For my first observation I decided to go to Giggling Guest Childcare in Cheney. The children that are at Giggling Guest range from the ages of four weeks old to twelve years of age. It’s a curriculum based daycare and they also have after school programs for school age children. Each classroom had about ten to twelve kids and there were also two teachers in every class room; a ratio of seven kids to one teacher in the infant room to the preschool classroom and in the pre-k room there was a ratio of five to one. The managers there are Alex and Sara. The daycare had an infant, pre-toddler, toddler, pre-school and pre-k room. I decided to observe the preschool room. The kid’s ages ranged from about three years of age to about four and a half years of age. The teacher that was in the classroom was Miss Diana. I started to observe right as I walked in the classroom. I decided to go in a few minutes early before the kids got back from recess so I could observe the classroom and how things were set up. I saw that the classroom had their own bathroom with a sink to wash their hands which was also shared with the toddler classroom. They had a reading section where they had little shelves and little couches that fit the children. They also had a home living section where they had a stove, refrigerator and cups and silver wear and also a kitchen table. Then I saw that they had a toy section, things such as wooden blocks, building cubes and puzzles. The classroom also had four long tables with chairs for the children when they do their lessons and or had lunch. And finally they had a reading carpet where each child had a sixteen by twenty cutout piece of carpet with their name on it while they sit around the reading carpet. Everything in the classroom was kid friendly. Everything was were the kids could reach themselves and also tables and chairs that they could sit on comfortably. As the kids got back from recess before they got in the classroom they each had to take off their coats and put them in their own lockers. I noticed that some of the kids did not do this. There was this one child in particular that was getting very frustrated because he could not unzip his jacket. He got so mad that he started crying and was banging his head on the carpet. He said he was mad because everyone in the classroom had beat his and now he couldn’t sit where he wanted on the reading carpet. I noticed that every child got their own piece of carpet that had their name on it and sat down very quietly with their legs crossed and their hands together in their lap. One teacher was reading a book and the other teacher was doing the potty chart. As one child was done using the restroom they would tap the next child on the shoulder sort of an indication that they were next. I noticed that each child would step on the stepping stool turn on the water on the sink, soak their hands and pump some soap into their hands and rub and then rinsed the soap off. Then they would grab a paper towel and dry their hands. There were two kids, a boy and a girl that still were in pull ups and had to be changed because they went number two. Before reading the book the teacher would ask the children questions such as what an author is, what’s an illustrator and where the binding was on the book. The students would just shout out the answer. They did that with every book they read. After reading time was over each of kids put their carpet away and they were able to choose a center of their choice. They had coloring, puzzles, reading, home living, dinosaurs, and blocks that they could choose from. A few of the boys got mad at the teacher because she would not allow for anyone to play with the cars that were in the classroom. The boys were told to choose something else but one of the boys started calling the teacher names and said that this was stupid and dumb. The teacher told him to go sit down quietly until he was ready to apologize. They kids seemed very independent. They would start playing with something and if they got tired of it they would just quit. One of their rules was if you take something out you have to put it away. I noticed that many of the kids did not abide by this rule. One girl was coloring and she said that she did want to color anymore because the pictures were boring and she had already done all of them. So she just left the crayons out on the table and moved on to go read a book. Another boy was playing in the kitchen and didn’t want to play anymore because his friend that was playing with the blocks told him that kitchen stuff is for a girl and he just left everything out on the stove and table. Even thought the children were independent and were able to make their own choices on where they wanted to play, they seemed not to have any structured rules that were implemented one hundred percent of the time.

Today we did a lot of introduction stuff that you do on a first day. We went over the syllabus and talked about projects that are going to be due throughout the quarter. One of the projects we talked about was the observations that we have to do by the 21st of October. At the time I wasn’t sure what she meant by choose a program and do an observation on it. For me I’m used to having a teacher tell me do this and will do it. But it was different this time. In a way I had the independence to go out there and figure things out on my owe which was a little scary but exciting at the same time. At the end of the class though, she explained what type of programs to look at which was sort of a relief. During the first day of class we were paired up in groups by arranging our selves by our birthdays and then she numbered us off by six. In my group there was Kayla, Mackenzie and Amira; I hope I spelled their names right. We then had a project where we had to go out and do a little scavenger hunt. Amira was so on top of her game right when we stepped out of the class room she was going at it. The first person we saw she interview. We had to draw the playground of the Reid Elementary. There were random questions that we had asked parents and we also had to look up two articles, one from Young Children and the others from a university school and a Reggio Emilia. Our team worked very well together. We took different task but at the end we collaborated on what we found and found a consensus. We finished off the class by talking about how important it is to build a community with not only the students but also the other teachers. My article on building community was how partnership in class is key within teachers. Having great communication will help if help is ever needed especially for first time teachers. My second article was about this lady who was teaching in a really bad neighborhood. Her kids were very disruptive and wouldn’t listen much. She talked about how her struggles through that experience helped her understand her students better. It reminded me a lot of the movie Freedom Writer just because Hilary Swank was so passionate about her students but at the same time she could not help them physically but she did help them by writing there problems down and that’s a lot like the article because she try to understand what her kids were going through.

Giggling Guest Childcare • Alex and Sara, managers. • Ranged from ages four weeks old to twelve yrs of age. • Curriculum based with afterschool programs. • Student teacher ratio is seven to one. • Classes had two teachers depending on the amount of kids there are. • Teacher Diana. • Bathroom with sink to wash hands. • Shared room with toddlers. • Reading section (child friendly furniture). • Home living section • Toy section: wooden blocks, building cubes, and puzzles. • Four long tables with chairs. • Reading carpet. • 16X20 cutout piece of carpet with their names on them. • Children took off coats and put them in their lockers. • Some kids did not follow the rules… • One child had troubles with his jacket. Became very frustrated because everyone finished before him. • Each grabbed their own carpet. • Sat legs crossed • One would tap other on shoulder when it was their turn to use restroom. • Stepped on stepping stool. • Turned on sink and dried hands with paper towels. • Two were not potty trained. • Students would shout out the answers while the teacher asked the questions. The students had the answers memorized. • Each put carpets away. • Children chose which station they would do, independently. • A few got mad because teacher would not allow the playing of cars. • Called teachers names • You start something you put it away when finished. • Girl didn’t put her crayons away • Boy didn’t put his stuff away in the home living section.

As we got to class we were separated into different groups again. But this time is was with our majors and minors. Depending on what option you were A, B, C, D or other you got placed with that group. Each group though of different programs that we could go to for observations and we presented them in class; programs such as EPIC, ECHO, private kindergartens, child life, big brother big sister and so many more. We also talked about what to look for when going and observing the different programs which I thought was very insightful because I had never done an observation before except for my music class which was nothing like this observation. During this week’s class we also went to the Chicano Education welcome back fall 2009 barbecue. We saw how united everyone was at the event and how they made everyone feel like they were at home. It was very welcoming. They had their new chairman speak and also some of the staff that helps out at the Chicano Education program. Jennifer Nunez presented several scholarships that were awarded to students from the Chicano education program. They call the recipient’s name and they came up and took their plaque and Nunez also said how much the recipient received and how these scholarships can be renewed for next year if they maintain a good GPA. That was very interesting to me how they gave out so much help to students and how they would help them maintain their good GPA s. At the end of the announcements we got to eat authentic Mexican food, which was very good. For this week’s article, we had to find something on developmentally appropriate practice (dap). For me, this was all pretty new so I was very interested to learn what it was. My article was called Developmentally Appropriate Practices: Right for All Kids. It was basically what dap was and how teachers are supposed to use it in their classrooms. She talked about how we as childhood educators can have a more appropriate way of looking at this practice because we are early childhood educators.

For my second observation I decided to go to a discovery school. I went to the one on the third street in Spokane. I decided to go check out the second grade classroom. When I got there they told me that the first grade and the second grade classroom were combined today. The teacher for the first grade classroom was Miss Lisa and the second grade teacher was Miss Nicole. Both classrooms were right next to each other and since they were combined that day the door was opened so that that the students could go in and out of both classrooms. I started my observation in Miss Nicole’s classroom. I noticed that the classroom was set up in stations. They had a computer section where they had five computers with chairs. They had a white board that contained the student’s names and what stations they were supposed to be in at that time. They had a reading couch where the kids were sitting and doing SSR. The kids read independently on the couches and they could get up and get a book at their leisure. And I also noticed that there were no desks just tables. The teacher used primarily two tables where she did her lessons and the rest of the tables were for the kids to do their work on. They also had a class pet, two rats, which at one moment two girls went over and opened their cage and feed them vegetables scraps that were in a box below the cage. I noticed there were some kids doing SSR and others on the tables reading out loud to the teacher. After reading our loud the kids recapped over the story. They explained what the moral of the story was which they said that you shouldn’t be greedy. While one read the others followed along by putting their fingers on the words. Then I observed the classroom where Miss Lisa was in. she had kids reading as well. There was this one little girl who had a book in her hand and was on the ground on her side but the book was shut. She wasn’t reading she was just looking up at the wall and ceiling. The teacher had five students with her at her table reading a book. Everyone followed along. She asked why is it important to follow along with your finger as you read. They said things like you “you lose your place when you’re following along,” also “you get lost on which line you’re on,” and finally “sometimes you read fast.” I noticed that the kids were not just shouting out answers they raised their hands and waited to be called on. I noticed while the teacher was giving her lesson there were some girls in the corner fighting over some stickers that another girl had. She did not want to share them she just wanted to show the girls and the girls got mad at her because she wouldn’t give them one. The girl ended up separating from the group but one by one the girls followed her to the other corner. No one really said anything to them. They just let the girl work out by themselves. There was another kid who needed his shoe tied but he didn’t know how to tie it so he would stick out his foot to Miss Nicole and let’s just say his shoe was still untied when I left. After they were done with SSR the teachers collaborated and started doing stations; stations such as math, spelling and words. Miss Nicole did math with the kids that were to do math with her first. They students would switch off every twenty minutes or so. Each of the kids grabbed their own math journals that had their name on them. The teacher would hand them out a problem and they would glue the question to their journal. The question was already pre cut all they had to do is grab the glue stick and glue them to their journals. Each worked independently and each child put up manila folders side by side standing up so they couldn’t cheat. When they student was done with their question they teacher would check it and give them a new question and they would the same thing again. The kids worked as fast or as slow as they could. If they did one problem that day that was fine if they did three problems that day that was fine too. As Miss Nicole did math Miss Lisa did spelling and words with her group. Her kids had to cut out five letters S, N, A, C, K. they teacher would read the word and they would sound it out as a class and they would try to spell the word. There was this little girl who would always look at her partner’s paper and then would spell the word. Another time a way a boy using the letters K and C and not being able to spell the work correctly he would always use the wrong letter. For example the teacher gave the work as and then she told them what letter you add to make ask. The kids would put there papers on a clipboard and did their lessons on the ground Some kids work on worksheets that were put in their folders that were in a container that they had to grab. Again each worked independently. They had three worksheets. One was matching words to body parts on animals. Another worksheet was like a crossword but there was only one word on the crossword, example, and the kids had another list of words and they had to make words from their list using the word example almost like scrabble. And there last worksheet was words on paper and they had to go over them five times with a different colored crayon and make a tally for each word to keep track how many times they went over the word. If I had to describe this class in one word I would use the word independent. It seemed like everything they did in the class was working independently at your own paste. I felt like the kids were not told that they needed to finish all these problems they were just given more material as they understood it alone.

For today’s class we were sort of trying to catch up from last week’s class due to our attendance at the barbecue which I think was totally work it because the food made up for everything. Last week were supposed to watch some videos on different programs that we have been talking about in class. So we watched them this week. There was a video on head start, preschools, kindergarten, Montessori, Reggio Emilia and high/scope. We looked at four videos, head start, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and high/scope. Within each video we observed just like we would be observing by going to the actual places. Fran would put the video on and we would observe for however long the video was. We wrote our notes down and when we discussed them in class. Everyone went around saying one thing that they saw. There were a lot of similar things but there was also many things that people really say that I would have never of thought of looking at. It was very interesting hear every ones perspective because it helped me look more in depth at the children and not so much at other things in the classroom. We also got some hand outs on developmentally appropriate practice. There was one there it just different questions people ask about the practice and they had the answers to them. There was one question that I thought was interesting it asked if developmentally appropriate practice was a curriculum and I thought the same thing when I first heard of dap. But now I know it’s not a curriculum it’s more of guidance on how curriculum's should be based on their different position statements. There was one thing that Fran read to the class which I also that was interesting and pretty funny was called From the Minds of the World’s Children. It had some quotes and situation from kids and how they would respond to certain events. And finally the last worksheet we got was the Teaching to Enhance Development and Learning. This article had developmentally appropriate way of teaching something and then how you would teach it in contrast. Which really put everything in great perspective for me because I would thought of doing things both ways.

Discovery School Notes Teachers were Nichol and Lisa • Both 1st and second graders were combined that day. • Children taking turn reading out loud. • Students were asked why it’s good to point at the word while reading and some of the answers were… o You lose your place when you’re following along. o You get lost on which line your on o Sometimes you read fast. • Students raised hands when answering questions. • Students doing SSR • A little girl laid down on the floor with a book in her hands but was not reading. • Students cutting out letters S, N, A, C, K with scissors. • Teacher would read out a word and the kids would use their letters to spell the words. • Students sit on the floor no desks. They each have a clip board that they use for a flat surface. • Students sound out words in try to spell the different words the teacher read out loud. • Students reading independently. • Children choose their own books • Child reading out loud and other students following along. • Classroom had stations such as a reading couch, computer section, white boards, tables where the kids can do their work, and class pet. • Two girls were feeding the classroom pet; 2 rats. • Children recapped after small group reading out loud. They explained what the moral of the story was and they said that you should not be greedy. • Some girls were fighting over two stickers that another girl did not want to share; the girl left the group of girls and sat alone in the corner. The other girls followed her. • The students looked at the schedule that the teacher had posted on the bulletin board and saw what was next on the agenda • Each student got a different task… o Spelling o Math o Words • Students glued story problems to their math journals and they each worked individually. • Each student set up their cubicles so no one would cheat with two manila folders standing up. • When a student was done with the question they asked the teacher if it was right and then the teacher gave them a new problem. Everyone worked individually. After about twenty minutes of math the students would switch stations. The students do as many problems as they can. • A child was being disruptive by tapping his feet on the book shelve. He is asked to go out in the hall until ready to come back. • Students match words to a worksheet to label the body parts of animals. • Students have words on a worksheet and they run over the words with five different colored crayons and they keep a tally to keep track how many times they did it for each word. • A student needs his shoe tied and sticks his foot out to the teacher; his shoe remains untied. • Students put their papers on a clipboard.

This week was a little compared to other weeks in class. I felt as if I was in a kindergarten class room. We started by each group grabbing a container that contained toys. Toys such as wooden blocks, London logs, Lego’s, and my group had just things you can connect together. It had things like heads, shoes, and legs. Each person had to create something. Fran gave us a time limit and we just created something. I noticed that everyone in my group tried to create something that was something in real life. There was one girl who created an elephant another girl who created a person with really long legs and another person made a tripod. It was nice to see what everyone had created. The activity was very relaxed and independent. Then we did another project where Fran gave us a piece of paper and we had to follow her directions on trying to fold it to make a cut. This activity was much more stressful just because I was to slow at folding the paper. Fran kept saying it has to be perfect so I would go back and make the fold again I couldn’t keep up. I liked the activities we did because it really made me see how different a project could be for different people. And that’s a lot how kids work. They don’t all learn at the same speed or way. Fran made a good correlation between the activities we did in class and how the kids work in a classroom and how we can make the classroom a better learning environment for them. We also talked about theme and topic and what the differences are between them. We had to do a little activity where we had to come up with a theme and then a topic and then we had to sort them in similar groups and give them a title. We chose fall for our theme and then we chose harvest for our topic. Which was a lot harder than we thought because there’s harvest for everything apples, potatoes’, wheat etc. We also did a lot of visualizing in our heads. Things like the apple and the space needle. It was interesting see what everyone thought. We also got an article on Children and Place: Reggio Emilia’s Environment as Thirst Part. What stood out to me in the article were the eight principles teachers related to at Reggio Emilia. The principles were aesthetics, transparency, active learning, flexibility, collaboration, reciprocity, bringing the outdoors in, and relationships.

For my third reflection I decided to go to the ECEAP program here in Cheney. The children in the ECEAP program were about the ages of four or so. They were preschoolers. The teacher was Mrs. Rayne. I started by observing the classroom. The class room had their own bathroom with a sink to wash and dry hands. The classroom had a bulletin board with artwork of the kids. The classroom had many shelves that were used for books and or supplies. They had this one shelf where it had supplies in containers. The supplies were things like scissors, rulers, crayons, paper, note cards, pencils and glue and tape for the whole class to use. The classroom also had a safety wall that showed when to use 911 and places to call or what to do just in case of an emergency. The classroom also had a reading circle with a library right next to it. I also saw a magnet wall where they had magnet letters and numbers that the kids had access too. The class also had a home living section and even a science area. When I got into the classroom they were about done eating there were only two girls at the table eating and one of the girls had her mom their eating with her. I noticed that they were each eating with spoons and they had cups that had no lids on them. When one of the girls was done eating she put her tray on the food rack and when to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She grabbed her own toothbrush which the teacher checked just in case it was the wrong name. She brushed her teeth and was told to put on her coat and hat because they were about to go outside just after everyone was don’t eating. Her and many others in the class but on their coats but I noticed that only two of the kids needed no help zipping up their coats. The rest of them the teacher did it halfway and they would do the rest. In the mean time kids were told to read a book while everyone got ready to leave. There was one girl that did puzzles instead with was fine because wasn’t disrupting anyone. There was another girl who didn’t want to do anything. She got on her hands and knees and started crawling around the room. When it was time to go Amber, a little girl, got up and lined up first because she was the line leader for the week. Everyone in the class had a job. Another job was lights which meant turning on/off the lights when we left/returned the room. One girl was not done eating her food so she was asked if she wanted to go into the other classroom while she ate and then she could join her class when finished but she did not want to so the teacher let her eat outside. The girl carried her food in her hands all the way outside without spilling it. As they left the room everyone was to stay quit and as they walked outside there were some helmets hanging just in case you wanted to ride a tricycle or a scooter. There was one little boy who grabbed the helmet and checked if it work and put it on his head and snapped the two ends together and was ready to ride. When the kids were outside they climbed jungle gyms and slid down the slid. They also rode the bikes and scooters on the sidewalks. If they knew they were going to run into someone they waited or the other person would let them pass. There was this one boy who pretended he was putting gasoline in his car because they had a station called self fuel. There was a little girl who fell while on her scooter. She then got back on it and fell again and bumped her elbow on the bench outside. There were a group of girls pretending they were going to Buffalo because they wanted to see buffalos and they thought that’s were all the buffalos were. Later there was this one girl who wanted to use the red wagon they had outside. She put people on it and she would push them and drop them off. There was a time here two girls stepped into the wagon but she couldn’t put them because she want strong enough so one had to get off. There was another girl collecting bark and putting it her barrel. Then she would take the bark and line them up on the sidewalk while saying that they were being really good today. Finally it was time to go inside and the kids took of their helmets and handed them to the other kids. As they walked inside the classroom they took off their coats and washed their hands. Everything seemed really organized in the classroom. I saw that kids were told what to do most of the time they really didn’t have much independence except when they were outside. It seemed that all my other observations everyone else was able to do their own thing but still maintain a learning environment.

During this weeks class we mostly talked about the differences between theme and topic. An example of a theme is animals, dinosaurs, jungle and gardens. Examples of a topic for those themes are star fish, carnivores, jungle plants, and vegetables. While we were in class we had to think of our own theme and topic. We decided that our theme should be the fall season. With that, we decided that our topic that leads from it is harvest. With harvest, we found out that there is a lot of information and we should have had a more specific topic. We had a lot of fun with this topic because I personally new a lot about apple harvest. I wish we could of actually gone farther with the project but it was just an activity to have our minds working on how theme and topic work. We also received a article called the concept of childhood. This article reminded me a lot of a class I took on women in American history. We talked about how women were treated and there duties. Most of the time women were considered to be for one thing and that was to be mothers and good wives to their husbands. These women were called domestics and did mostly house work and made sure that their children were good kids. This article leads all the way up to the 20th century. They also had some statistics about certain broken family situations. Some have step parents others are single parents. There was a youtube video I also looked at this week that one of the students announced in class called the marshmallow test for children. It was so interesting how one of the girls right when the instructor left the room she started eating the marshmallow even though she was asked to wait for her to come back.

ECEAP Teacher: Ms. Rayne • Students were eating at table. • Eating with spoons and cups with no lids. • Students when done eating put their trays on the food rack and then they grabbed their toothbrush and washed their teeth and hands. • Students went to the bathroom when called on. • Students reading books before going outside and waiting on the reading circle for students to finish their lunch. • Students put on their coats, gloves and hats. • The classroom had a bulletin board. • Shelves with all supplies such as scissors, rulers, crayons, paper, note cards, pencils and tape for the whole class to use. • They had a safety wall that showed when to use 911 and places to call or do incase of an emergency. • They had a reading circle. • They had a chalk and magnet wall. • They had a home living section and science area. • A girl was putting a puzzle together that was a ten and up puzzle. • Another girl was crawling on the floor in a circle. • Amber stood up from reading when lining up to go outside because she was the line leader for the class. • Everyone had jobs. They change jobs every week. • A little girl was not finished eating when everyone was going outside so she took her food outside, she didn’t want to go to the other teachers room while her class went outside and she finished eating inside. • All the students walked in a line. • They walked through the hall way quietly and then it came to turning off the lights in the classroom the person that had that job turned then off. Then two girls had the job of being a door holder and they alternating holding the doors for the class. • The kids put on helmets when going outside and riding the tricycles and scooters. • The kids climbed the jungle gym and slid down the slide. • They stopped their bikes and scooters if they noticed they were going to run into someone. • The playground had a self fuel area where the kids put in gasoline on their pretend cars. • A little girl fell while on her scooter. She then stopped and fell again and bumped her elbow on the stool outside. • Some girls were pretending they were going to buffalo so they can go se buffalos. • Girls were pushing people on a red wagon. • Children go up and down stairs on the jungle gym. • A little girl going around collecting bark and putting it her sand barrel. Then she would take the bark and line them up on the sidewalk while saying that they where being really good today. • Asked to put helmets away and line up to back inside by the fence. • Took coats off and washed hands and then sat on the reading circle.

This week we went over on how you should create a great reflection. We talked about things like things to look for when observing something. We also talk about how certain things are organized when writing your reflection. Some of the things I wrote down were first was that you shouldn’t continually use the work I. this is because the reflection becomes for a personal opinion then the actual observation. Second thing I wrote down was that one should look at whatever there observing in their perspective not in your own perspective; and finally, moral purpose. What is the best thing to do in that situation? We also had a little assignment that went along with this week’s reflection. We were suppose to think of an experience that you have gone through with a child and reflect on it. I have a two and half year old niece. Her name is Sofia. She is an only child but won’t be in January because she’s doing to be getting a baby brother. Lately she has been really close with her mother and will not leave her sight. Every time her mom leaves the room or steps out she’s always asking for her mommy. So when she asked for her mommy I tell her that she will be right back that she just went to Disneyland. The first couple times I did it her reaction was no I want mommy. Lately her reaction to me saying that has been, wow Disneyland I want to go see Tinkerbelle. So when her mom enters the room again she asks her mommy did you see Tinkerbelle. It just really amazes me how they pretty much believe anything you say and how in her world getting to Disneyland in just a room away. here to type

During this week we talked about different ways of constructivism and to use that in the classroom. Some of the things that were included in that were constructivism theory. This is mostly based on the student more than the teacher. I understood it as how students organize information. They learner form there teachers, parents and community but they organize different information in certain categories. There was also some talk about how to apply the information to certain situations. In class we did an activity were we had to present to the class. In my group was Amera, and Mackenzie. We decided to do our project on bees. We presented it in three different ways. I presented pictures of different bees, their honey comb, and the anatomy of the bee. I also talked about a bee becomes and the different stages it goes through just like a baby that is being born. Mackenzie talked about different statistics about bees and there lives. Most of which I did not know. Our final addition was assessment. We presented the material and then we had quiz about it. Amera read off some questions and the people in the class answered the questions. I remember we also had a sample of honey that we got from the coffee shop in the library. Im not sure if anyone actually had a little nibble.

I found the website national center for missing and exploited children to be very informative. I knew that children are abducted by family and nonfamily members and that sometimes they are stolen but I never thought that the numbers where so high. It is very amazing how many children in a year have been abducted or have gone missing without no idea what has happened to them. There have been some children that have been found but it never ends great most of the time those children are found murdered.  

I find it really great that they have a 24 hour hotline for these situations. It comes very helpful and it makes people have a little failed that something good can come out of it. They also have certain programs just for these specific situations. They different places people could go to and numbers they could call. They also have available technical support to law enforcement organizations.

Overall I found the website informative and very helpful to people that need these assistances. Its good know about it so that I could have it as resource for my students in the future.

For the very last class of the quarter we did not do much. We were scheduled to have our in class self assessment and in class self grade. Since all our information for the class is on protopage our assessment and grading was said to be posted online as well. We got out grading for our midterm portfolio and some of the things we were missing and still needed to do for our final portfolio.

We also talked about rubrics and how we should not use them with elementary children. Rubrics show things a child needs to achieve in that synchronized order. If a child does not meet that criteria then they are conserved un-achieving or below average. She told us that we had to learn that not every student learns the same and that we shouldn’t put rubrics to students. We should still have certain standards but saying that a child needs to achieve all this by 3 grade is not very accurate for the students and also for the teacher.  

We also had a handout about rubrics concerning how we should talk about rubrics and how they should be set up. Also, that rubric is not a good word. A better word to use is scoring guides.

Organization or institution	Funding
NAEYC	Membership
Head Start	Federally Funded
ECEAP	State Funded
Montissorri	Tuition
North Wall School	Tuition
Full Day Kindergarten	State Funded
Blended Preschools	Donations
Reggio Emilia	Tuition
EPIC	State Funding & donations
Domino	Renewable Grants

 

1. Head Start:

NHSA maintains close relationships with leading independent researchers in the field of early childhood education and helps disseminate their findings. In addition to resources found on this site, NHSA shares findings with the Head Start community through articles in NHSA Dialog (formerly the NHSA Research Quarterly), NHSA’s magazine Children and Families, sessions at NHSA conferences, and other speaking engagements.Please refer to the above links for more information on NHSA’s research activities. To request research not found on this site, please contact NHSA’s Research and Evaluation department at (703) 739-0875.
New! NHSA members can download recent presentations by Ben Allen, Director of Public Policy and Research on Federal funding of Head Start and the latest updates on Head Start research.

2.  Parent as teachers:

The Parents as Teachers Story

The concept for Parents as Teachers was developed in the 1970s when Missouri educators noted that children were beginning kindergarten with varying levels of learning readiness. Research showed that greater family involvement in children's learning is a critical link in the child's development of academic skills, including reading and writing. Early childhood professionals suggested that a program to help parents understand their role in encouraging their child's development right from birth could help prepare children for school and life success. Such a program, available to all families, would help level the playing field for all children.
With funding from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and The Danforth Foundation, Parents as Teachers began in 1981 in Missouri as a pilot project for first-time parents of newborns. Convinced of the program's benefits and cost effectiveness, state funding was provided in 1985 to implement the PAT program in all Missouri school districts. Since 1985, Parents as Teachers has expanded to all 50 states and to other countries.

3.  The Meld Story:

Meld was formed in 1973 to meet the needs of new parents in the Twin Cities. Research indicated that society isolated parents from the information and support they needed to be effective. Meld's initial program incorporated the best information available about adult education, family management and early childhood education. Early success led communities to ask Meld to adapt the program to reach populations raising children in high-stress conditions, such as adolescent mothers and immigrants/refugees.
In 2005, Meld merged with Parents as Teachers National Center, bringing with it a broad inventory of educational and support programs for parents, training for family service providers, and publications for parents and those who work with them. These services and products help parents set goals and make decisions for their education, work and family life that increase their self-confidence, self-sufficiency and ability to successfully manage a family.

4.  Smart Start:

Vision
Every child reaches his or her potential and is prepared for success in a global community.
Mission
Advance a high quality, comprehensive, accountable system of care and education for every child beginning with a healthy birth.
What is Smart Start?
Smart Start is North Carolina's nationally recognized and award-winning early childhood initiative designed to ensure that young children enter school healthy and ready to succeed.
Smart Start is a public-private initiative that provides early education funding to all of the state's 100 counties. Smart Start funds are administered at the local level through local nonprofit organizations called Local Partnerships. The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc. (NCPC) is the statewide nonprofit organization that provides oversight and technical assistance for local partnerships. Services at the local level range depending on local needs. Funding for Smart Start is currently $203.6 million in state funds. Smart Start has raised more than $257 million in donations since it began.
Currently, 77 local partnerships are established throughout the state to administer funding and programs. Smart Start funds are used to improve the quality of child care, make child care more affordable and accessible, provide access to health services and offer family support. Smart Start has achieved tremendous results in these areas and continues to strive to reach all children in North Carolina.
Smart Start has garnered much national recognition and is considered a model for comprehensive early childhood education initiatives. In 2001, the NCPC established a National Technical Assistance Center to assist other states with the development of an early education initiative.

5.  CSEFEL:

We The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) is focused on promoting the social emotional development and school readiness of young children birth to age 5. CSEFEL is a national resource center funded by the Office of Head Start and Child Care Bureau for disseminating research and evidence-based practices to early childhood programs across the country.
This model to the left is referred to as the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children.  We have developed extensive, user-friendly training materials, videos, and print resources which are available directly from this website to help early care, health and education providers implement this model. 

6.  PACE:

The Professional Association for Childhood Education (PACE) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, and membership-based organization. PACE was established in 1955 to fill the legislation, education and development needs of early child care professionals.

Our mission is to promote excellence in education and quality child care in private center-based programs.

We are statewide. We operate in over 1,000 centers serving more than 55,000 of California's children.

What we do

PACE advances the early education community by:
•    Advocating for the development, progress and welfare of all young children at the state and local legislative level so member voices are heard
•    Offering a space to network, exchange ideas, policies and techniques among members
•    Advocating for the benefits and standards of early childhood education to the general public to give members public exposure and help build enrollment
•    Offering programs which will enrich management techniques, teaching skills and curriculum so members can grow professionally
•    Provide the latest licensing regulations so that members stay informed
•    Offer legal and personnel consultation from experts in the field

7.  Bright Start:

One of the top priorities of the Bright Start Initiative is to assure that every baby born in South Dakota has the opportunity for a good start in life. Bright Start components include the areas of infant brain development, comprehensive early childhood development that includes physical, intellectual, emotional and social development, parent education and health care.
Bright Start is a comprehensive early childhood initiative composed of the following components:
•    Home Visitation
•    Newborn Hearing Screenings
•    Early Intervention Screenings
•    Immunizations
•    Web Site
•    Parent/Infant Welcome Box
•    Monthly Parent Update
•    Responsive Parenting Seminars
The Home Visitation program targets expectant mothers and is designed to help them improve their health in order to give birth to healthy babies. Parents and prospective parents will receive home visits to learn how to care for their personal health needs, care for their child or children, stimulate their child’s development and provide a nurturing home environment.
Newborn hearing screenings, early intervention screenings and immunizations are all part of the effort to ensure a child’s bright start in life.
This Web site provides information that will assist a parent or care giver in nurturing a child’s healthy development. Ages and stages information helps parents know what they can generally expect of their child at a specific age. Activities to stimulate domains of development (physical, intellectual, emotional, social) are included with the ages and stages information. Appropriate children’s books and music are suggested. This Web site also lists books, magazines, videos, links to related web sites and telephone numbers that can assist parents in raising and nurturing their child.
A Welcome Box will be sent to every newborn infant in South Dakota. The items in the box are intended to assist parents as they help their babies get a good, healthy start in life. The Bright Start Box for South Dakota Children includes:
•    Bright Start Brochure
•    Food for Thought Video
•    Mozart Baby CD -- Music for Growing Minds
•    Ages and Stages Book
•    What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick (book)
•    Magnet with Bright Start Toll Free (800) number
•    Library Card
•    Informational Inserts
A toll free number 1-800-305-3064 has been established to provide referrals for service, answer questions or offer general information.
 
8.  EChO:

Our Aims:
•    Promote and maintain the visibility of early childhood education.
•    Further the professional learning of early childhood educators by promoting quality early childhood practices.
•    To develop and maintain links with other professional associations.
•    Promote continuing interest in, advocacy for, and support research into children’s development- cultural, social, moral, physical and emotional.

9.  NKA:

The NKA was formed eight years ago out of a need felt by teachers and others involved in kindergarten education to connect and problem solve across the nation. 

This small but hardy group soon found that the same concerns existed nationwide - how to maintain appropriate practices and meet the standards! Since then, many dedicated and talented individuals and organizations have joined together to offer expertise and research.

Today the National Kindergarten Alliance is emerging as a viable organization in pursuit of its’ goal of ensuring best practices for ALL.  The NKA coalition membership shares a common mission as it reaches out to kindergarten educators through workshops, meet and greet gatherings, and individual conversations and support.

The NKA is the ONLY national, non-profit organization dedicated specifically to the needs of kindergarten students and teachers. Members strive to establish, nurture and support the highest quality education for our youngest learners through the identification of appropriate practices based on comprehensive research. 

Currently the National Kindergarten Alliance membership includes professional organizations from AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, MN, ND, NH, OR, SC, and TX. as well as individual members in twenty nine additional states and Puerto Rico. This represents thousands of kindergarten and early childhood educators and administrators! 
 
10.  CITE:

CITE Mission Statement
The Coalition of Infant/Toddler Educators promotes quality infant and toddler care and education by building collaborations providing professional development opportunities, support and resources, and by influencing public policy.
CITE Vision Statement
High quality early care and education is available to every infant and toddler in the state of New Jersey through a coordinated system of early childhood and family support programs that offer healthy, social/emotional learning environments and educated, responsive caregivers.

School/family/community partnerships: caring for the children we share. Joyce L. Epstein. Phi Delta Kappan v76.n9 (May 1995): pp701(12). Ms. Epstein summarizes the theory, framework, and guidelines that can assist schools in building partnerships. The way schools care about children is reflected in the way schools care about the children's families. If educators view children simply as students, they are likely to see the family as separate from the school. That is, the family is expected to do its job and leave the education of children to the schools. If educators view students as children, they are likely to see both the family and the community as partners with the school in children's education and development. Partners recognize their shared interests in and responsibilities for children, and they work together to create better programs and opportunities for students. There are many reasons for developing school, family, and community partnerships. They can improve school programs and school climate, provide family services and support, increase parents' skills and leadership, connect families with others in the school and in the community, and help teachers with their work. However, the main reason to create such partnerships is to help all youngsters succeed in school and in later life. When parents, teachers, students, and others view one another as partners in education, a caring community forms around students and begins its work. What do successful partnership programs look like? How can practices be effectively designed and implemented? What are the results of better communications, interactions, and exchanges across these three important contexts? These questions have challenged research and practice, creating an interdisciplinary field of inquiry into school, family, and community partnerships with "caring" as a core concept. The field has been strengthened by supporting federal, state, and local policies. For example, the Goals 2000 legislation sets partnerships as a voluntary national goal for all schools; Title I specifies and mandates programs and practices of partnership in order for schools to qualify for or maintain funding. Many states and districts have developed or are preparing policies to guide schools in creating more systematic connections with families and communities. These policies reflect research results and the prior successes of leading educators who have shown that these goals are attainable. Underlying these policies and programs are a theory of how social organizations connect; a framework of the basic components of school, family, and community partnerships for children's learning; a growing literature on the positive and negative results of these connections for students, families, and schools; and an understanding of how to organize good programs. In this article I summarize the theory, framework, and guidelines that have assisted the schools in our research projects in building partnerships and that should help any elementary, middle, or high school to take similar steps. Overlapping Spheres of Influence: Understanding The Theory Schools make choices. They might conduct only a few communications and interactions with families and communities, keeping the three spheres of influence that directly affect student learning and development relatively separate. Or they might conduct many high-quality communications and interactions designed to bring all three spheres of influence closer together. With frequent interactions between schools, families, and communities, more students are more likely to receive common messages from various people about the importance of school, of working hard, of thinking creatively, of helping one another, and of staying in school. The external model of overlapping spheres of influence recognizes that the three major contexts in which students learn and grow - the family, the school, and the community - may be drawn together or pushed apart. In this model, there are some practices that schools, families, and communities conduct separately and some that they conduct jointly in order to influence children's learning and development. The internal model of the interaction of the three spheres of influence shows where and how complex and essential interpersonal relations and patterns of influence occur between individuals at home, at school, and in the community. These social relationships may be enacted and studied at an institutional level (e.g., when a school invites all families to an event or sends the same communications to all families) and at an individual level (e.g., when a parent and a teacher meet in conference or talk by phone). Connections between schools or parents and community groups, agencies, and services can also be represented and studied within the model.(1) The model of school, family, and community partnerships locates the student at the center. The inarguable fact is that students are the main actors in their education, development, and success in school. School, family, and community partnerships cannot simply produce successful students. Rather, partnership activities may be designed to engage, guide, energize, and motivate students to produce their own successes. The assumption is that, if children feel cared for and encouraged to work hard in the role of student, they are more likely to do their best to learn to read, write, calculate, and learn other skills and talents and to remain in school. Interestingly and somewhat ironically, studies indicate that students are also crucial for the success of school, family, and community partnerships. Students are often their parents' main source of information about school. In strong partnership programs, teachers help students understand and conduct traditional communications with families (e.g., delivering memos or report cards) and new communications (e.g., interacting with family members about homework or participating in parent/teacher/student conferences). As we gain more information about the role of students in partnerships, we are developing a more complete understanding of how schools, families, and communities must work with students to increase their chances for success. How Theory Sounds in Practice In some schools there are still educators who say. "If the family would just do its job, we could do our job." And there are still families who say, "I raised this child; now it is your job to educate her." These words embody the theory of "separate spheres of influence." Other educators say, "I cannot do my job without the help of my students' families and the support of this community." And some parents say, "I really need to know what is happening in school in order to help my child." These phrases embody the theory of "overlapping spheres of influence." In a partnership, teachers and administrators create more family-like schools. A family-like school recognizes each child's individuality and makes each child feel special and included. Family-like schools welcome all families, not just those that are easy to reach. In a partnership, parents create more school-like families. A school-like family recognizes that each child is also a student. Families reinforce the importance of school, homework, and activities that build student skills and feelings of success. Communities, including groups of parents working together, create school-like opportunities, events, and programs that reinforce, recognize, and reward students for good progress, creativity, contributions, and excellence. Communities also create family-like settings, services, and events to enable families to better support their children. Community-minded families and students help their neighborhoods and other families. The concept of a community school is re-emerging. It refers to a place where programs and services for students, parents, and others are offered before, during, and after the regular school day. Schools and communities talk about programs and services that are "family-friendly" - meaning that they take into account the needs and realities of family life in the 1990s, are feasible to conduct, and are equitable toward all families. When all these concepts combine, children experience learning communities or caring communities.(2) All these terms are consistent with the theory of overlapping spheres of influence, but they are not abstract concepts. You will find them daily in conversations, news stories, and celebrations of many kinds. In a family-like school, a teacher might say, "I know when a student is having a bad day and how to help him along." A student might slip and call a teacher "more" or "dad" and then laugh with a mixture of embarrassment and glee. In a school-like family, a parent might say, "I make sure my daughter knows that homework comes first." A child might raise his hand to speak at the dinner table and then joke about acting as if he were still in school. When communities reach out to students and their families, youngsters might say, "This program really made my school-work make sense!" Parents or educators might comment, "This community really supports its schools." Once people hear about such concepts as family-like schools or school-like families, they remember positive examples of schools, teachers, and places in the community that were "like a family" to them. They may remember how a teacher paid individual attention to them, recognized their uniqueness, or praised them for real progress, just as a parent might. Or they might recall things at home that were "just like school" and supported their work as a student, or they might remember community activities that made them feel smart or good about themselves and their families. They will recall that parents, siblings, and other family members engaged in and enjoyed educational activities and took pride in the good schoolwork or homework that they did, just as a teacher might. How Partnerships Work in Practice These terms and examples are evidence of the potential for schools, families, and communities to create caring educational environments. It is possible to have a school that is excellent academically but ignores families. However, that school will build barriers between teachers, parents, and children - barriers that affect school life and learning. It is possible to have a school that is ineffective academically but involves families in many good ways. With its weak academic program, that school will shortchange students' learning. Neither of these schools exemplifies a caring educational environment that requires academic excellence, good communications, and productive interactions involving school, family, and community. Some children succeed in school without much family involvement or despite family neglect or distress, particularly if the school has excellent academic and support programs. Teachers, relatives outside of the immediate family, other families, and members of the community can provide important guidance and encouragement to these students. As support from school, family, and community accumulates, significantly more students feel secure and cared for, understand the goals of education, work to achieve to their full potential, build positive attitudes and school behaviors, and stay in school. The shared interests and investments of schools, families, and communities create the conditions of caring that work to "overdetermine" the likelihood of student success.(3) Any practice can be designed and implemented well or poorly. And even well-implemented partnership practices may not be useful to all families. In a caring school community, participants work continually to improve the nature and effects of partnerships. Although the interactions of educators, parents, students, and community members will not always be smooth or successful, partnership programs establish a base of respect and trust on which to build. Good partnerships withstand questions, conflicts, debates, and disagreements; provide structures and processes to solve problems; and are maintained - even strengthened - after differences have been resolved. Without this firm base, disagreements and problems that are sure to arise about schools and students will be harder to solve. What Research Says In surveys and field studies involving teachers, parents, and students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, some important patterns relating to partnerships have emerged.(4) * Partnerships tend to decline across the grades, unless schools and teachers work to develop and implement appropriate practices of partnership at each grade level. * Affluent communities currently have more positive family involvement, on average, unless schools and teachers in economically distressed communities work to build positive partnerships with their students' families. * Schools in more economically depressed communities make more contacts with families about the problems and difficulties their children are having, unless they work at developing balanced partnership programs that include contacts about positive accomplishments of students. * Single parents, parents who are employed outside the home, parents who live far from the school, and fathers are less involved, on average, at the school building, unless the school organizes opportunities for families to volunteer at various times and in various places to support the school and their children. Researchers have also drawn the following conclusions. * Just about all families care about their children, want them to succeed, and are eager to obtain better information from schools and communities so as to remain good partners in their children's education. * Just about all teachers and administrators would like to involve families, but many do not know how to go about building positive and productive programs and are consequently fearful about trying. This creates a "rhetoric rut," in which educators are stuck, expressing support for partnerships without taking any action. * Just about all students at all levels - elementary, middle, and high school - want their families to be more knowledgeable partners about schooling and are willing to take active roles in assisting communications between home and school. However, students need much better information and guidance than most now receive about how their schools view partnerships and about how they can conduct important exchanges with their families about school activities, homework, and school decisions. The research results are important because they indicate that caring communities can be built, on purpose; that they include families that might not become involved on their own; and that, by their own reports, just about all families, students, and teachers believe that partnerships are important for helping students succeed across the grades. Good programs will look different in each site, as individual schools tailor their practices to meet the needs and interests, time and talents, ages and grade levels of students and their families. However, there are some commonalities across successful programs at all grade levels. These include a recognition of the overlapping spheres of influence on student development; attention to various types of involvement that promote a variety of opportunities for schools, families, and communities to work together; and an Action Team for School, Family, and Community Partnerships to coordinate each school's work and progress. Six Types of Involvement; Six Types of Caring A framework of six major types of involvement has evolved from many studies and from many years of work by educators and families in elementary, middle, and high schools. The framework (summarized in the accompanying tables) helps educators develop more comprehensive programs of school and family partnerships and also helps researchers locate their questions and results in ways that inform and improve practice.(5) Each type of involvement includes many different practices of partnership (see Table 1). Each type presents particular challenges that must be met in order to involve all families and needed redefinitions of some basic principles of involvement (see Table 2). Finally, each type is likely to lead to different results for students, for parents, for teaching practice, and for school climate (see Table 3). Thus schools have choices about which practices will help achieve important goals. The tables provide examples of practices, challenges for successful implementation, redefinitions for up-to-date understanding, and results that have been documented and observed. Charting the Course The entries in the tables are illustrative. The sample practices displayed in Table 1 are only a few of hundreds that may be selected or designed for each type of involvement. Although all schools may use the framework of six types as a guide, each school must chart its own course in choosing practices to meet the needs of its families and students. The challenges shown (Table 2) are just a few of many that relate to the examples. There are challenges - that is, problems - for every practice of partnership, and they must be resolved in order to reach and engage all families in the best ways. Often, when one challenge is met, a new one will emerge. The redefinitions (also in Table 2) re-direct old notions so that involvement is not viewed solely as or measured only by "bodies in the building." As examples the table calls for redefinitions of workshops, communication, volunteers, homework, decision making, and community. By re-defining these familiar terms, it is possible for partnership programs to reach out in new ways to many more families. The selected results (Table 3) should help correct the widespread misperception that any practice that involves families will raise children's achievement test scores. Instead, in the short term, certain practices are more likely than others to influence students' skills and scores, while other practices are more likely to affect attitudes and behaviors. Although students are the main focus of partnerships, the various types of involvement also promote various kinds of results for parents and for teachers. For example, the expected results for parents include not only leadership in decision making, but also confidence about parenting, productive curriculum-related interactions with children, and many interactions with other parents and the school. The expected results for teachers include not only improved parent/teacher conferences or school/home communications, but also better understanding of families, new approaches to homework, and other connections with families and the community. Most of the results noted in Table 3 have been measured in at least one research study and observed as schools conduct their work. The entries are listed in positive terms to indicate the results of well-designed and well-implemented practices. It should be fully understood, however, that results may be negative if poorly designed practices exclude families or create greater barriers to communication and exchange. Research is still needed on the results of specific practices of partnership in various schools, at various grade levels, and for diverse populations of students, families, and teachers. It will be important to confirm, extend, or correct the information on results listed in Table 3 if schools are to make purposeful choices among practices that foster various types of involvement. The tables cannot show the connections that occur when one practice activates several types of involvement simultaneously. For example, volunteers may organize and conduct a food bank (Type 3) that allows parents to pay $15 for $30 worth of food for their families (Type 1). The food may be subsidized by community agencies (Type 6). The recipients might then serve as volunteers for the program or in the community (perpetuating Type 3 and Type 6 activities). Or consider another example. An after-school homework club run by volunteers and the community recreation department combines Type 3 and Type 6 practices. Yet it also serves as a Type 1 activity, because the after-school program assists families with the supervision of their children. This practice may also alter the way homework interactions are conducted between students and parents at home (Type 4). These and other connections are interesting, and research is needed to understand the combined effects of such activities. The tables also simplify the complex longitudinal influences that produce various results over time. For example, a series of events might play out as follows. The involvement of families in reading at home leads students to give more attention to reading and to be more strongly motivated to read. This in turn may help students maintain or improve their daily reading skills and then their reading grades. With the accumulation over time of good classroom reading programs, continued home support, and increased skills and confidence in reading, students may significantly improve their reading achievement test scores. The time between reading aloud at home and increased reading test scores may vary greatly, depending on the quality and quantity of other reading activities in school and out. Or consider another example. A study by Seyong Lee, using longitudinal data and rigorous statistical controls on background and prior influences, found important benefits for high school students' attitudes and grades as a result of continuing several types of family involvement from the middle school into the high school. However, achievement test scores were not greatly affected by partnerships at the high school level. Longitudinal studies and practical experiences that are monitored over time are needed to increase our understanding of the complex patterns of results that can develop from various partnership activities.(6) The six types of involvement can guide the development of a balanced, comprehensive program of partnerships, including opportunities for family involvement at school and at home, with potentially important results for students, parents, and teachers. The results for students, parents, and teachers will depend on the particular types of involvement that are implemented, as well as on the quality of the implementation. Action Teams for School, Family, and Community Partnerships Who will work to create caring school communities that are based on the concepts of partnership? How will the necessary work on all six types of involvement get done? Although a principal or a teacher may be a leader in working with some families or with groups in the community, one person cannot create a lasting, comprehensive program that involves all families as their children progress through the grades. From the hard work of many educators and families in many schools, we have learned that, along with clear policies and strong support from state and district leaders and from school principals, an Action Team for School, Family, and Community Partnerships in each school is a useful structure. The action team guides the development of a comprehensive program of partnership, including all six types of involvement, and the integration of all family and community connections within a single, unified plan and program. The trials and errors, efforts and insights of many schools in our projects have helped to identify five important steps that any school can take to develop more positive school/family/community connections.(7) Step 1: Create an Action Team A team approach is an appropriate way to build partnerships. The Action Team for School, Family, and Community Partnerships can be the "action arm" of a school council, if one exists. The action team takes responsibility for assessing present practices, organizing options for new partnerships, implementing selected activities, evaluating next steps, and continuing to improve and coordinate practices for all six types of involvement. Although the members of the action team lead these activities, they are assisted by other teachers, parents, students, administrators, and community members. The action team should include at least three teachers from different grade levels, three parents with children in different grade levels, and at least one administrator. Teams may also include at least one member from the community at large and, at the middle and high school levels, at least two students from different grade levels. Others who are central to the school's work with families may also be included as members, such as a cafeteria worker, a school social worker, a counselor, or a school psychologist. Such diverse membership ensures that partnership activities will take into account the various needs, interests, and talents of teachers, parents, the school, and students. The leader of the action team may be any member who has the respect of the other members, as well as good communication skills and an understanding of the partnership approach. The leader or at least one member of the action team should also serve on the school council, school improvement team, or other such body, if one exists. In addition to group planning, members of the action team elect (or are assigned to act as) the chair or co-chair of one of six subcommittees for each type of involvement. A team with at least six members (and perhaps as many as 12) ensures that responsibilities for leadership can be delegated so that one person is not overburdened and so that the work of the action team will continue even if members move or change schools or positions. Members may serve renewable terms of two to three years, with replacement of any who leave in the interim. Other thoughtful variations in assignments and activities may be created by small or large schools using this process. In the first phase of our work in 1987, projects were led by "project directors" (usually teachers) and were focused on one type of involvement at a time. Some schools succeeded in developing good partnerships over several years, but others were thwarted if the project director moved, if the principal changed, or if the project grew larger than one person could handle. Other schools took a team approach in order to work on many types of involvement simultaneously. Their efforts demonstrated how to structure the program for the next set of schools in our work. Starting in 1990, this second set of schools tested and improved on the structure and work of action teams. Now, all elementary, middle, and high schools in our research and development projects and in other states and districts that are applying this work are given assistance in taking the action team approach. Step 2: Obtain Funds and Other Support A modest budget is needed to guide and support the work and expenses of each school's action team. Funds for state coordinators to assist districts and schools and funds for district coordinators or facilitators to help each school may come from a number of sources. These include federal, state, and local programs that mandate, request, or support family involvement, such as Title I, Title II, Title VII, Goals 2000, and other federal and similar state funding programs. In addition to paying the state and district coordinators, funds from these sources may be applied in creative ways to support staff development in the area of school, family, and community partnerships; to pay for lead teachers at each school; to set up demonstration programs; and for other partnership expenses. In addition, local school/business partnerships, school discretionary funds, and separate fund-raising efforts targeted to the schools' partnership programs have been used to support the work of their action teams. At the very least, a school's action team requires a small stipend (at least $1,000 per year for three to five years, with summer supplements) for time and materials needed by each subcommittee to plan, implement, and revise practices of partnership that include all six types of involvement. The action team must also be given sufficient time and social support to do its work. This requires explicit support from the principal and district leaders to allow time for team members to meet, plan, and conduct the activities that are selected for each type of involvement. Time during the summer is also valuable - and may be essential - for planning new approaches that will start in the new school year. Step 3: Identify Starting Points Most schools have some teachers who conduct some practices of partnership with some families some of the time. How can good practices be organized and extended so that they may be used by all teachers, at all grade levels, with all families? The action team works to improve and systematize the typically haphazard patterns of involvement. It starts by collecting information about the school's present practices of partnership, along with the views, experiences, and wishes of teachers, parents, administrators, and students. Assessments of starting points may be made in a variety of ways, depending on available resources, time, and talents. For example, the action team might use formal questionnaires(8) or telephone interviews to survey teachers, administrators, parents, and students (if resources exist to process, analyze, and report survey data). Or the action team might organize a panel of teachers, parents, and students to speak at a meeting of the parent/teacher organization or at some other school meeting as a way of initiating discussion about the goals and desired activities for partnership. Structured discussions may be conducted through a series of principal's breakfasts for representative groups of teachers, parents, students, and others; random sample phone calls may also be used to collect reactions and ideas, or formal focus groups may be convened to gather ideas about school, family, and community partnerships at the school. What questions should be addressed? Regardless of how the information is gathered, some areas must be covered in any information gathering. * Present strengths. Which practices of school/family/community partnerships are now working well for the school as a whole? For individual grade levels? For which types of involvement? * Needed changes. Ideally, how do we want school, family, and community partnerships to work at this school three years from now? Which present practices should continue, and which should change? To reach school goals, what new practices are needed for each of the major types of involvement? * Expectations. What do teachers expect of families? What do families expect of teachers and other school personnel? What do students expect their families to do to help them negotiate school life? What do students expect their teachers to do to keep their families informed and involved? * Sense of community. Which families are we now reaching, and which are we not yet reaching? Who are the "hard-to-reach" families? What might be done to communicate with and engage these families in their children's education? Are current partnership practices coordinated to include all families as a school community? Or are families whose children receive special services (e.g., Title I, special education, bilingual education) separated from other families? * Links to goals. How are students faring on such measures of academic achievement as report card grades, on measures of attitudes and attendance, and on other indicators of success? How might family and community connections assist the school in helping more students reach higher goals and achieve greater success? Which practices of school, family, and community partnerships would directly connect to particular goals? Step 4: Develop a Three-Year Plan From the ideas and goals for partnerships collected from teachers, parents, and students, the action team can develop a three-year outline of the specific steps that will help the school progress from its starting point on each type of involvement to where it wants to be in three years. This plan outlines how each subcommittee will work over three years to make important, incremental advances to reach more families each year on each type of involvement. The three-year outline also shows how all school/family/community connections will be integrated into one coherent program of partnership that includes activities for the whole school community, activities to meet the special needs of children and families, activities to link to the district committees and councils, and activities conducted in each grade level. In addition to the three-year outline of goals for each type of involvement, a detailed one-year plan should be developed for the first year's work. It should include the specific activities that will be implemented, improved, or maintained for each type of involvement; a time line of monthly actions needed for each activity; identification of the subcommittee chair who will be responsible for each type of involvement; identification of the teachers, parents, students, or others (not necessarily action team members) who will assist with the implementation of each activity; indicators of how the implementation and results of each major activity will be assessed; and other details of importance to the action team. The three-year outline and one-year detailed plan are shared with the school council and/or parent organization, with all teachers, and with the parents and students. Even if the action team makes only one good step forward each year on each of the six types of involvement, it will take 18 steps forward over three years to develop a more comprehensive and coordinated program of school/family/community partnerships. In short, based on the input from the parents, teachers, students, and others on the school's starting points and desired partnerships, the action team will address these issues. * Details. What will be done each year, for three years, to implement a program on all six types of involvement? What, specifically, will be accomplished in the first year on each type of involvement? * Responsibilities. Who will be responsible for developing and implementing practices of partnership for each type of involvement? Will staff development be needed? How will teachers, administrators, parents, and students be supported and recognized for their work? * Costs. What costs are associated with the improvement and maintenance of the planned activities? What sources will provide the needed funds? Will small grants or other special budgets be needed? * Evaluation. How will we know how well the practices have been implemented and what their effects are on students, teachers, and families? What indicators will we use that are closely linked to the practices implemented to determine their effects? Step 5: Continue Planning And Working The action team should schedule an annual presentation and celebration of progress at the school so that all teachers, families, and students will know about the work that has been done each year to build partnerships. Or the district coordinator for school, family, and community partnerships might arrange an annual conference for all schools in the district. At the annual school or district meeting, the action team presents and displays the highlights of accomplishments on each type of involvement. Problems are discussed and ideas are shared about improvements, additions, and continuations for the next year. Each year, the action team updates the school's three-year outline and develops a detailed one-year plan for the coming year's work. It is important for educators, families, students, and the community at large to be aware of annual progress, of new plans, and of how they can help. In short, the action team addresses the following questions. How can it ensure that the program of school/family/community partnership will continue to improve its structure, processes, and practices in order to increase the number of families who are partners with the school in their children's education? What opportunities will teachers, parents, and students have to share information on successful practices and to strengthen and maintain their efforts? Characteristics of Successful Programs As schools have implemented partnership programs, their experience has helped to identify some important properties of successful partnerships. * Incremental progress. Progress in partnerships is incremental, including more families each year in ways that benefit more students. Like reading or math programs, assessment programs, sports programs, or other school investments, partnership programs take time to develop, must be periodically reviewed, and should be continuously improved. The schools in our projects have shown that three years is the minimum time needed for an action team to complete a number of activities on each type of involvement and to establish its work as a productive and permanent structure in a school. The development of a partnership is a process, not a single event. All teachers, families, students, and community groups do not engage in all activities on all types of involvement all at once. Not all activities implemented will succeed with all families. But with good planning, thoughtful implementation, well-designed activities, and pointed improvements, more and more families and teachers can learn to work with one another on behalf of the children whose interests they share. Similarly, not all students instantly improve their attitudes or achievements when their families become involved in their education. After all, student learning depends mainly on good curricula and instruction and on the work completed by students. However, with a well-implemented program of partnership, more students will receive support from their families, and more will be motivated to work harder. * Connection to curricular and instructional reform. A program of school/family/community partnerships that focuses on children's learning and development is an important component of curricular and instructional reform. Aspects of partnerships that aim to help more students succeed in school can be supported by federal, state, and local funds that are targeted for curricular and instructional reform. Helping families understand, monitor, and interact with students on homework, for example, can be a clear and important extension of classroom instruction, as can volunteer programs that bolster and broaden student skills, talents, and interests. Improving the content and conduct of parent/teacher/student conferences and goal-setting activities can be an important step in curricular reform; family support and family understanding of child and adolescent development and school curricula are necessary elements to assist students as learners. The connection of partnerships to curriculum and instruction in schools and the location of leadership for these partnership programs in district departments of curriculum and instruction are important changes that move partnerships from being peripheral public relations activities about parents to being central programs about student learning and development. * Redefining staff development. The action team approach to partnerships guides the work of educators by restructuring "staff development" to mean colleagues working together and with parents to develop, implement, evaluate, and continue to improve practices of partnership. This is less a "dose of inservice education" than it is an active form of developing staff talents and capacities. The teachers, administrators, and others on the action team become the "experts" on this topic for their school. Their work in this area can be supported by various federal, state, and local funding programs as a clear investment in staff development for overall school reform. Indeed, the action team approach as outlined can be applied to any or all important topics on a school improvement agenda. It need not be restricted to the pursuit of successful partnerships. It is important to note that the development of partnership programs would be easier if educators came to their schools prepared to work productively with families and communities. Courses or classes are needed in preservice teacher education and in advanced degree programs for teachers and administrators to help them define their professional work in terms of partnerships. Today, most educators enter schools without an understanding of family backgrounds, concepts of caring, the framework of partnerships, or the other "basics" I have discussed here. Thus most principals and district leaders are not prepared to guide and lead their staffs in developing strong school and classroom practices that inform and involve families. And most teachers and administrators are not prepared to understand, design, implement, or evaluate good practices of partnership with the families of their students. Colleges and universities that prepare educators and others who work with children and families should identify where in their curricula the theory, research, policy, and practical ideas about partnerships are presented or where in their programs these can be added.(9) Even with improved preservice and advanced coursework, however, each school's action team will have to tailor its menu of practices to the needs and wishes of the teachers, families, and students in the school. The framework and guidelines offered in this article can be used by thoughtful educators to organize this work, school by school. The Core of Caring One school in our Baltimore project named its partnerships the "I Care Program." It developed an I Care Parent Club that fostered fellowship and leadership of families, an I Care Newsletter, and many other events and activities. Other schools also gave catchy, positive names to their programs to indicate to families, students, teachers, and everyone else in the school community that there are important relationships and exchanges that must be developed in order to assist students. Interestingly, synonyms for "caring" match the six types of involvement: Type 1, parenting: supporting, nurturing, and rearing; Type 2, communicating: relating, reviewing, and overseeing; Type 3, volunteering: supervising and fostering; Type 4, learning at home: managing, recognizing, and rewarding; Type 5, decision making: contributing, considering, and judging; and Type 6, collaborating with the community: sharing and giving. Underlying all six types of involvement are two defining synonyms of caring: trusting and respecting. Of course, the varied meanings are interconnected, but it is striking that language permits us to call forth various elements of caring associated with activities for the six types of involvement. If all six types of involvement are operating well in a school's program of partnership, then all of these caring behaviors could be activated to assist children's learning and development. Despite real progress in many states, districts, and schools over the past few years, there are still too many schools in which educators do not understand the families of their students; in which families do not understand their children's schools; and in which communities do not understand or assist the schools, families, or students. There are still too many states and districts without the policies, departments, leadership, staff, and fiscal support needed to enable all their schools to develop good programs of partnership. Yet relatively small financial investments that support and assist the work of action teams could yield significant returns for all schools, teachers, families, and students. Educators who have led the way with trials, errors, and successes provide evidence that any state, district, or school can create similar programs.(10) Schools have choices. There are two common approaches to involving families in schools and in their children's education. One approach emphasizes conflict and views the school as a battleground. The conditions and relationships in this kind of environment guarantee power struggles and disharmony. The other approach emphasizes partnership and views the school as a homeland. The conditions and relationships in this kind of environment invite power sharing and mutual respect and allow energies to be directed toward activities that foster student learning and development. Even when conflicts rage, however, peace must be restored sooner or later, and the partners in children's education must work together. Next Steps: Strengthening Partnerships Collaborative work and thoughtful give-and-take among researchers, policy leaders, educators, and parents are responsible for the progress that has been made over the past decade in understanding and developing school, family, and community partnerships. Similar collaborations will be important for future progress in this and other areas of school reform. To promote these approaches, I am establishing a national network of Partnership-2000 Schools to help link state, district, and other leaders who are responsible for helping their elementary, middle, and high schools implement programs of school, family, and community partnerships by the year 2000. The state and district coordinators must be supported for at least three years by sufficient staff and budgets to enable them to help increasing numbers of elementary, middle, and high schools in their districts to plan, implement, and maintain comprehensive programs of partnership. Partnership-2000 Schools will be aided in putting the recommendations of this article into practice in ways that are appropriate to their locations. Implementation will include applying the theory of overlapping spheres of influence, the framework of six types of involvement, and the action team approach. Researchers and staff members at Johns Hopkins will disseminate information and guidelines, send out newsletters, and hold optional annual workshops to help state and district coordinators learn new strategies and share successful ideas. Activities for leaders at the state and district levels will be shared, as will school-level programs and successful partnership practices. The national network of Partnership-2000 Schools will begin its activities in the fall of 1995 and will continue until at least the year 2000. The goal is to enable leaders in all states and districts to assist all their schools in establishing and strengthening programs of school/family/community partnership.(11) Full Text :COPYRIGHT 1995 Phi Delta Kappa, Inc.

DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICES: RIGHT FOR ALL KIDS By Danielle Houser and Cathy Osborne Developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) describes an approach to education that focuses on the child as a developing human being and life long learner. This approach recognized the child as an active participant in the learning process; a participant who constructs meaning and knowledge through interaction with others, friends and family, materials and environment. The teacher is an active facilitator who helps the child make meaning of the various activities and interactions encountered throughout the day. Developmentally appropriate practices require teachers to make decisions in the classroom by combining their knowledge of child development with an understanding of the individual child to achieve desired and meaningful outcomes. The term developmentally appropriate practices was popularized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) with the 1987 publication of its Position Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Programs. NAEYC developed the position statement to support its early childhood program accreditation system, which acknowledges and endorses programs offering appropriate early childhood practices. With this system, early childhood educators can have a clear sense of appropriate early childhood practices. This way they might not use inappropriate developmental and academic expectations to prepare children for public school kindergarten programs. At the same time NAEYC addressed the issue of appropriate practices in early childhood education, landmark decisions were made in education and civil rights legislation. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and the Pennsylvania Early Intervention Services Systems Act (Act 212) entitle eligible young children (birth through the age of beginners) and their families to early intervention services and programs. A key component of this legislation calls for the inclusion of children who have disabilities in natural environments; that is, in community activities and programs with their peers who are not disabled. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, P.L. 101-336) requires all early childhood programs be prepared to serve all children. This trend toward inclusion of children who have disabilities into all early childhood settings, including home-and center-based child care programs, nursery schools, play groups, Head Start, preschools and kindergartens, requires partnerships between early childhood education and early childhood special education. Focus On Individualization Although each discipline has its own unique philosophical base, shared quality practices that are good for all children can be identified. Both early childhood education and early childhood special education believe in the importance of individualization. This is a key principle of special education in providing specific intervention strategies appropriate for each child and for the development of the Individualized Education Program (IEP). NAEYC has identified "individually appropriate" as part of its larger definition of "developmentally appropriate." NAEYC defines "developmentally appropriate" as both "individually appropriate and age appropriate." All children benefit from the use of naturalistic and multidimensional assessment strategies. The use of a single test score to determine eligibility for special education or to retain a child at a grade level is not endorsed by either discipline. Assessment must become more naturalistic and multidimensional to help educators understand and meet the developmental needs of very young children. This can be achieved through the use of integrated curriculum and assessment materials and strategies. This approach provides developmental information and ideas for program development. The use of authentic assessment techniques in early childhood programs uses a longitudinal look at children's work in the context of the curriculum to evaluate individuals progress. This may be done by documenting children's work in portfolios. Meaningful Learning All children learn best when they have real materials they can manipulate. Another principle shared by early childhood education and early childhood special education is the importance of meaningful learning experiences. Through direct sensory involvement with their environment, children learn about topics that are personally meaningful and interesting. Teaching children who have or do not have disabilities requires the use of real and relevant materials and experiences. Discovering what works best for all children requires knowledge of each child, knowledge of how children learn and clear learning outcomes. With these core components in place, other program areas can be planned, such as physical environment, teaching strategies, classroom management, materials, curriculum, evaluation, family education, staffing and staff development. The developmentally appropriate practices approach to early childhood education uses this framework. When all early childhood programs begin to respond to the individual needs of the learner, work within the context of realistic developmental expectations and use meaningful learning experiences, all children will benefit. References Bredekamp, Sue (Ed.). (1987). Developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood programs serving children from birth through age 8. Washington, DC: NAEYC. Bredekamp, Sue. "The Relationship Between Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Special Education: Healthy Marriage or Family Feud?" Topics in Early Childhood Special Education (Fall 1993): 258-274. Carta, Judith J., Atwater, Jane B., Schwartz, Ilene S., McConnell, Scott R. "A Reaction to Johnson and McChesney Johnson." Topics in Early Childhood Special Education (Fall 1993): 243-255. Griffin, Eileen. Developmentally Appropriate Practices Training Materials for the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The Griffin Center For Human Development, Guilford, CT. Danielle Houser is the Director of Early Intervention Technical Assistance (EITA) for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education. Cathy Osborne is a consultant with EITA. Back to Home Page.

We also had to come go to www.projectapproach.org and look up the three phases of project development. ** The first phase talked about how we should talk to the kids on what they already know about the activity, their experiences by asking them questions. ** The second phase is field work and research on the topic of interest. ** The third phase is about culmination and bringing someone in to talk about the topic, an expert. My Project Phase 1: • I would introduce the kids the beaver song o Beaver 1 Beaver all Let's all do the Beaver Call Beaver 2 Beaver 3 lets all climb the beaver tree Beaver four Beaver five Let's all do the beaver jive Beaver six Beaver 7 lets all go to Beaver Heaven Beaver 8 Beaver 9 STOP!! It's Beaver time By: http://bussongs.com/songs/the_beaver_song.php • I would ask them if they know anything about beavers. What they might look like what they do what they eat where they live. Phase 2: • Then I would take them out to the water many be by a dam and show them how they build houses. • During this time I would ask them what they see. What they already knew about bevers and ther habitat. • And the recap on what they saw. Phase 3: • Then I would have them do their own little poster of what they learned and what they say. • They don’t necessarily have to make a poster but something that shows everyone what they learned. • I would possibly do around the time that the class would have a parents night so they can tell their parents what they learned and what they saw.

My thoughts and feelings for this class are mostly positive thoughts and feelings. Right from the very first day of class I noticed that this class was going to be a little different than other classes I have ever had. Most of the class was basically a discussion and you can say or comment on any topic that was presented. I liked how you challenged us to think outside the box instead of handing us a piece of paper and giving us instructions on what exactly what to do. Even though I felt lost most of the class when it came to what to put on my protopage I liked it because I go to organize my protopage the way I wanted it. I noticed we did many group activities right from first day of class. Starting with the scavenger hunt and then when we played with the toys to express our individuality or giving up instruction on how to fold a piece of paper that demonstrated direct instruction. One thing I had a hard time with was protopage itself. Since this was the first time using the program I found it very difficult because I felt like we got a crash course when one of the students from the class showed us a little bit of it. Much of my information on protopage kept disappearing and I didn’t know what was wrong sometimes. For me, it was either I did it right or I crashed and burned. I learned much about how to present certain materials to students. I also learned different ways students learn.

I give my self a 3.5-4.0. The reason I gave myself that grade was based on my attendance to class and the amount of work and effort I put in to meet certain deadlines. I attended every class session we had not including the three weeks we didn’t have class. I did all my work and did it to the best that I new how. Sometimes I missed some stuff because I didn’t now how to save the stuff on my protopage.