Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

The value that hearing such stories has for early childhood professionals, for the public, and for policymakers and government officials I feel is that you get to hear things on a personal level. It is no longer someone wrote this, or here is another policy we need to pass it becomes personal when you hear a parents story of how an early childhood program has changed their lives. Every year we have our parents write how our program has helped them with their child and what changes they have seen in their child since they started the program and we share this info with our steering committee and with state officials. It also helps them understand the importance of keeping these programs in place for the children and families.
My opinion regarding why or why not parent/family involvement is an essential system element for all strands of service in the early childhood field is that parents need to be very involved in what their children are doing at school, if not the child feels you don't care and the teacher thinks you have no interest. Parent involvement is extremely essential it helps in the child's development.

Quality Programs for all Children

I believe that in the United States providing quality services for young children and families is seen as important and has grown to be of great concern over the years, but more can always be done. In my state early childhood education is extremely important! The implementation of a tier program to help private providers and other early child care workers become educated and reimbursed has been started. Lots of research is being done through Judy Centers (where I work) on statistics that tell us how better off children are who have had early childhood experiences opposed to those who have not had it. These statistics are conducted every year and looked at by policy makers in the state.

I hope that the public is able to see the importance and I would love to see changes over the next five years to help those private providers become better at what they do and align with the school systems to prepare children to be ready at 5. I think changes in public opinion will influence early childhood strands of service, systems and policies and advocacy because people will begin to advocate. They will see the importance of providing quality services to young children and their families.  Young children and families will be better off and working towards goals set by themselves and by the state.

What Resonates With You About Early Childhood Public Policy and Advocacy?

I choose this specialization because I have always wanted to help young children in some way or another. I found out that I did not necessarily like being in a classroom all day but wanted to help children in some way. Public Policy and Advocacy helps me to understand that I can be a  voice for the children and fight for their rights. I have always wanted my own daycare center and I figured in a small way I could begin by helping those who come through my door.
Becoming a skilled and confident advocate is crucial for the early childhood professionals and for the field because there are so many laws being put in place by people who have never even worked with children or have them themselves. I think it is important for those who work day in and day out with children to become advocates for them. Advocates are essential because our children can’t speak for themselves they need someone who is skilled and confident to advocate for them on their behalf.
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I would like to learn how to become a skilled and confident advocate.
I would like to find out more about public policy and how you can get your voice heard.
I would also like to learn what is most important now in the field that needs to be advocated.

Week 8 Moving on

This class has been really hard for me. I have had to endure surgery where I had almost the complete class to try and recover and try to complete my work at the same time. I then had to go to our Annual Leadership conference at work, take care of the kids, work and all else that life throws you but we made it through, me by the skin of  my teeth. Thank you everyone for your post, your comments, your encouragement. We will continue to run this race with endurance.. Thanks again. If you need me e mail me jjenkins5135@yahoo.com. Peace and God Speed!!

Team Building and Collaboration

I believe that high-performing groups are the hardest to leave. I was apart of a play called "A Raisin in the Sun" in high school. It was very hard for me to leave such a great cast. For months we worked together on our parts. Our teacher for a week took us up to her home in the mountains the week before the play was to begin to practice together day in and day out. We had grown to be a family. We trusted one another. We loved one another by the end of the play and had formed some serious lasting relationships. I have experienced several closing rituals, but the closing ritual of this play was the best. The cast celebrated together on such great performances given.  We had all become so close. I imagine that I will adjourn from the group of colleagues that have formed while working on my masters with jubilation. I think we will be so proud of our successes that there really will not be time for sadness but joy!!! We will be so glad that we made it, so happy for one another. Adjourning is an essential stage of teamwork because you reflect on your accomplishments and your failures, and some may decide to continue to work together on new task (O'Hair &Wiemann).

Conflict Resolution-Week 5

In thinking about recent disagreements, or conflicts that I may have experienced, two strategies that I have learned about that might help me to manage or resolve the conflict more productively are to use the cooperative strategy instead of the challenging strategy. The cooperative strategy  benefits the relationship, serves mutual rather than individual goals, and strives to produce solutions that benefit both parties (O'Hair& Wiemann, 2009). Another strategy that I have learned about that I think may help are the 3 R's, which promotes the idea that relationships are built over time through “respectful, reciprocal, and responsive” interactions.  I asked friends for input and the made some of  the same suggestions as well. They have also stated don't sweat the small stuff, and things you know that you can not change. You can't change people or their opinion of you so stop trying. They gave great advice.

Who Am I as a Communicator!!

 This week we were asked to  think about the similarities and differences between how we evaluated ourself as a communicators and how others evaluated you. There were very many similarities, I guess because the people I asked were people who really knew me and live with me day in and day out. Our scores were the same and we discussed them and I tried to remain none aggressive when talking about me!! I don't like to talk about me because I already know me and know what I need to work on and I am trying hard each day to learn knew ways of handling things. 
 We were also asked what was the one thing that surprised you the most? Why?  I think the one thing that surprised me the most was my aggresive score. I didn't realize it was that high but it was absolutely right.What other insights about communication did you gain this week? I learned that I need to not trust people as much as I have in the past which has lead me to be hurt, which has also I guess led to my aggresiveness. Even at a young age I would trust people easily and would end up hurt so I have to continue to learn how to not get hurt by others. I also learned that I am okay speaking in public under the right circumstances. This was a really cool exercise and I learned a lot about myself.