Enlisting and Providing Support Blog 4

Question you have with which your colleagues may be able to provide help and support
I would just like to have some suggestions on what type of parent involvement would be enriching to start with for the child and the parent.

Resources and information you are seeking
I am seeking resources and information that will show that parent involvement can help in a child's developmental process.

Resources and/or information you have found helpful and insightful
I have found a lot of helpful resources that I will be using with my advocacy action plan. There are many helpful websites that serve as resources for parents, teachers and the community about advocacy issues on parent involvement and the importance of early literacy. I found the NAEYC,  zero to three.org, network with my site was very helpful in aiding me with resources and information. I found information and resources that explains the meaning of parent involvement and the different levels. One article is  Epstein Six Types of Parent involvement and another one is What is Parent Involvement?  

Blog 3 Family Involvement

A quote that you find inspirational regarding the role that advocacy can have in the lives of young children and their families.

 “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each”.-Plato.

•What inspires and excites you most about your advocacy plan and being an advocate? With education being one of the categories

 The most exciting and inspirational part about my advocacy plan are being able to make a difference in a family’s life as well as haring valuable information that will not only benefit the child but the parent as well and for them to  use it as a daily routine.

•What challenges and/or anxieties do you feel related to engaging in the advocacy efforts you have targeted?

The challenge at the moment is having parent involvement during socialization events. Due to the parents work schedule and not for them not being able to participate at the events therefore I have not being able to approach them. Also a biggest challenge and anxiety is to get the parents interested and this is the second category persuasive. I will have to use many stretegies to convince the parents to become their child's advocate.

•What do you believe will be most effective in helping you overcome any challenging emotions you may be feeling with regard to presenting and implementing your Advocacy Action Plan? My biggest challenging emotion is nervousness about public speaking. I believe that I can overcome that by being very well informed about the material that I will introduce to my audience.  I have the great feeling that the site director and teachers are on board with me with my advocacy plan. It’s a good feeling that I have their support and they are more than happy to help me out.

•How can you encourage others in their advocacy efforts, and how can others encourage you?

 To encourage others I would talk about my plan and my different strategies for the plan that I have put together. Others can encourage me by giving me their opinions with some suggestions. I also feel that another  way to encourage others to advocate is by telling them to find something they truly believe in or something that has touched them personally. We all have a voice and everyone can help someone else. I think it is important to know your voice is valuable and powerful. I think that a way to encourage others is by not losing hopes and to keep on their efforts for a positive change.  A support that I can gain from my colleagues is by them suggesting ways to involve the parents to come to our events.