I have heard a lot of people make negative comments about Early Childhood Programs. What's the purpose of them? Why do they need them? Why does a child so young have to have a IFSP? When I began teaching per-kindergarten I was so discouraged because of these comments and I felt that Early Childhood Programs weren't being taken seriously by parents. A lot of people are close-minded. What they fail to realize that a child can began to learn as early as in its mothers womb. We don't have to wait until a child goes to kindergarten before we start to teach them. It's important that we encourage families to began teaching their children from birth, reading to them, listening to age appropriate music, letting them explore age appropriate things, all of this is a apart of a child's learning. I wish that I could get parents to understand that it's not just the teachers job to teach their children because I honestly believe that parents are their child's first teacher. I have said so many times that a teacher can go in a classroom everyday and give her students 100% of herself but if parents are not reinforcing it at home what is the likelihood that it's going to stick with them, a child's attention span is only but so long so parents need to get more involved with the early learning of their children so that they can continue to grow.
When I see parents who take interest in their child's learning I see a difference in the child's work, their educational assessments that we provide and in their behavior. I can also tell those children who are not get that support from their parents, these are the parents that I want to reach.
Hi Latarsha,
ReplyDeleteI agree that parents should be more involved in their child's education. Some parents don't realize that when they have a child they should change their way of life, their child will learn from them and copy anything they do in front of him/her. It is very frustrating for me to see parents who don't believe that their actions will affect their child. It is the small details that shape a child's personality and actions.
Latarsha,
ReplyDeleteAs an infant teacher I hear these kinds of things all the time. They ask what I do and when I tell them, the inevitable response is "But, they're just babies. You don't really 'teach' them anything, do you?" or "That's nice. But, don't you want to be a real teacher?" Actually, I already AM a real teacher. As you pointed out, children begin learning prenatally and we need to do everything within our power to facilitate that learning, even in infancy. One of the most important ways to do that is to involve parents because parents are their children's first teacher. Even if it is just talking and carrying on conversations with them or pointing out things at the grocery store, parents can be incredibly influential in their child's learning.