Observing and Interacting With Families of the Children in Your Setting

Name: Shante Elliott Date: 5-25-2012 Name of Program/Setting: KinderCare Learning Center/ Preschool Who I spoke with: Several parents, an occupational therapist, and a physical therapist. What I learned about …During my two weeks I observed the teacher Ms. Nichole and the children of the 3’s preschool class, spoke to Kathy, an occupational therapist, Terri, a physical therapist, 2 of the parents in the center, Sharon and Jessica. Kathy and Terri is therapist that comes in the center to work with a couple of children enrolled. During these two weeks there were a lot going on. The teachers had parent teacher conferences, and they were getting things ready for the summer. So I got a chance to sit in on one. Ms. Nichole started the conference by asking the parents if they had any questions, and then went on to explaining to the parent about all the observations, assessments, and information they had collected. I think Ms. Nichole did an excellent job doing her conference. She had all her data together and organized in a portfolio with lots of pictures of the child. It looked easy to understand and self explanatory. After the conference, I asked Ms. Nichole how she goes about telling parents of children that seems to be in need of intervention. She told me that it is easy to her because of her well organized data she had of observations, assessments, and pictures of what she and other teachers has seen. “I just let the information speak for itself,” Ms. Nichole said. She also told me that she builds and maintains a positive and open relationship with each of the parents of the children in her care. Then I spoke to Terri, the physical therapist. I asked her how she gets to work with children in the center. She told me that the agency she works for gets a call from a parent, grandparent, or a teacher or principal of the child in need. Then we come to observe and assess the child and report the findings to the parent of the child. Then the parent has to decide if they actually want us to intervene. When I spoke to Kathy, the occupational therapist, she told me the same thing about the way she comes to work with the children in the center. I asked Kathy what happens when the parent refuses intervention for their child. She said that when that happens, they don’t pressure them, they just leave them be for about 6 months then come back to observe and assess again. And report the findings to the parents once again. Then, I spoke to a few of the parents. I asked them all what they thought about my advocacy subject, accurately Assessing Preschool Children for Effective Intervention. Sharon, a mother of a 2 year old and one on the way, said, “I am glad that someone is taking this on. Even though my child doesn’t need it now, who knows if he may need it later? I am also glad that you are bringing that here; this puts my mind at ease because I now know someone will be looking out for the children of this center. Jessica, a parent of a first grader, said,” I actually needed this a few years ago. My son needed speech therapy, but I did not have any idea he needed it until he started at a public preschool. But now he is talking better and does not need speech therapy anymore.”

Observing and Interacting With Professionals, Children, and Families in an Early Childhood Setting Name: Shante Elliott Date: 5-11-2012 Name of Program/Setting: KinderCare Learning Center Who I spoke with: Christine What I learned about … During my 2 weeks I observe red, interacted, and me liked to the director of the program, Christine. Christine was very attentive to the parents and the children. She addresses them all by name and had brief conversation with each and every one of them. I asked Christine how she felt about assessments and how important was assessing children in her program. She told me that she believed assessments were a very important part of their program and she tries hard to make sure the teachers know how to assess children accurately. I then asked her how she made sure her teachers know how to accurately assess children. She said that she holds in-service meetings twice a year to go over how to accurately assess children. She went on to tell me that she wishes that there was an easier way to teach the teachers, especially the new ones. She told me that because the in-services, held only twice a year, were informative but not all the teachers are there or some teachers just don’t grasp the whole picture of assessments. Christine also shared with me that her staff and she try to get the community involved with her program. She said she has parent involvement activities once a month. These activities include open house, parents’ night out, shopping nights, and holiday activities. I went on to talk to Christine about ways I could possibly be of assistance in helping with training her teachers on assessing. She was happy to hear I wanted to help and welcomed me to share my ideas with her. I told her that I want to come up with a way to get together a computer program and package that goes through the process of assessments to them. The quote I want to share this week is from my talking to Christine. She said, “Building a repoire with families is the most important part of my job.”