Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

Hearing the stories from the families involved with the Head Start programs is of great significance to me because of my role in working directly with parents and families of young children. I am fortunate to see the successes of the families that I work with; however, it is somehow different when I get to hear the impact of having a relationship with an early childhood professional through their own words. Granted the families in the media segment are not the same that I work with but they are somewhat the same stories. The stories give me added confidence that my efforts make a difference in the lives of others in positive ways.

Parent and family involvement greatly benefits young children, families, and the early childhood field through the opportunities presented to help the programs grow by helping to make decisions and building partnerships with the programs. Family involvement can especially help to enrich the learning of the child through assisting in consistently reinforcing what is being taught within the classrooms. Furthermore, by keeping families involved in their child's education, we are instilling a sense of confidence and strength in a family's parenting abilities.

The value of hearing these family stories has on all involved in early childhood is the strength that it can give those who make decisions impacting these families. The families that are involved in their programs are essentially their own advocates as well as advocates for other children and families. All early childhood professionals, policymakers, and government officials greatly benefit from listening to the stories of these families because they are firsthand accounts of the impact Head Start can have. The stories are a way to communicate what is possible and what is needed.

I firmly believe family involvement is a crucial piece for all strands of service in the early childhood field because the families are the ones that hold the cards for the future of all children. As we discovered last week, the history of the early childhood field strands have changed based on public opinion and early childhood advocates. The families are the ones who can determine what types of service they feel is best for their child by influencing the public opinion and voting for particular officials that can make the decisions of change within the field. Families also are crucial in every strand because it begins the foundation for family relationships with the education systems throughout a child’s life.  

Quality Services and Public Opinion

I think there is a progressive shift by the United States public in the understanding that the early years of a child’s life are the most influential in regards to health and development along with beginning a foundation for education. Perhaps it is because of my newer role in the early childhood field as a parent educator, but I am noticing more advocates for beginning education programs and strengthening health and development for infants and toddlers as early as possible. While many mothers have stayed home with their children for many years in the birth-five age range, I have begun to notice that many parents are taking advantage of the help from early childhood professionals as well as public health initiatives even if they are a stay at home parent or a working parent. As we are discussing every day, the public is gaining the understanding of the importance of the early years. Even President Obama has stated in his State of the Union addresses that there is a need to strengthen the services for children and families during the early years, showing the understanding of crucial development factors from birth.

I hope over the next five years this public opinion continues to grow to support the early childhood field and the importance of a child’s health and development within the critical first 3 years. I hope policies will continue to improve the early childhood services offered and that the economic factors will shift toward increasing funding for early childhood services. I believe that the early childhood field is gaining support from the public and elected officials and will continue to grow in a positive way.  I also believe whole-heartedly that if the support from all strands of the early childhood field work together and recognize the power that exists among this field, the future for all factors will show a positive shift toward healthier children with a strong family foundation as well as sufficient funding for necessary education systems.

Early Childhood Systems

It has been through many years of working in various jobs that I have come to realize that I have a passion for working with young children. While I have been able to gain great knowledge and insight into child development and family matters, I still found myself wanting more information on learning ways that I may help to improve the lives of children and families. I chose the specialization on public policy and advocacy because I want to gain knowledge on how public policy processes work and impact the lives of children and families as well as to learn what I can do in my daily work to be part of bringing awareness to the issues these families face.

Being an advocate in the early childhood field is crucial to bringing the voices of young children and their families to the community and the elected officials who can influence the changes needed or desired. Without having skilled and confident advocates who are able to speak up and bring awareness to the issues faced in the early childhood field then we are missing out on improving such a crucial time of life for a child and helping them to develop to be the best they can be. We need early childhood advocates to be the connecting piece between the children and families to the public policy world. As an advocate I want to be the messenger that helps families have their needs and concerns be heard at the community, state, and federal levels.

I hope to learn ways to promote the connection between families and public policy officials. I want to learn about the public policy process so that I may gain a better understanding of how policies are formed and can be changed to fit the current needs of children and families. Finally I hope to use the skills and information I learn daily in my work to relay information to others so they also may better understand the public policy process.