9.7 Chapter Conclusion
Ardene Niemer, M.Ed.
Summary
A positive relationship with families, along with a program that is committed to family engagement, is vital to a child’s success in school and life. This includes parents, teachers, schools, and the community, and is uniquely important in the earliest years of a child’s education. We know that children need support and guidance as they are developing skills across all domains: motor, social, emotional, physical, and cognitive, both at home and school. Our work has also demonstrated the essential need for educators to build relationships with families. These strong and nurtured relationships will support parents in growing their understanding of how they can support their child’s learning from the classroom and in their home.
Parent engagement and positive relationships between home and school support improvement in children’s health, well-being, and cognitive, academic, and social skills. There is also a positive influence that works to decrease challenging behaviors in children. Family engagement has also been shown to increase parent satisfaction with early childhood services.
We have all heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. This includes the continued support from that village to boost success as the child enters school. When there is a strong partnership between family, school, and community, the child will benefit from a multi-faceted approach for success. Additionally, when early care and education programs encourage parental participation in learning activities, provide opportunities to advocate and guide policies, and form partnership with local organizations, there are lifelong benefits to children, families, programs, and communities.
A shared understanding and commitment between families and educators will create the conditions where a love of learning can develop in our youngest students. Children gain the benefit of success advocates when their families and community members are involved in their learning. Advocacy supports children in improving their skills in all areas and gaining advocates that promote their success, thus supporting their social, emotional, and cognitive skills and enhancing their ability to feel more confident at school and in life.
Reflection
In this chapter, you learned about families, making connections with families, and some of the struggles and challenges families face. It is important to share resources for support for families and colleagues. Think about creating a resource list or file so that you can easily share information with a family or a colleague. As you are developing this list, think about these categories, and add information (name, contact information, services offered) from your local organizations and entities as appropriate:
- basic family needs
- housing
- childcare
- food
- legal issues
- cultural and language supports
- child development referrals and supports
- medical concerns
- mental health supports
- parenting supports
- other categories of choice and identified need
Review Questions
- What constitutes a family?
- What external and/or internal influences affect the family and how it functions?
- Why is it important to build strong and supportive relationships with families?
- What are some strategies you can use to build relationships with families?
- What is family engagement as opposed to simply involving families in the child’s program?
- List four ways you can engage meaningfully with a family.
- What does it mean to be an ECE professional?
- Why must we maintain professionalism and professional boundaries when we work with children and families?
- What can you do to address conflict if it arises with a family?
- Explain the importance of professionalism and being a professional in early learning.
- What are funds of knowledge, and how can you maximize families’ contributions to the program?
- What is the difference between equity and equality, and why should we focus on equity?
- What should you do if conflict arises in your work with a family?
- Why is it important to identify community resources to share with families?
- List two ways you might share resource information with families.
A process used to develop and sustain positive, goal-focused connections with families.
A group of people living in a common geographical area or space. Community can also be a feeling or set of relationships between people based on common needs.
A partnership is a reciprocal, respectful, and ongoing relationship between a program and families or community.