DEVELOPMENT OF A CHILD

CAN BE THE DEVELOPMENT OF

A COMMUNITY
ROBIN SCHULER
ECE497: CHILD DEVELOPMTNE CAPSTONE COURSE
KAREN FOSTER
MAY 18, 2015

INTRODUCTION
It is rewarding to work with children especially those
from the early childhood developmental stage. They
are learning some really fantastic things and it is
wonderful to see this through young eyes.
I am here to help the children and also the parents as
well and they will help me get to know them. We can
work together to help build a strong community.

MY ROLE
My role as a child development professional is to know
and understand children; to be able to communicate.
My position is stated that CDAs have knowledge of
how to put the CDA Competency Standards into
practice and understanding of why those standards help
children move with success from one developmental
stage to another. Put simply, CDAs know how to
nurture the emotional, physical, intellectual, and social
development of children. (Council for Professional
Recognition, 2013 para 3).

MY ROLE cont.

My purpose is to help children and parents understand

the different stages that a child will go through at their
middle childhood stage. If there are developmental
problems, parents and teachers may have questions and
need an extra pair of eyes and ears. I can also give
them that.

PURPOSE

It is important to understand why we are all needed. The

development of our children is extremely important
especially those who are making a transition into
elementary school. We have a large number of students
who are learning a second language so these children need
reinforcements to not only master the second language but
to also receive social understanding. An active child,
well-endowed for making sense of language, strives to
communicate. In doing so, she cues her caregivers to
provide appropriate language experiences, which in turn
help her relate the content and structure of language to its
social meanings (Berk, 2013, pg 367). Social activity can
interact with learning a new language.

PURPOSE cont.

Social activity helps a child in so many ways with their

cognitive and motor developments.

According to Vygotsky, social interactionin particular,

cooperative dialogues between children and more knowledgeable
members of societyis necessary for children to acquire the
ways of thinking and behaving that make up a communitys
culture. (Berk, 2013, pg 25)

THEORY FOR DEVELOPMENT

Theorist Urie Bronfenbrenner developed a system to

explain that a childs environment affects how a child
grows and develops. Ecological systems theory views
the child as developing within a complex system of
relationships affected by multiple levels of the
surrounding environment. (Berk, 2013, pg 26). Not
only does a child benefit from the parents but also from
their social environment. Bronfenbrenner refers to a
child environment as the microsystem which consist of
activities and interaction patterns in the childs
surroundings. (Berk, 2013, pg 27).

THEORY FOR DEVELOPMENT cont.

Lets talk about the next level; the mesosystem. The

mesosystem consist of a childs immediate interactions;
parents, school, and maybe a childs social play area (the park).
Policies and programs can play a major role in shaping these
systems-thus potentially promoting human health and wellbeing. This perspective transformed the study of human
development. Among other influence, it encouraged more
developmental scientists to examine both naturally occurring
and deliberately designed experiments in the real world to
illuminate the influences of contexts on human development,
and particularly on child development. (Bronfenbrenner
Center for Translational Research, 2014, para 3).

FRAMEWORK

Dr. Epstein has a theory of Six Types of Involvement

which assist educators in developing school and family
partnership programs. Dr. Epstein placed together a
framework to work through for and with the child.

FRAMEWORK cont.
The first type is Parenting. There are parents who need
help for their families. This framework offers suggestions
to parents such as continued education for parents, easier
home conditions for the child to work, offering family
support for other services such as health, etc (Epstein, J.
L., N.D., pg 1).
By offering an easier home environment for the child,
they can work especially with the help of the parent.
It would be nice if different services in the community
could come to the school and set up booths to help offer
these services to the families of the school.

FRAMEWORK cont.
The next type is of Communication. This is to make sure
that educators keep a line of communication with the
parents to keep everyone abreast to how the student is
doing in school: conferences, parents picking up report
cards, reviews going home during different periods, etc
(Epstein, J. L., N.D., pg 1).
This would benefit the child because with the parents
knowing how their child is doing in school, the parents can
help with any infractions.
Any line of communication between educators and parents
should be mandatory whether the child needs assistance
with their school work or not. It is for the childs sake.

FRAMEWORK cont.
Next is to ask for Volunteers from parents and also the
community (Epstein, J. L., N.D., pg 1).
Children can witness for themselves how people of
their community care about the kids and what happens
at their school. Also, schools always need volunteers to
help keep programs going.
Make sure to try to recruit from every area within the
surrounding city where every culture can possibly be
represented. It would be healthy for the children.

FRAMEWORK cont.
Learning At Home is important for a child. Parents
should monitor the work their child is doing at home so
they can help them when the child has difficulty with it
(Epstein, J. L., N.D., pg 1).
Parents can be offered a workshop for certain subjects
they may have trouble with themselves such as math.
Parents who have children taking ESL classes should
be offered the same opportunity to learn a second
language so they can be able to keep up with what their
child is doing in school and at home for homework.

FRAMEWORK cont.

Dr. Epstein has Decision Making. This is regarding groups

in the school such as the PTA/PTO. There can be groups
in the community that can work with the school district to
help better the school; add recreation for the students
(Epstein, J. L., N.D., pg 1).
It would be nice to let the children in on some of the
decision making. Let them vote on activities for the school
and see how that process works.
Make sure that fliers are sent home and emails sent out for
parents to join the groups. Fliers given to surrounding
business owners could help capture the social community.

FRAMEWORK cont
Lastly, there is Collaborating with Community.
Identify and integrate resources and services from the
community to strengthen school programs, family
practices, and student learning and development.
(Epstein, J. L., N.D., pg 1).
The students of the school can help to bring in
members of the community; offer to have service
booths at the school. Ask parents who work in the
community to ask their bosses to collaborate.

CLOSING

The development of our children is important to

everyone because they are depending on us to help
them. We are here to listen, talk, and support.

REFERENCES

Berk, L. E. (2013). Child Development, Ninth edi. Upper Saddle River, NJ

Cornell University College of Human Ecology, (2014). Bronfenbrenner
Center for Translational Research. Retrieved from:
http://www.bctr.cornell.edu/about-us/urie-bronfenbrenner/
Council for Professional Recognition, (2013). Child Development
Associate (CDA) Credentials. Retrieved from:
http://www.cdacouncil.org/the-cda-credential/about-the-cda
Epstein, J. L., (N.D.). Epsteins Framework of Six Types of Involvement.
Retrieved from:
http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/pub/content/1810565d-a60241bb-be3ea03f05e17c1b/Epstein_J._n.d..__Epsteins_framework_of_six_types_of_inv
olvemen.pdf

IMAGES REFERENCES
www.ceres.k12.ca.us
www.dailyherald.com
www.haltonparentsblog.ca
www.parmacityschools.org
www.pbs.org
www.wsfcs.k12.nc.us