Early Childhood - Connecticut State Department of Education

Curriculum Chapter 2
children gained from their study, and enables the
children and their teacher to evaluate the project work
(Katz & Chard, 2000).
Questions To Ask
The following questions should be asked when creating
centers for themes or projects:
• Will centers be offered all day, every day,
part of the day?
• Will the number of children involved in
each center be limited at any point in time?
• How will children access each center?
• What type of management system will
allow for independent use in each area?
• What type of arrangement will provide
movement from one center to another?
• Will the children’s choice of centers and
frequency of use be recorded?
• What evidence will be collected on learning
outcomes?
• How many centers can be open at one time
to assure order and allow teacher interaction
when necessary?
• How will varying abilities and interests be
accommodated?
LEARNING CONTEXT
The Family
The family and the home environment provide another
key context for learning. Marion Wright Edelman (1992)
urges every segment of American society to help support
strong families because “…America cannot afford to
waste a single child.” Early childhood teachers play an
especially important family support role. By building
relationships with parents and other significant adults
in their students’ lives, teachers contribute to the
creation of safe and healthy learning environments
for children. This type of partnership must reflect the
different roles, attitudes and needs in multiracial and
socio-economically diverse populations.
In a partnership, all partners share rights and
responsibilities, power and decision making, and mutual
trust and respect. Schools have long sought parental
involvement. Using the term “partnership” rather than
“involvement” captures the idea that responsibility for
children is shared across all three contexts of home,
school and community. Thus, for many in Connecticut,
buildingthiskindofrelationshipispartofabroadereffort
to strengthen school-family-community partnerships
that support children’s learning.
In recognition of the importance of partnerships,
the Connecticut State Board of Education adopted
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a position statement on School-Family-Community
Partnerships. This 2003 position statement provides the
following definition:
The State Board of Education defines
school-family-community partnerships
as the continuous planning, support and
participation of school personnel, families
and community organizations in coordinated
activities and efforts at home, in the school
and in the community that directly and
positively affect the success of all children’s
learning. Each partner is viewed as an equally
contributing member, maintaining a certain
independence while acknowledging shared
responsibility. To succeed, the partnership
must be flexible and based upon mutual trust
and respect.
Not all partnerships look the same. Successful
partnerships exhibit as much variety as the people or
groups that create them. Partnerships work best when
they recognize and accommodate differences among
families, communities and cultures.
The Connecticut State Board of Education
recommends that schools develop programs organized
around six standards. These standards provide a
framework to help schools work with families and
communities to assist them in becoming informed
about how to support their children’s education. The
application in early childhood settings was detailed
more fully in The Guide to Using the Position Statement
in Early Childhood Programs (2000), which notes that
“early childhood educators can be a pivotal force for
encouraging community collaborations that support a
unified vision of positive development for children.”
These six standards follow:
Parenting. Programs promote and support
parenting skills and the family’s primary role in
encouraging children’s learning at each age and stage of
development.
Communicating. Staff members and families
participate in ongoing, clear, two-way communication
about the program and children’s progress.
Volunteering. Programs provide opportunities
and appropriate training to involve families in activities
both in the programs and at home.
Learning at home. Programs help families
engage in learning activities at home that are coordinated
with the goals and objectives of the educational
programs.
Decision making. Programs provide opportunities
for all families to develop and strengthen
their leadership roles in program decisions through