BLOG 2

The last two week I have observed and interacted with the administration portion of the school.  The director and the parent liaison, It was nice to kind of bounce around and observe others interacting with families and staff.  Also, being able to hear others views on not just quality but how centers should operate as a whole. Last week at the center they had a parent workshop related to literacy  and it sad to say but  only four parents attened to the workshop. 

In the evening I had a chance to observed and interacted with other parents in my niece classroom. She is in the preschool grade.
Parents were welcomed promptly at 5:30p.m and encouraged to go to their children classroom and partake in the activities that the teachers had prepared for the event related to math. This was a time planned for parents to come in and interact with their children teacher and ask how their children is/are coming along.
For the most it seemed their wasn’t a big turn out and it was also raining that late afternoon / evening. Sometimes getting out of work late, traffic and bad weather can pose barriers for parents to make it to an event.

Interview Blog

 I have interviewed a Director and our site Parent Liaison. The advocacy topic I predict that I will be working on for my final paper will be on parent involvement. I was inspired to focus on parent involvement because I believe that there is a need for more parent involvement and participation in their child’s early education Due to the Lack of parental involvement in our Child Care Centers. Parents are working or in school or both and are unable to volunteer during the day and are too tired in the evenings to stay or come to meetings. Parents who also have other children at home are also in a rush to get home and prepare for dinner and/or child care.

While there are many areas that one can choose from to promote advocacy, I think that advocating for more parent participation in their child’s education is a good place to start. This way the more parents become educated and guided, there is a better chance of them becoming informed and empowered to be proactive in their child’s education now and in the future.

Insights I gained from my interview with the Director and the Parent Liaison as well as specific related topics include but are not limited to; challenges or barriers as to why some parents do not or are not able to partake in their child’s school functions, events or academics; different ways that parents can be involved at school and at home; cultural aspects; possible language barriers etc. We also talked about some possible ideas of tapping into parents skills / talents as a way of swaying them into the school or classroom.

I will meet again with the Parent liaison to gather more insight regarding her work with the school families as well as try to assess strengths and needs from her perspective on this topic.

Hello 411

My name is Vanessa Gonzalez and I am currently working towards my Bachelors degree here at Kendall.  I am in my last two quarters at Kendall.  I can hardly believe that I will finally fulfill my dream of earning my degree in Early childhood education.