Sheltering Arms Early Child Care and Education Center

      The last two weeks have been very interesting. I have enjoyed learning from the staff at the Sheltering Arms Early Child Care and Education Center here in Union City, Ga. The center has sixteen classrooms and is licensed through Bright From The Start and NAEYC accredited. There are two Infant classrooms that have eight infants in each classroom from six weeks to fifteen months, one of them is an Early Head Start. There are four Toddler classrooms, two are Head Start and there are only eight children in each room, the other two classrooms have thirteen children in them a piece. The ratio for the infants and one year old is 1:4, the ratio for the two year old is 1:6, and the ratio for the three year old is 1:9 There are 5 Preschool and 5 Pre-K classrooms, and two of the Preschool classrooms are Head Start. The ratio for the Preschool classrooms is 1:9 and the Pre-K classrooms is 1:10. The curriculum is the Creative Curriculum that focuses on the whole child and learning through play. The Infant and Toddler teachers work as continuity caregivers, they stay with the same set of children as they rotate from the Infant classrooms to the Toddler classrooms. On average the teachers are the children's care givers in some cases from six weeks to age three before they transition to a preschool classroom. The Pre-K program is licensed and functioned by Bright from the Start.    
      The classrooms are very spacious and equipped with a variety of learning equipment and material. Each group of children have their own separate playground with the age appropriate equipment for each group. The playgrounds are easily accessible through the back doors of each classroom. The classrooms are separated by areas that include a water play and sensory area, science and discovery, block area, manipulative area, writing and art areas for toddlers, preschoolers and pre-k, book nooks, quiet or cozy areas(a place filled with books, stuffed animals that is also used for children to go who do not want to be bothered or may need to calm down), and a computer center for preschool and pre-k. The toddler, preschool and pre-k classrooms have child size restrooms, sinks, along with table and chairs. The center wide rule for entering the classrooms is "Wash Your Hands When You Enter the Classrooms," the children are encouraged to wash their hands regularly and brush their teeth at least once a day while at school. The teachers work collaboratively to make sure the ratio is acknowledge and that all children needs are met. The center also have a very notable inclusion program. I was able to speak with parents that had special needs children in the Head Start classrooms, they were very pleased with the services they received. The teachers were all very friendly and warm as I observed their classrooms.
     I had the pleasure of speaking with the Director, Mr. Mcnair and two of the Curriculum Specialist Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Powers. They all were easy to talk to and gave me more ideas to use for my paper. Generally the main concern for the center in the Wellness and Health area is encouraging more parents to participate in their Lunch and learn session, which happens once every month, the topics vary from how to cook a healthy meal to bonding with our child. The center have different speakers and guest that come out and teach the classes. The director's issue is that they never get enough parent participation, so outreach is a problem. The Curriculum Specialist explained to me that some of the things that they would like to give a voice to the children who parents refuse services for when their are expected special needs. They expressed that they would like to figure out a better way to reach the parents who refuse.
    Throughout my interviews and observations throughout the last two weeks I gained an insight on the need for teachers and administrative staff that work to help parents help their children. I realized that my original topic is to broad and needs to be broken down. I think I will talk about the need for parent education; how do we reach them and keep them involved and engaged? As I went through these last two week I was faced with so many children that could not speak for themselves, so I leave you all with this quote for the week, "Children may forget what you say to them, but they never forget how you made them feel." and " "Teachers are the ones who have the biggest influence on the lives of our future, what type of influence are you?"     
       
   

Advocacy Interviews

      The insight that I gained from both educators, the first is an early childhood caregiver for infants and toddlers, the second a teacher assistant for public early childhood education, is that the issues they both expressed are very similar even though there is a significance in the age levels. The issues that both types of teachers expressed are their concerns with issues of denial and rejection i families when early intervention can help and the lack of care that some children receive.
    These interviews persuaded me to choose the route of discussing becoming apart of the public early childhood education advocacy campaign. I was persuaded to take this route because I noticed that even the issues of denial and lack of care in child care parents still are more available, where as in the public early childhood settings families begin to become strangers to the learning process leaving a huge gap between home and school.
    As a part of my reserch and advocacy journey I would like to figure out how to close these gaps and stimulate family participation that is not forced or judgemental. I would to find out how to help early childhood programs create programs that allow parents to get the resources they need to become assets to their child's learning process.
Questions that I have for my colleagues are:

1. What are some of the issues you notice in your classrooms because of the lack of family involvement?
2. Do you think that this is an issue that is large issue that is swept under the table because of the excuses that are given becuase of demographics?
3. How can we work as a group or team to help parents and families understand the importance of their participation at home and school, even in families that may have language barriers and/or cultural differences?
   

ECE and Me!

Hi,
My fellow educators!! This blogging thing is new to me, but I have always been interested in it. my golden opportunity came when it became a requirement for my internship. I am near the end of my journey to pursue my bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. I hope that this blog will be an asset to my journey in completing my degree program and my career as an elementary school teacher. I look forward to seeing what this blog that gives me your opinions and insights in the field of education will bring.
TTYS,
LekethiaW