Assignment

Jacqueline
ECE 497 Child Development Capstone
Instructor: Kristina Bodamer


June 17, 2014

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.
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.
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
childs 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
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))

Bronfenbrenner believes that in a childs 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 childs 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.


Epsteins 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)
Children learn through motivation, influence and
encouragement, when parents are involved in a
childs 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
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 childrens
education and the school environment.
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 childs
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
childs 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.
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))