My Hypothetical Family Situation

My family is a blended two parent family with three children.  There are two girls and the newest addition a little brother, Emerson.  Mom and Dad were recently married last year, both the girls refer to their stepfather as Dad as he has been with Mom for several years and their biological fathers are not present.  Mom and Dad were told prenatally that Emerson would be born with a cleft palate.  Emerson arrived at the end of November with a bilateral cleft palate. 

A bilateral cleft palate is the incomplete formation of the lip and the pallet.  This requires extensive surgeries and the therapies.  Initially the infant will require a feeding tube as they are unable to suck.  Sometimes cleft palate occurs as part of a syndrome and other times it is simply genetic.  Until Emerson was born it was impossible to know the extent of the cleft palate or whether it was part of a syndrome or genetic.  Testing was done immediately after birth and it was determined that Emerson’s cleft palate was due to genetics only.

Babies with a cleft palate require initially feeding tubes, syringe feeding after surgeries, multiple surgeries to repair the lip and palate, dental repair, and speech therapy. 

Emerson’s family is a low-income family. Due to Emerson’s special needs the family has decided to have Dad stay home with Emerson while Mom returned to work as a Preschool Teacher.  Since there are no childcare facilities in their area that could meet the special needs for Emerson’s feeding issues both parents feel better if one of them is home with him until his surgeries are complete and feeding is no longer an issue.  Part of Emerson’s feeding issues is maintaining a very specific feeding schedule and ensuring that Emerson has a specific amount of formula or breast milk each day, increasing the amount each week.

Dad is from Honduras and Spanish is his primary language, with English being his second language.  Mom is learning Spanish but her primary language is English.  Dad speaks both English and Spanish to all of the children in the household.  The family has been impacted by sociocultural context of being a blended multicultural family.  Economic cutbacks to early intervention and early childhood services have impacted the family by the lack of services of available in their area.

 Early childhood services that would support my family would include: early intervention services, pediatric specialists, special needs early childhood care and education, and mental health services for the family. 

The Political Will To Improve Early Childhood Systems

My program of study has made me aware of many more organizations that can assist people in advocating to their local Congressmen and Senators for Early Childhood Programs.  As a member of the National Head Start Association (NHSA) I am updated on upcoming important bills that may affect Early Childhood Education and Programs.  This site also gives me step by step directions on how to write my local Congressmen and Senators.  Other sites like, Voices for America's Children, also keeps me informed.  Through this site I can sign petitions as well as write my local legislators.  I can also share these petitions and letters with friends, family, coworkers, and local community members through Facebook and Twitter.

When legislators are bombarded with letters and petitions they learn what is important to their voters.  Individuals can make an enormous impact in legislation just by banning together and writing and calling their local legislators.

Websites like those I have listed have shown me that even one person can make a difference.  You can advocate and share information with others on a local level and impact your local communities.  I like that you can share this information via social media as well as through printed materials. 

When I began this course of study I was not sure how much of an impact I could have as an advocate and was not even certain that I was cut out to be an advocate.  Now I feel more confident in my abilities to make a difference and in being able to impact my local community.

As Ghandi stated "be the change you want to see you want to see in the world".

Parent, Family, & Community Engagement

Why involvement opportunities for parents and families benefit young children, families, and the early childhood field?

Involvement opportunities provide a multitude of benefits for young children, families, and the early childhood field.  For parents and families it giving them the opportunity to become involved and engaged in their child's education allows them to learn how to advocate for their child.  It helps to prepare them for when their child transitions into public schools.  For young children, they get to see their parents actively involved in their school, share experiences with their parents and families, and tells them that they are important, building their self esteem.  For the early childhood field it is a way for the field to demonstrate and educate parents and families on the importance of early childhood experiences, growth, development, and learning.

My opinion regarding why or why not parent / family involvement is an essential element for all strands of service in the early childhood field.

In my own personal opinion family involvement / engagement is an essential component of all strands of service in the early childhood field.  Families and their young children are what make up the early childhood field.  It is essential that they partner with early childhood professionals in order to build high-quality care and education services for their children.  When families are a part of the process they become involved in their child's education, research shows that children have a higher school success rate when their parents are involved in their education.

As a past Head Start parent I have to say that Head Start had a major impact on my life and my children's lives.  Both of my girls, and later my son, went to Head Start and from participating in the parent committees and volunteering in the Center and Classrooms it made me more aware of how important early childhood experiences and learning is for young children.  I went back to school after my son was born and had the full support of all of the Head Start staff.  When my son demonstrated developmental delays I know it is because of the experiences that I had with Head Start that I knew exactly what to do and how to proceed to get him the early intervention that he needed.  I am thrilled to now be working for my local Head Start / Early Head Start program and am sure that the program will remain very dear to my heart.  I now have my Bachelors in Child Development and will soon complete the required courses for my Master's Degree.  I am sure that without the experiences in Head Start that I would not be where I am today and considering going for a PhD. in Early Childhood Education. 

My children also continue to excel in school and to this day have a love of learning.  They each remember their Head Start experiences and teachers and often look through their portfolios. 

Head Start empowers families, promotes self-reliance, and educates young children and families.  It's comprehensive system is one that the early childhood field can learn from.  Parents and families learn and experience the importance of becoming involved in one's own community as well as their child's education.

Quality Programs For All Children

I believe the current public opinion in the United States regarding the value and importance of providing quality services, including early care and education, is increasing.  Developments in brain research have increased awareness of the importance of the early years regarding young children's growth and development. Researchers agree it is the earliest years that are the most crucial for healthy growth and development for all children. Early intervention programs, Head Start / Early Head Start, and Special Education programs help provide high-quality, safe, and healthy experiences to young children and their families.  The history of these types of programs demonstrates the increased awareness and focus on quality childcare and education.  The long term benefits have social, economical, and political impacts on our society. 

My hope is that continued research, community based programs, and family involvement continues to raise awareness and increase the focus on the importance of quality early care and education for all children.  It is my hope that funding will continue to increase and that as a nation we will be able to create more and more programs to ensure that all children have access to high-quality care and education programs.  I hope to be a part of this continued movement and hope that I will be a part of implementing new programs, bringing awareness to my local area, and will have a positive influence on families and young children. 

I believe that when we can provide services to all children we will see long term benefits not only for our children but for our Nation as well.  Studies have shown that investing in the care and education of our young children is beneficial to our economy.   The economic benefits include lowering the cost of remedial, special education, and grade repetition, higher income for graduates, better job preparation, and fewer welfare payments to name just a few (MIT Workplace Center, 2005).  The social impact includes higher rate of graduation, lower crime rates, and individuals become better citizens (MIT Workplace Center, 2005). 

In the words of Maria Montessori:

"Free the child's potential and you will transform the world!"

References

MIT Workplace Center. 2005. Early childhood education for all:  A wise investment.  Retrieved from

http://web.mit.edu/workplacecenter/docs/Full%20Report.pdf



What resonates with me about early childhood public policy and advocacy?

When asked why I chose this specialization many things come to mind.  The first is the children.

The children and their families are the most important aspect of why I chose to go into Advocacy.  I want to be a voice for young children and their families. 

Advocates are essential in the early childhood field.  Advocates educate their local communities, society, and legislators on the benefits and importance of early learning and high-quality care for our most precious asset.....our children.  Advocates help empower young children and their families by giving them a voice. 



By specializing in Public Policy and Advocacy I hope I learn more about how I can make a difference in my area and call to action our local communities to improve the quality of care and education for our young children and their families.

"In every conceivable manner, the family is the link to our past and the bridge to our future!" 

~ Alex Haley  



Communicating and Collaborating in the Early Childhood Field

In closing our final core course in this Master's Program in Early Childhood Studies I would like to say, I hope we meet again in the future and best of luck to everyone as we enter our Specializations!  It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work and learn with each of you.  Your insights and feedback have been invaluable. 

I have enjoyed reading your blogs and sharing this experience with each of you!  I wish you all the best!

Adjourning

Most of the groups I have been a part of have closure or adjournment.  The business groups I have been a part of have always closed with a celebration of our successes and a review of our accomplishments.  It feels good to celebrate what you have accomplished with a group of your colleagues.  All groups must experience some type of closure, even those groups that have not been a positive experience will experience some type of closure. 

For me it is harder to say good-bye and see a successful high-performing group say good-bye and come to an end.  Most of the groups that were not positive experiences were a relief to see come to an end.  Some of the types of closure I have experienced include celebrating our accomplishments with a luncheon.  It was very nice to feel appreciated and to celebrate as a group the accomplishments we made together.  When I was a part of the Employee Task Force it was nice to be able to close the group on such a positive note, I met several other employees that I had not previously known and to this day enjoy getting together with them. 

When I imagine the group of colleagues I am working with in my Master's Degree Program I imagine it will be bittersweet.  It will be a great accomplishment for all of us but many of us have been together in undergraduate courses as well as throughout the Master's Degree program.  I hope that we can all stay connected through Alumni groups. 

Adjourning is an essential stage in teamwork and groups because it allows us to say good-bye, celebrate together, and to let others know what an impact they have had on our lives.  Each of my colleagues in the Master's Program has enriched my learning and I hope that we will also have the opportunity to celebrate our accomplishment together.