Blog #4
This module I worked with one of the many supervisors for
this preschool program. This program services
10 different centers. Each center has a
direct center supervisor, and they answer to one of the 4 area managers, and
they answer to the program director. The person that I worked with was an area
manager. Her role is to manage 3
different center supervisors. Each
center is different, and each center is located in a different county. The area manager that I worked with is in a
very unique position. She is truly a middle
man when it comes to problems. Not only
does this wonderful woman have to manage 3 different center supervisors, she is
also the Family Engagement Specialist.
She is the only Family Engagement Specialist for the whole program, and
she is in charge of educating all the staff on family frame work, family engagement,
and family and community partnerships. I
have been truly amazed on how much this woman does. She is passionate about the families that we
serve, and she always has a big smile on her face. I have been blessed to work with a wonderful
person.
Because the area manager that I worked with is a specialist
in Family Engagement, I was able to learn a lot of wonderful ways to get
parents and families involved in their child’s education, and in their child’s
classroom. She was able to help me come
up with unique ways to get parents to be more comfortable and more trusting
with their child’s teachers. I was able
to have a better understanding of how important it is to have families create
family goals. Family goals can be as
simple as creating a family night, or they can be more of a long term goal like
going to college. Helping families
create goals, and steps for those goals is crucial. Because my paper is about family engagement,
I was able to truly observe how an organization helps parents to become more
engaged in their child’s education, and even their own education.
This organization has gone above and beyond with parent engagement. This program has even designed a male involvement
night once a month. When walking into
the office board room there are photos of parents and family members receiving awards. One of the photos was of a father who received
the father of the year award. This
father achieved this great award through his countless hours volunteering in
his child’s classroom, participating in family events, and serving on the policy
council, and even the board of this program.
When I left the board room I walked away with a huge smile, and I knew
that this program was truly there to help children and their families
succeed. These observations were exactly
what I needed to help create a stronger research paper about family involvement. Hearing about these great success stories
have helped to validate why I am writing my paper.
What are some ways she gave you to get the parents to trust you. I think that is something that takes time because a lot of parents think that you are out to get them. This is not the case for all of them but I have experienced this (not personally) when talking to other teachers.
ReplyDeleteWhat other ways have she got parents involved especially new parents? At the school that I am observing there was a new parent enrolling their child into Kindergarten from a new city and it went well. The teacher was very engaged with the parents of the child and the teacher introduce them to the class. The teacher asked the parents would they like to stay for the first day at their child new school so that they can get an idea of what their child would be learning. Do you know by any chance if she knows how many parents are married or if both parents are involved in the children lives? Basically, what I am asking is do she know about the other or both parents of the children that she deal with?
ReplyDeleteVery nice post. Keep up with the good work.
I think it is amazing that there is a district manager that focuses on family engagement. That is not a common area that receives enough attention. Would you be at liberty to say which preschool you are observing? Is it in Illinois? I am just curious to see what centers I should apply to after I graduate. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello Jana,
ReplyDeleteI am very glad to know that this wonderful woman can wear many hats as she does, and perform to potentials. It is not everyday that we come across one person who is really capable of finding ways to help our families be involved with their children. This can be a very big pill to swollow. And establishing ways to connect the families through engagements are always awesome. And having a male involvement night is great to keep them involved.
Where I previously worked at, they had nights such as: Fish with dad, movie night, and date with dad. That was wondersul to see; and their children were so happy.
It is the little things that matterd the most, to help engage our families. I hope she Keeps up the good work!!! And I am glad you received a lot of good information to help you out with your paper.
I think it is important to have enough help with the administrative area of childcare. It sounds like this program has a large staff. This helps to keep the program organized and running smoothly, because each different person takes on a different role. Does this area manager travel to all the counties to offer Family Engagement Specialist services? It is wonderful that your internship is influential and meaningful for you. Mine is as well, I am lucky to learn from such great professionals.
ReplyDeleteI have learned that parent involvement is extremely important and influential in a child’s development and education. All parents and families have different goals and expectations for their children; so allowing the parents to share their thoughts and their goals is a great way to involve families and respect their culture. What does the male involvement night involve? I have never heard of this before. I love the idea of giving a parent an award for volunteering. I wish there were more programs like this available to children; it sounds like a great place for children. Hopefully you were able to reflect on these observations while writing your first draft.
It is very good that you have interview a Family Engagement Specialist from a preschool center. Because usually the first learning that the children acquired is from their parents. Having involvement with the parents educators can build partnership with parents with trust and communication to help the children with their learning. This way you can get the parents involve in the education of their child and they can help at home to enhance in their developmental areas. Children can become successful in learning with parents involvement.
ReplyDeleteI would love to observe this program. The director of the program has really gone over and above to develop trust and a welcoming environment where parents are accepted and teachers want them to be a part of their child's education. There are many students doing their advocacy plan on parental involvement I hope they read your blog. It would be nice if this director did a 'study' over a period of years to prove that innovative ways to get parents involved means improved involvement. I love the male night.
ReplyDelete