Early Childhood

Curriculum Chapter 2
participation in parent organizations, advisory councils,
school boards or other decision-making committees or
groups.
Collaborating with the community. Programs
provide coordinated access to community resources
for children and families, and serve as a resource to the
community.
These six standards can be implemented in a
variety of ways, including the following.
Educating Parents. Parents are the most
important people in children’s lives. They are also their
first and primary teachers. Early childhood programs
are far more effective when they involve parents in
meaningful ways so that children’s learning is viewed
as a joint effort between early childhood educators and
parents. This involvement begins with mutual respect
and trust. The early childhood educator provides
knowledge of child development and early childhood
education,andparentscontributespecializedknowledge
and experiences about their children. Teachers must
share information with parents on an ongoing basis,
and must recognize and respect their dreams and
expectations for their children’s successes.
Family Resource Centers. Many programs
create welcoming environments by establishing special,
attractive places for parents, such as parent rooms or
family resource centers.
Connecting With Families. Even with a family
resource center, it is still a challenge to support families
who may not come to school because of a language
barrier or different cultural perspective regarding
their role in the school. Programs may try alternative
methods, such as home visits, regular phone calls or
newsletters.
Technology. Technology can be an invaluable
resource for reaching out to parents. Programs may
make workshop videos available for families to view
at a later time. Voicemail, websites and e-mail also are
available to a wider population and can help to keep
communication open and flowing.
Families in Need of Special Services. For
some families it may be especially challenging to
establish close, trusting relationships on behalf of their
children. Community-based family support programs
that link adults and children to formal agency services
and informal community support can help to make
connections with families in need. For example,
providing new immigrant families with information,
preferably in their own languages, to help them
navigate the education and social services systems can
link early childhood teachers, families and members of
the community in joint goals.
Parenting and the Child with Special Needs.
Early childhood programs play an important role
15
in supporting families with special-needs children.
Assistance with referrals to community agencies,
resources and parenting education helps parents to
secure the additional adaptations and modifications
necessary for their children’s success as learners.
Communicating. Effective communication
skills and strategies serve as the basis for building all
other relationships. When young children observe
positive and genuine communication between their
parents and teachers, they feel that their two worlds
are connected. Formal communication is needed when
everyone must receive the same information and when
accuracy is required. Suggestions include a parent’s
bulletin board, weekly messages, journals and a parent
handbook. Informal communication with parents
should happen every day. This occurs naturally when
children are brought to and picked up from the program.
Although most exchanges are casual, planning can
help to maximize these opportunities. Jotting down
something a child has done so it can be shared with
parents at the end of the day is one way to make these
brief moments more meaningful and establish ongoing
parental relationships.
TEACHER BEHAVIORS
When teachers decide in advance which teaching
behaviors are most appropriate to the context of the
learning setting, the abilities of the children, and the
content to be gained, planning is intentional and rich.
Thereareseveraltypesofteacherinvolvementinlearning
from which to choose (Bredekamp & Rosengrant, 1995)
and they include the following:
Acknowledge. The teacher recognizes the
child’s efforts and work. By acknowledging, the teacher
is accepting and supporting the child to continue his or
her task.
Model. The teacher provides an example for
the child to view. For example, the teacher may model
how children can go to the writing area, locate supplies
and begin making a book of their own. This does not
suggest that teachers should provide models for children
to copy.
Facilitate. The teacher assists the child in a task
by making it easier to complete. Often facilitation is
brief, with the hope that the child will be able to continue
the task independently. For example, a teacher may
facilitate an experience in the block area by assisting a
child who is trying to balance a long block across two
others to create a bridge. The child then continues to
build without further assistance.
Support. The teacher assists a child, yet
provides more time and help in achieving the goal. For
example, a young 3-year-old child using scissors may
need the teacher’s support in holding her or his hand to