Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact Rationale/ Reflection

NAEYC Standard: STANDARD 2. BUILDING FAMILY AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that successful early childhood education depends upon partnerships with childrens families and communities. They a) know about, understand, and value the importance and complex characteristics of childrens families and communities. They use this understanding to b) create respectful, reciprocal relationships that support and empower families, and c) to involve all families in their childrens development and learning. (NAEYC, 2010) Brief Description of Evidence: As part of my ECED 204 families in transition course during the fall semester of 2013, I functioned with a small group of five people to form a simulated family and locate resources to create respectful, relationships within the community and family, while empowering the family to get involved in the community. During the completion of this project, we were able to obtain diverse resources that would support families being involved with their childs development and learning on a daily basis. We also reached out to the community to seek help for the family in need. Our simulated family needed resources such as: counseling, and help for the younger child who had autism. We reached out to the real life community and found several different resources for this simulated family. This gave me the confidence to seek out resources for my classrooms and suggest that they take resources that the childcare center offers. I also started to observe each individual childs behavior in my classroom based on its family life. I take into consideration that not every child has a positive home life, and I should try to be that positive role model for the child each day. Analysis of what I learned: As a result of completing this project, I learned the importance of forming positive, reciprocal partnerships with families of children in my care, and how to implement the relationship in a successful manner. I learned how to seek valuable, local resources within the community. I learned that I should always have a positive attitude in my classroom toward the children, making their day at school as happy and healthy as possible. Your positive energy as their teacher may be the only encouraging and optimistic energy they get all day. After watching the other groups projects, I was able to learn about the different types of families there really are, and their own specific diverse needs. How this artifact demonstrates my competence on the NAEYC Standard: By using valuable resources within the community, I was able to meet the needs of families in their times of crisis. I am competent in my ability to seek valuable resources within the community and partner these specific resources with diverse families in their efforts to support their childs development and learning. I now seek out to the community for resources that may benefit each individual child in my classroom. I plan to create a survey for parents to fill out to specify what resources may help them as a whole family. The survey will help me in finding resources that would benefit them as a family; no time will be wasted. I believe that when families receive resources, it empowers them to take initiative to be involved in the school and community that their children are a part of.