building this can be the hardest time to experience. When I think of this phase I can relate many group experiences like this. The main one that I can think of is in each class a Walden during the eighth week how we have to say or goodbyes. Even though we don't work directly on assignments together a bond is still formed throughout the class time. We share our ideas and experiences in relation to the class topics and by the end of the class semester we are saying good bye. This has always been a bitter sweet time in each class that I have taken. I really appreciate the time that I get to spend with my classmates and I will take all the sharing experiences with me.
I feel that the hardest teams to leave are the ones that worked together and got to know each other in the process. It is so important to get to know your teammates initatlly to get to understand each persons streights. This is vital to distributing task throughout the assignment. When you have a team that has spent lots of time getting to know each other it is hard to break the bond because it was not forced but something that actually growed.
I closing rituals that I think of are the feedback's and gratitude that are expressed in the goodbyes. This time is a good time to just say thank you to all your teammates.
Every part of the team building process is worth  taking!

Conflict Resolution

Hello Colleagues,

I had a disagreement with my sister recently about how she disciplines her children In this disagreement my sister was not happy about what I was saying. She treats the oldest a lot harder than the other children and she forces them to all go with him when he wants to spend so time with his friends. As children me and my sister did not have a good relationship and now that we are close we see how that was very harmful to both of our lives. Now that my sister has kids she tries to ensure that they are not distant from each other and they are close. In this disagreement I shared my emotions about what she is doing and I also actively listened to her side of the argument. She left the conversation feeling very upset about what I said. I wanted us to come to a conclusion about what she could do better and how I could help but she took it as me saying she did not know how to raise her kids. I am not sure how the conversation got to this but the issue is not resolve. Could anyone help me with this situation?

How I communicate through others eyes!

This week we were assigned to take different inventories that evaluated how we communicate and listen. These inventories had to be taken by us and two other individuals. I chose two participants that are familiar with my communication skills. I chose one family member and one church member. I chose the family member because sometimes we communicate differently with family than out in the public. I chose a church member/friend because she has seen me speak in different ministries we are apart of. My score varied a little in number but all were in the same categories. I am a people-oriented communicator that is shy in some atmospheres when challenged to speak. These scores flex my communication challenges and gift exactly.

Two things I have learned from this exercise:
1. I learned that I am not always nervous in all speaking environments which shows me how to channel the improvements.
2. I learned the different types of listening skills and how they are important based on the atmosphere you are in.

In conclusion, I enjoyed learning about myself through the eyes of others!