Sharing Web Resources

The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children. Their mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources. http://www.naeyc.org/

A current trend in EC that has definitely caught my eye is engaging with families and building meaningful partnerships. This extremely important trend is featured in the September 2014 issue of Young Children, the journal of the NAEYC.

I am excited about meeting with each of the families in my preschool and childcare this month to learn more about their different cultures, languages, and various life experiences. This will help to shape my teaching approaches so they have the most positive impact on the children and families I serve on a daily basis!

“For young children, the most important community is their family. Learning communities strive for genuine family engagement by recognizing that teachers who tie community-based participation into the curriculum extend children’s learning far beyond the classroom. Inviting children’s home cultures into the classroom as resources to be used in their learning helps build bridges between home and school. In doing so, teachers extend the learning beyond the school day and validate children’s home experiences.

            Families become collaborators in their children’s learning when teachers validate the children and families’ life experiences and implement strategies that respect diverse families and cultures. Teachers can work to create family learning through communities in which educators, children, and their families learn cooperatively and collaboratively.” (YC, Young Children, The journal of the national association for the education of young children, 2014)

References

YC, Young Children, The journal of the national association for the education of

 young children, September, 2014, Engaging families: partnering in meaningful ways)