Parent, Family, and Community Engagement

I watched a video of Head Start families interviewed about the impact that the program has had on their families.

Early Childhood Learning and Knowledge Center (ECLKC), part of the Office of Head Start.

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/about/stories/pfs.

I have a couple of questions to answer from this video;

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

A: Eugene Neal is a single dad to a little girl. It seems HS helped him bond with his child in a way that otherwise may not have been taught the significates. Mr. Neal stated that he reads to his daughter and have her read to him. They cook together and  he volunteers in the school. Can you imagine the positive self-esteem that this young child has developed knowing her support system is strong, flexible and approachable?   Not only has  HS been  there for the child but when the  dad lost his job,  the community and agencies helped him get back on his feet….. now he is on the Policy Council and learning new age technology to stay current in his child’s journey of growth. More of the benefits are;  word of mouth,  when families  are happy they recommend  other families to the HS program, they grow as parents and the child benefits from the teacher and parent  relationship,  working together on the child’s behave, AWESOME!

Q: The professional and personal significance you drew from these stories?

The amazing discoveries from the video are; families are learning from their children, They are amazed at how and who their small citizens are developing into and the knowledge they exhibit.  Almeta Richards Keys former parent conformed to early education. She obviously was touched by the system in order to have moved forward from a stay at home mom,  to an educated , Master’s degree member of the policy council community action agency. …. “Go Ms., Almeta Keys!”  The professional significance of this story is that “she gets it” We now connected on a professional level that will pull me in to listen more about her own journey to help children and families.  The personal take away  of this story her own children lead her  on this road!  Ms. Keys wanted more for her children which meant understanding their development. So not only did she love her children she loves the stages of their growth; cognitive, social/emotional, fine motor, language& literacy and approach towards learning. Her children gave her a gift “ teaching”.

 

“The nationally-representative Head Start Impact Study found Head Start children scored better than a control group of children in all measured domains of cognitive and social-emotional development at the end of their Head Start experience (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). https://www.nhsa.org/facts-and-impacts