From: Educating Young Children

Debbie Laffranchini, Instructor

CLDDV 107:

Introduction to Curriculum

Families are the Frame for Understanding Children

• Families shape children’s beliefs, attitudes, and actions

• Families’ culture includes everything from food, dance, music, dress, art, lifestyle, recreation, social customs, medicine, history, holidays, language, religious beliefs, rules, education, attitudes toward others, ability, and childrearing practices

Family Culture: Food

Family Culture: Dance

Family Culture: Music

Family Culture: Dress

Family Culture: Medicine

Family Culture: Education

Family Culture: Child-Rearing Practices

Family System

All the things that families do to enable their children to know and understand

their group’s shared ideas about values, beliefs, and behaviors.

~Phillips, 1988

Adults Support Children’s Families

• By striving to:

– Understand children’s home cultures

– Create open relationships among adults and children involved in the early childhood setting

– Positively influence the way children see, hear, understand and learn from their peers

– Empower all children to act confidently and with respect for others based on their own decisions and understanding

Ingredients of Active Learning

Materials

Manipulation

ChoiceChild

language and thought

Adult scaffolding

Active Learning in Support of Family Involvement

• Materials from home to manipulate– Provide what is familiar to children

• Food containers, clothing, music, weaving, beading

• Choices reflecting family life• Home language from children

– Hire staff who speak children’s home languages– Involve parents, grandparents, older siblings– Spend time with family and learn essential words– Learn to speak second language

• Respectful support (scaffolding) from adults– Observe interaction styles

• Space (individual and communication), eye contact, body language, touch (seek versus avoid), signaling distress or delight

Materials From Home to Manipulate

Cooking Utensils

Supportive Climate for Family Involvement

• Shared control between children and adults– Take cues from parents and give conversational control to parents

• Focus on children’s and families’ strengths– Sense of humor, gardening, sewing, hunting, fishing, trapping, sense of

belonging– Look for family interests and discover children’s interests from parents

• Authenticity on the part of adults– Discuss differences children notice– Be honest and factual, noting emotions– Show genuine interest in parents, respond attentively to parents’ interests

• Commitment on children’s family-inspired play– Births, deaths, weddings, funerals, family gatherings, religious observances– Encourage parents’ play with children– Watch and listen to parents and children playing together

The Effects of Valuing Families

• Children talk about their families

• Children explore and appreciate family differences

• Children and adults see each other in a positive light

• Children are free to use their energies on growth and development

Strategies for Supporting Family Involvement: Four Key Elements

Know yourself and your family’s roots,

beliefs, and attitudes

Learn from children and families about

their styles and traditions

Create positive relationships with

others

Anticipate excellence from

each child

Know Yourself and Your Family’s Roots, Beliefs, and Attitudes

• List your family origins

• Examine your “whats, hows, whys”

– What is truly important to me?

– How do I behave as a parent, family member, friend?

– Why do I behave a certain way, believe what I believe, adopt particular attitudes?

• Be aware of personal filters

– Recognize how you perceive the world and how it may differ from others

Learning From Children and Families About Their Styles and Traditions

• Conduct home visits• Build home visits into home child care and center-based programs• Participate in community life

– Farmer’s market, local businesses

• Observe children closely every day• Reach out to families

– Share anecdotes about child’s abilities– Plan family gatherings– Publicly acknowledge families’ importance to program

• Bulletin board

– Talk with families during drop-off, pick-up– Encourage families to join their child during the day (e.g., lunch)– Send home brief anecdotal notes– Send home newsletter on regular basis– Encourage family members to join you and the children on outings and field

trips

Creating Positive Relationships Between Yourself and Others

• Accept and trust others– See others respectfully and caringly

• Value human differences– Our response to diversity is a choice, it’s about our

attitude

• Focus on people’s strengths– We become models for children to do the same

• Communicate clearly and honestly– Our words must match our facial expressions, our

tone, our body language, and our actions• Merely saying something doesn’t make it so

Anticipating Excellence From Each Child

• Avoid labeling and stereotyping children and families– Focus on child’s strengths– Avoid: disadvantaged; developmentally delayed; not

ready for kindergarten; immature; aggressive; language-impaired; quiet little girl; rowdy boy; wild; deprived

• Regard each child as competent– Look for and recognize each child’s gifts

• Assume that each child will succeed– Expect children to be capable

Other things may change us, but we start and end with

the family.

~Anthony Brandt