Parent Presentation

1. Parent Presentation Created By: Gaile Travis Edited: March 30, 2014

2. As a Child Development Professional, I…. • Help children and their families overcome life’s most challenging events • Focus on the psychosocial needs of children, by collaborating with parents, interdisciplinary teams, and members of our community • Educate the public-at-large on the needs of children through training workshops, conferences, and school or community presentations. • Engage and energize children and families by coordinating special events, entertainment, and activities • Create programs to maintain the partnership between schools, parents, and the community • Used as a resource for children to succeed in school

3. Lincoln Elementary School As we all know, Gilbert is a relatively large city with a strong sense of family & community. • Facts you may not know: • The majority of the students at Lincoln Elementary School are Hispanic (93%) with 5% of the student population being white and 2% are American Indian • 94% of the students are eligible for free and/or reduced lunch • 58% of the students are second language learners • The school has a population of 765 students from PreK- 6th grade.

4. Early Childhood - Period of Development Ages: 2-6

5. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theorist Bronfenbrenner believed that human development was influenced by five environmental systems: • Microsystem- Relationships with direct contact to the child • Mesosystem- Connection between relationships of child’s microsystem • Exosystem- External environments which indirectly influence development • Macrosystem- Cultural context • Chronosystem- The evolution of the external systems over time • His Approach: • Focuses on the developing child • Pays attention to the social environment • Recognizes the individual as an active player • Sees the social environment as a vital component for development

6. Mesosystem • The mesosystem describes how the different parts of a child's microsystem work together for the sake of the child. “It is the relationships between microsystems, in which the developing person experiences reality” (Berk, 2013). • It is an intermediate level of influences such as the local neighborhood or community, social institutions and culture and their interactions. Example: Teacher-----Parents School------Community ***The stronger the relationship is between the school and the community, the more powerful effect the Mesosystem would have on the child's development***

7. It takes a village to raise a child It is extremely important for everyone to come together and be held accountable to support a child’s learning and development. According to the text (2013), “family neighborhood connections are especially important for economically disadvantaged children” (Berk, pg. 27).

8. Epstein's : 6 Types of involvement • Parenting • Communicating • Volunteering • Learning at Home • Decision Making • Collaborating with Community

9. Parenting Parenting: sets the home conditions to support learning for each age and grade level. According to Epstein, “Parenting helps all families establish home environments to support children as students.” (http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein_s_Framework_of_Six_Types_of_Involvement) How can we help: • The community and the school could work together to offer parenting classes with the emphasize of “helping your child succeed in outside of school”. Examples of topics that the class could discuss could be: parenting styles, characteristics of children’s age group, ideas parents could use to increase their child’s learning. Reference: Epstein, J. (n.d.) Epstein’s framework of six types of involvement. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein_s_Framework_of_Six_Types_of_Involvement(2).pdf

10. Communicating • Communicating: Keeping the lines of communication open with families about school programs and student progress is the best way to influence a child’s development. According to Epstein , “creating a two-way communication channel between school and home provides an efficient way to gather and collaborate on the same information of child” (http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein_s_Framework_of_Six_Types_of_Involvement) How can we help: • Our school could do a better job communicating with families. We could offer parents conferences every quarter to discuss the child’s progress. During the conference, language translators would be available to provide the best support for the families. Reference: Epstein, J. (n.d.) Epstein’s framework of six types of involvement. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein_s_Framework_of_Six_Types_of_Involvement(2).pdf

11. Volunteering • Volunteering- helps enable parents and community members real life experiences to support the child. It also provides a way for the volunteer to spend time with the children. How can we help: • The school could offer volunteer days on a regular basis. Allowing parents and community members to come inside the school and work with the children would be a great learning experience for both parties.

12. Learning at Home Learning at Home- Involves families with their children in academic learning at home, including homework, goal setting, and other curriculum-related activities. How can we help: • Our school could offer more homework assignments that require group participation with parents. An example of this could be “research your family history”. The child and parent could work together and the child could present it as a presentation. • The community could also offer locations where free books and computers where available for the families to use. Due to the economic hardship in the area, this could give everyone an opportunity to learn from home.

13. Decision Making • Decision Making- Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy activities through school councils or improvement teams, committees, and parent organizations. Including the parents in the decision making allows children a fair opportunity for learning. (Epstein, 2002) How can we help: • Our school could offer school meetings once a quarter to discuss upcoming plans, changes, and suggestions to improve learning. Every child will receive a flyer to take home to encourage participation from their parents and community members to join the meeting. Reference: Epstein, J. (n.d.).  (2002). Taken from School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Retrieved from http://www.nj.gov/education/title1/tech/module4/epstein.pdf

14. Collaborating with Community • Collaborating with the Community- Is the ONLY way for children to successfully succeed. “The community is available to coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with community groups” (Epstein, 2002) How can we help: • The school and the community could provide families support programs to assist families with health, nutrition, and ESL training free of charge. Reference: Epstein, J. (n.d.).  (2002). Taken from School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Retrieved from http://www.nj.gov/education/title1/tech/module4/epstein.pdf

15. Reference • Epstein, J. (n.d.) Epstein’s framework of six types of involvement. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein_s_Framework_of_Six_Types_of_Involvement(2).pdf • Epstein, J. (n.d.).  (2002). Taken from School, Family, and Community Partnerships. Retrieved from http://www.nj.gov/education/title1/tech/module4/epstein.pdf • Berk, L. E. (2013).Child development. (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson • Education Portal. (n.d.) Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory of Development: Definition & Examples. Retrieved from http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/bronfenbrenners-ecological-systems-theory-of-development-definition-examples.html