The professional and personal significance I drew from these stories were the families of the children enrolled in the head start programs are very grateful for all the services head starts programs provide for the children/families. As for the professional significance I drew from the stories is how each of the families have different life events taking place within their lives, their children lives therefore as ECE professionals we live and learn from the families we serve. This will better prepare me with the social/emotional aspects if children, families, and the community on how to serve as a child advocate.
The involvement opportunities for parents and family members benefit young children, families, and the early childhood field because the Head Starts provide adequate resource and referral information for children. The Head Starts in Georgia provide healthy meals, medical, and dental screening for the children (www.ndo.org).
The
value that hearing such stories has for early childhood professionals,
for the public, and for policymakers and government officials to comprehend exactly the day to day lives of the children and families they may have hardship . Now, the hardship does not have to be financial, but the emotional stress the parents may have in seeking a job, or just the stress of the job. The stories are the voice of the people in which hopefully the policymakers pay attention- not just listening to these stories.
My opinion regarding why parent/family involvement is an
essential system element for all strands of service in the early
childhood field because it takes a village to raise a child and a community to raise children.
References:
Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC), part of the Office of Head Start 2014 retrieved from http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs
Brittney,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, it does take a village to raise a child. I reminded my students this week during child development review how much time is spent with children in a day. We spend more time Monday-Friday with children than parents that we are the guardians who oversee learning and social/emotional development for children in our class. This was surprising to some of the new teachers that I prepare for the classroom. I admire Head Starts for making parent involvement a top priority.
Brittney ,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right it does take a village to raise a child. As a Head Start teacher I see the value of parent involvement in classroom. My parent enjoy volunteering in classroom. I learn from my parents and they learn from me . I have parent who don't speak English but when they my room they are able to communicate with me English. Thank you sharing .
I think that the parent voice is especially critical during state legislative sessions, when many laws that impact children and families are debated and passed. In my policy work I often find myself in rooms full of people who are making early childhood policy decisions yet none of them are parents, teachers, or administrators from programs. This is a place where we can work to ensure that more parent voices are heard!
ReplyDeleteRB