I can hardly watch testimonial videos from parents without crying. I get as emotional as they do when they talk about the difference Head Start made, not just in their child's life, but in the family. The stories families tell are the way we evaluate our work. When families have a great experience in our classrooms, they talk about it. Even if the story is not connected to my classroom, I can relate to them and feel validated by them as an early childhood professional. Personally, as a parent, I get choked up because even though my children's early childhood experience as a long time ago now, I remember it as a tender time. I was so thrilled when another teacher saw the uniqueness and wonder in my small child. As a parent, it takes a great leap of faith to drop off a small child with someone else. When it goes well, when a teacher loved my child, he or she became "family" to me.
Parent involvement matters to children. It speaks volumes to children to see parents attending school. School matters and nothing says that more powerfully than making time for it, even as adults. For families, showing up at school to partner with the staff for the best possible outcomes for a child is essential. When we care for the children we share, the early childhood field is strengthened. Partnering with families helps us understand the child and the context of that child's childhood.
I testified in the Minnesota Senate this week. I always carry family success stories with me. Stories help public policy come to life. Stories also inform when policy and practice causes friction. Stories make policy better. Stories connect the work we do in classrooms to the work done in Capitol cities all across our nation.
When we invest in early childhood programs as a way to give children a hand up out of poverty, the dollars are well spent. When we add parent involvement, engagement, or education to the formula, we compound the investment. That's what I told twenty eight senators this week. I know it's true.
Katy,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post, Katy. While I do think it is important to encourage parents to volunteer in the classroom as a part of a comprehensive plan of parental involvement in their children's academic progress, I also think that it is equally important for high quality early childhood centers to provide other ways for parents to meaningfully participate in their children's academic programming. While valiant, physical participation in the classroom may not be possible for all parents, but donation opportunities, the performance of side work for the instructor, or providing cultural artifacts for classroom exploration may be more feasible involvement activities for parents experiencing the pressures of economic concerns and time constraints as barriers to parental participation. In my opinion, we as educators must take the time to find these variations in traditional parental participation while being careful not to berate, belittle, or somehow diminish parental participation that does not look like the traditional volunteer opportunities in the classroom.