Family-Centered Early Childhood Program

Family-Centered Early Childhood Program

Families are their children's first and most important teachers. Today's families often rely on resources outside the family, such as early childhood programs and schools, to help them care for and educate their young children (Decker, Decker, Freeman, & Knopf, 2009). Early childhood programs in collaboration with parents and the community employ developmentally appropriate practices to positively enhance the behaviors of children. Early childhood programs also supply parents with needed community resources for the betterment of both their lives and their children's lives.

Opportunities for programs, families, and communities to work together are a crucial component of quality early childhood programming. The theoretical foundation for this three-way collaboration is based on L.S. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (knowledge is constructed as a result of social experiences with peers and adults) and Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory (people live in multiple environments simultaneously). Bronfenbrenner's ecological system provides the framework for understanding the relationship between the child's home and his school or child care experience (Decker, Decker, Freeman & Knopf, 2009). When the connections between the home and school are strong, children, families, schools and child care programs, and communities benefit, offering support that none could provide if they were acting alone.

Children are at tremendous advantage when families and teachers agree on what they expect children will learn and be able to do, and when they agree on how to help children achieve those goals. When families get involved children's cognitive development enhances, behavior improves, academic achievement gets a boost and language and problem-solving skills increase. Family involvement helps schools and teachers successfully advocate for the evaluation of children with suspected disabilities and helps involve families in securing special services when they are needed to enhance children's chances for success. Children gain a positive self-image, a productive orientation to social relations, and positive attitudes about school when they see that family members and teachers are working together for shared goals.

Parents benefit when they take advantage of opportunities to participate in their children's early childhood educational experiences. Family members' feelings of self-worth and increased educational and employment opportunities are enhanced through the participation in early childhood programs. Parents' knowledge of a child's development and information pertaining to the appropriate approaches used to guide a child during his/her years are increased through the parents' collaboration with the school. Parents gain confidence in their own ability to nurture and educate their children when they interact with children in the early childhood setting. Parents gain a better understanding of the important role they play in their children's education...they are their child's first and important teacher (Eliason & Loa, 2008).

Early childhood programs also benefit from family involvement. When families are able to explain their family's makeup and culture to school personnel, caregivers and teachers are likely to become more empathetic and to be better able to work from their understanding of the family's strengths. When family members volunteer in the classroom, children can benefit from adults' one-on-one attention for activities such as lap reading. The teacher may also be able to plan activities that require an extra pair of adult hands. Family members can serve as classroom resources pertaining to occupational opportunities and cultural information.

Helping children to learn to guide and be responsible for their own behavior is as important as helping them learn to read and write. Appropriate behavior and learning go together. Helping children learn the knowledge, skills, and responsible behavior is the foundation of lifelong responsible and productive living (Morrison, 2009). When children enter preschool their central task is to become a separate independent being, autonomy (Gonzalez-Mena, 2006). As children pursue autonomy, they learn and develop behaviors that hasten their strides towards independence. These behaviors have to be nurtured and steered towards positive outcomes. Self-help, pro-social skills, problem-solving, self-esteem, and building relationships are among the behaviors exhibited by children as they strive for independence.

Children, at birth, are completely dependent on others. Childhood is an apprenticeship that gradually prepares a child to handle adulthood--its freedoms, pleasures, and responsibilities. From infancy, children naturally reach out to the world, beginning with their parents. As the attachment cements, children seek more achievements and competence. By the time children are age two, controlling their body, making it do what they want it to, and getting what they want are major goals (Morrison, 2009). Gradually they practice skills to help them reach those goals, such as walking and talking. In the preschool setting, children can be encourage to enhance their self-help skills by allowing them to unpack their backpacks in morning, put their personal items in their cubbies, pack their backpacks in the afternoon, and do activities that promote personal hygiene. These activities would be monitored and assisted. This assistance would gradually