Opportunities for parents are essential in order for the appropriate ways citizens behave in society can be modeled. Young children are predominantly with their parents during their childhood. In my experience, young children observe their parents behavior. Their parents are their first teachers. Early childhood professionals need their parents to reinforce the skills being taught at school. We,as early childhood professionals, require parents to invest in their child's education for our work to be successful.
These stories help society and policy makers realize how essential it is to develop a relationship with schools in order for their child to become thinkers. Parents want their children to go to college and reach their full potential. Those parents which did not take a more active part in their children lives regret that decision encourage parents to participate in their child's life. Parents, that were not active in their child's life, realize how important they are to the success of their child's future.
Family involvement is essential for the early childhood field to be successful. The parents are children's first teachers. They have the ability to advocate for programs which benefit their children. Their voice can help policy makers understand the importance of early childhood programs in preparing their children for the future. We need to encourage our families to advocate for the early childhood programs which assist their young children reach their full potential no matter their ability. Family involvement proves to policymakers that the families believe that early childhood programs are beneficial for their children due to the time families invest in early childhood programs.
"It takes a village to raise a child."
-African Proverb-
Yes, you are right, family invlovement is essential for the early childhood field to be successful. I have to agree to that because with the families we will have no program. Parents is what makes the program run, they may not know that but it is true. Parents need to understand how important early childhood programs are and how they will benefit their child.
ReplyDeleteYour are right! We absolutely NEED parents! Head Start's foundational philosophy includes that parents are the child's first and foremost teacher. That is why we perform Home Visits in Head Start...to understand the child's environment (360), to meet and talk with the families in the home, as well as to help individualize for families and continue to embed their culture, language and traditions throughout the child's early childhood education experience and studies. Parents provide us with our first "golden nuggets" of the child and the child's experiences, likes/dislikes, overall health and a good snapshot of the child. It is up to us, early childhood professionals to continue to develop effective strategies to engage families and parent in early childhood education programming.
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