1. Assignment Jacqueline ECE 497 Child Development Capstone Instructor: Kristina Bodamer June 17, 2014

2.  Introduction:  My name is Jacqueline and I am a Teacher and Child Care Coordinator working with children within the three to eight years old range. My role is to provide our children with the best education possible for their development and success. The best part of being a teacher is to be able to provide one-on-one nurturing experience for the children in my care and at the end of it all the satisfaction of being successful. At this school our motto is “Striving for Excellence” Our goal is to set the standard for Academic achievement.

3.  As you might not be aware of our school and its capacity, I hereby present data that will give you an insight into our overall population:  Lincoln Elementary School Lincoln Elementary School: Lincoln Elementary School is located in Gilbert, Arizona. Gilbert is a relatively large city with a strong sense of family and community. The school has a population of 765 students from Pre-K to sixth grade. At Lincoln Elementary School, 94% of the students are eligible for free and/or reduced lunch, and 58% of the students are second language learners. The majority of the students at Lincoln Elementary School are Hispanic (93%). Five percent of the student population is white, and 2% is American Indian.

4.  Parent Involvement  My presentation is to introduce our theme “Parent Involvement and its values on our future generation” “Our Children” Parent involvement is a unique opportunity for parents to observe and see your children grow and excel. My teaching experience has shown me how effective parent involvement is in the school system. Our program philosophy is to include parents in all aspects of your child’s kindergarten experience. Families are the first and prime educators and influence in their child’ life, with this in mind family comments and input are both encouraged and welcomed. Family involvement create a more stable and successful environment for children and teachers. I speak for this program because I am here when parents come in and out. Families are involved in decision making regarding the children and hereby ensuring confidentiality

5.  Teachers and parents can also share culturally related information that teachers may not realize to be able to plan appropriate curriculum for their children.  Parents can also relate to teachers about language barrier so they can include children in a beneficial way. Parents can share information about socioeconomic situations so that teachers are able to advocate on their behalf and if there are behavioral problems they can cooperatively work together. Families can take time out to read to the children on different occasions. They can also help to reinforce hand-washing health practices when they drop the children in the mornings (Cited:NAEYC standard 4; Using developmentally Effective Approach to Connect with Children and Families Cited: Parent Handbook 2009- 2010)) 

7.  Bronfenbrenner believes that in a child’s life, there is a connection that binds the family and the environment with the school system. “This is called the Mesosystem.” As you can see in the picture the immediate family, extended family, outreach programs and Employer are all interconnected. Therefore, for the children to get the full educational benefits all these entities have to unite and collaborate in the best interest of the child. (www.mentalhealth.net)  My understanding of the picture is that a child who attends school may or may not have siblings, mother and father also grandparents are a part of one big family because they all supply and fill the child’s needs in some special way, whether to provide care or nurturing. The Employer or Boss becomes a part also because if the parents are employed and parents need time off from work to attend to the child, the Boss has to be the one to give permission for the father, mother or grandparents to leave work to be able to connect to the child in school. Therefore all these entities are in relation with each other and are there to support the welfare of the child. 

8.  Epstein’s Description of different types of Family Involvement  Parent involvement helps children learn: she believes that this effort provides  a. Higher achievement in reading,  b. Higher grade scores,  c. Better attendance and more homework done,  d. Fewer placements in special education, positive  e. Positive attitudes and behavior  f. Higher graduation rates and grater enrollment in postsecondary education  Greater enrollment in post secondary education.  Cited: Joyce Epstein, School/Family/Community Partenerships: Caring for the Children  We Share. Phi Delt Kappan, 76(9)

10.  Children learn through motivation, influence and encouragement, when parents are involved in a child’s education it encourages them to work harder because they now realize that their parents are there for them and that they are interested in their well being. Children are very excited when their parents come into the classroom. They do everything to impress them. They always want their parents to be proud of them. They feel special and also want their parents to visit more often. A sense of pride could be tone of the influences that stimulate learning

13.  School can allow parents of different culture to come in to the school as volunteers to read aloud to the children, they can also have families come in and introduce their language using different artifacts which could be enhanced in an activity where the children can participate as they learn about other children and their cultures in their class.  Families can also become members of parent teacher forum to be able to state their opinion and implement new goals for the children to develop and learn as they prepare to transition into a more advanced educational system.  When parents are involved they feel better about their belief about their children’s education and the school environment.

14.  At school teachers plan family fun day where all the teachers and family are able to participate whether in craft, cooking or just to go out on field trips. If it is a family fun day all the family exhibits are displayed so that families from different cultures can explore and identify to get knowledge different cultural experiences. Another important benefit to both family and school is to include family in the child’s formal education, family can become members of student counsel, or sit on the board of directions or to help with curriculum planning to get a wider educational input in areas of child development. Have families volunteer their effort and make decision that best suit them so that they can use their time at their best convenience. If they would like to come in to read aloud, which is a very beneficial aspect of the child’s cognitive development, would be vey beneficial. They could also introduce their culture in unique ways through arts and craft and other fun activities which would be very engaging to the children to learn about different cultures. (Henderson, A (1987) Parents Involvement Improves Students Achievement.

16.  Joyce Epstein, School/Family/Community Partenerships: Caring for the Children  We Share. Phi Delt Kappan, 76(9)  (www.mentalhealth.net)  (Cited:NAEYC standard 4; Using developmentally Effective Approach to Connect with  Children and Families Cited: Parent Handbook 2009-2010))