Stacy Ruebenacker

ECE601: Introduction to Early Childhood Education

Sharmen Smith
July 7, 2014

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT & ADVOCACY

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT

What does effective family engagement look like in action? Theres

no one formula, but all 15 programs recognized by NAEYCs
Engaging Diverse Families project acts on the six principles of family
engagement with many best practices in common.

Principle 1: Programs invite families to participate in decision making and goal

setting for their child
Principle 2: Teachers and programs engage families in two-way communication
Principle 3: Programs and teachers engage families in ways that are truly reciprocal
Principle 4: Programs provide learning activities for the home and in the community
Principle 5: Programs invite families to participate in program-level decisions and
wider advocacy efforts
Principle 6: Programs implement a comprehensive program-level system of family
engagement

http://www.naeyc.org/familyengagement

FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS

Parents are the first and primary teachers

for their children and influence their
development.
Teachers working towards partnering with
parents to further their child's development
through screenings and assessments
Partnering to discuss the outcomes to
develop individual goals for the childs
educational success

SCREENINGS & ASSESSMENTS

What are screenings and assessments used for in

the preschool classroom.
Can parents be a part of the process?
Are the screenings and assessments researched
based?
All screenings listed are researched based and
used to plan for the individual childs
development

DEVERERUX EARLY CHILDHOOD ASSESSMENT (DECA)

This strength-based assessment and planning system is designed to promote resilience in

children ages 3 through 5.

The DECA screens for social-emotional development in the Initiative, Attachment, SelfControl, and Behavioral Concerns

Improving children's mental health

http://www.centerforresilientchildren.org/preschool/assessments-resources/the-devereux-early-childhood-assessment-preschool-program-second-edition/

CREATIVE CURRICULUM CHILD DEVELOPMENT LEARNING CHECKLIST

Teachers complete through observations of the individual child

10 areas of development
1.Social-emotional,
2.Math,
3.Physical.
4.Language,
5.Cognitive,
6.Literacy,
7.Science and Technology,
8.Social Studies
9.The Arts
10.
English Language Acquisition

http://teachingstrategies.com/national/creative-curriculum-preschool-system-development-learning.html

BRIGANCE
EARLY CHILDHOOD SCREENS III

035 months includes Screens for Infants,

Toddlers, and 2-Year-Olds
35 years includes Screens for 3-, 4-, and 5-YearOlds
Determine each child's specific strengths and needs

Assess school readiness

http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.aspx?title=BrigEC-Screens3#additional_nav

ASSESSMENT OUTCOMES

Parent Teacher Conferences screenings

and assessments are discussed and at
this time the planning begins for the
childs goals for increasing
development.
If there are areas that need
strengthening an out side referral made
be made with parents approval

OUTCOMES

When assessments and or screenings are done on a child parents

may not fully understand what the outcomes mean and how it
directly relates to their childs development. Using simple terms
and having milestone marks as a guide to show parents where
their child may be at in development compared to other children in
their age group. Guiding a parent to an outside referral for a child
to be screened by a specialist in the field (speech/language,
cognitive, gross/fine motor, and behavioral) may be a hard task to
do if a parent is not approached with sensitivity. Parents often
think of special education as it once was were children rode a
different bus, in isolated classrooms, and were labeled special
ed

FAMILY & CHILD ADVOCACY

The perspective I have in early childhood advocacy is to support

the families in getting the services that they need for their
child/children. As an advocate in the public sector education is
key for both the parents and the children. The steps that I take to
achieving the best services for the child and family starts with
building relationships within the community would provide a
chance to increase funding through collaborations that support
advocacy for family engagement and empowerment.

ACCEPTING HELP THE PROCESS

Parent Teacher Conference include referring

The concern with your pediatrician so he/she may refer you to a specialist. If
your pediatrician does not feel as strong about your concern as you do, you can
go down to getting help yourself many avenues.
Follow up with an outside source for a specialist to observe your child and hear
your concerns because you know your child better than they do.
Children under three should be followed up by the birth to three program (800505-7000) Bridgeport Families with Children ages three to five should contact
the Consultation Center (203-275-1332) Other Connecticut families can use the
resource list attached to obtain help in receiving an evaluation.

BRIDGEPORT COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS

Birth to Three
Bridgeport Board of Education Consultation
Center
Child First https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EZ33vjcK3hk&feature=player_embedded

SKANE SCHOOL ECE

The research on the connection between families and schools is
overwhelmingly clear: when parents and families play a positive role in
childrens education, children do better in school. A high degree of parent
and family engagement also leads to significant long-term benefits such as
better school attendance, reduced dropout rates, decreased delinquency
and lower pregnancy rates. Furthermore, the advantages of parent and
family engagement are not confined to early childhood or the elementary
level; there are strong benefits from engaging parents continuously
throughout high school.
http://bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com/education/page/download.php?
fileinfo=UGFyZW50RmFtaWx5RW5nYWdlbWVudFBvbGljeTA4LTEzLTEyLnBkZjo6Oi93d3c3L3NjaG9vbHMvY3QvYnJpZGdlcG9ydC9pbWF
nZXMvYXR0YWNoLzYzODA0LzM2NzEwXzYzODA0X2F0dGFjaF8yMjAwLnBkZg==

PERSONAL STORY
As a former Head Start parent I was taught about child development
and through the screenings that were provided on my own daughter I
was able to get her speech and language services to support her
expressive and receptive language skills. As a result of being an
active volunteer and eagerness to learn more about child
development it became a mission for me to support other parents that
may need a Head Start in supporting the childs development and
being an advocate to help children get the services that they need to
achieve academic development and achievement.

ON-GOING CONNECTIONS

Keeping a two way communication

system with families on-going is key to
family engagement
Inviting families to share about their
heritage within the classroom by
having stories told, items from their
culture (family culture board) or many
other items

REFERENCES

Freeney, S., Galper, A., & Seefeldt, C. (2009). Continuing issues in early childhood education (3rd
ed.). Upper Saddle Back, NJ: Merrill, Pearson.
http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/earlyLearningStandards.pdf
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc
http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.aspx?title=BrigEC-Screens3
http://
teachingstrategies.com/national/creative-curriculum-preschool-system-development-learning.html
http
://www.centerforresilientchildren.org/preschool/assessments-resources/the-devereux-early-childho
od-assessment-preschool-program-second-edition
/
http://bridgeport.ct.schoolwebpages.com/education/page/download.php?fileinfo
=UGFyZW50RmFtaWx5RW5nYWdlbWVudFBvbGljeTA4LTEzLTEyLnBkZjo6Oi93d3c3L3NjaG9vbH
vY3QvYnJpZGdlcG9ydC9pbWFnZXMvYXR0YWNoLzYzODA0LzM2NzEwXzYzODA0X2F0dGFja
wLnBkZg
==
http://www.childfirst.com/