My personal experiences as a parent have included encounters which reflect the principles of working with families as well as occurrences which oppose those ideologies. When my child was enrolled in a Head Start classroom, the program and teacher’s encouragement of parent involvement was evident. The following year my child attended a UPK classroom in a public school, during which time I saw little evidence of the teacher working with families. In fact, some of my experiences seemed to reflect the discouragement of family involvement. My experiences with both classrooms has influenced my thoughts about working with families and how I wish to approach the subject in my own classroom.
During the year my son was in the Head Start classroom, I …show more content…
Furthermore, the Michigan Department of Education (2002) states, “The most effective forms of parent involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children on learning activities at home” (p. 1). My child’s Head Start teacher provided a monthly activity calendar from which I could select as few or as many learning activities as I liked. Most of the activities only took a few minutes and fit easily into our daily routine. Weekly curriculum-related activities were also provided. One week focused on the social-emotional curriculum, one on the language arts curriculum, one on the math curriculum, and the last varied from month to month. By providing take-home activities on a regular basis, the teacher supported my child’s development encouraging family …show more content…
The teacher seemed surprised that I would do so and somewhat uncomfortable with my presence. As I was leaving the classroom she said to me, “I find the children do much better when there is a clear separation between home and school. They have less anxiety about being here.” Her statement directly contradicts Steinberg (n.d.), who suggests that, “When parents come to school regularly, it reinforces the view in the child’s mind that school and home are connected and that school is an integral part of the whole family’s life” (as cited in Michigan Department of Education, 2002, p.
During the year my son was in the Head Start classroom, I …show more content…
Furthermore, the Michigan Department of Education (2002) states, “The most effective forms of parent involvement are those which engage parents in working directly with their children on learning activities at home” (p. 1). My child’s Head Start teacher provided a monthly activity calendar from which I could select as few or as many learning activities as I liked. Most of the activities only took a few minutes and fit easily into our daily routine. Weekly curriculum-related activities were also provided. One week focused on the social-emotional curriculum, one on the language arts curriculum, one on the math curriculum, and the last varied from month to month. By providing take-home activities on a regular basis, the teacher supported my child’s development encouraging family …show more content…
The teacher seemed surprised that I would do so and somewhat uncomfortable with my presence. As I was leaving the classroom she said to me, “I find the children do much better when there is a clear separation between home and school. They have less anxiety about being here.” Her statement directly contradicts Steinberg (n.d.), who suggests that, “When parents come to school regularly, it reinforces the view in the child’s mind that school and home are connected and that school is an integral part of the whole family’s life” (as cited in Michigan Department of Education, 2002, p.