Week 6_Sharing Web Resources

The Harvard Family Research Project, and the FINE Newsletter, that I have been receiving emails from, offers insights about family engagement, family involvement within the classroom community, and family involvement in the home environment, which is pertinent for a child’s overall healthy development. By looking at the other links within the Harvard Family Research Project and the FINE newsletter, there are other articles that talk about transitioning into kindergarten and a voice from the field, Nikia Parker, offers an article about her family and early childhood experiences with Early Head Start. The article about transitioning into kindergarten has pertinent information about family involvement, the family’s role in their children’s success in preschool, kindergarten preparedness, and collaboration with families, teachers, and the community. School-readiness is a major factor that involves preparedness and skills. “A collaborative approach, particularly one that engages families, creates a sense of continuity in children’s lives and equips families with the information that they need to help prepare their children for school success” (Patton, & Wang, 2012). For the purpose of this article, States utilize Dept of Education expertise, and work towards transition in state level initiatives and local level initiatives. “(Patton, & Wang, 2012). All of the teams that get involved with the transition to kindergarten are parents, teachers, community members, and board of ed. members, states, and various other professionals. Transition teams and articulation teams each serve a purpose in getting programs ready for children in their transition into kindergarten. In a nutshell, in order for children to be ready for transitioning into kindergarten, they need parent-teacher partnerships. Parents need to be informed and a part of the classroom environment. California has private and public entities in which they rely on to implement the programs. Also, California has a Transitional Kindergarten initiative, which offers “young five- year olds born after September 2, the chance at early educational experiences. (Patton & Wang, 2012). As I furthered my search to the topic for this week on Excellence and equity of care, The Harvard Family Research Project newsletter for January 2006 has various articles about family involvement within the community to build trust and commitment amongst each other, HFRP’s complimentary learning concept, which includes parental involvement in supporting children in the achievement gap, and a program spotlight on the parent services project by getting families together to set goals. (FINE Newsletter, January 2006). The FINE newsletter has tremendous articles that have deepened my understanding about equity and excellence in the early childhood field because, I read about the importance of family involvement, the family’s voice when it comes to setting goals or understanding what their children are learning in school. I also learned about transitioning into kindergarten, and Pre-K initiatives, and I learned about how different states use funding and reach out to families. Lastly, I learned about how the Harvard Family Research Project gains firsthand knowledge by recruiting advocates, and professionals, and parents in the field to hear their stories of success and expertise in the field, which all display equity and excellence in the field. References The Harvard Family Research Project. (January, 2006). FINE Newsletter. Retrieved from. (http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/fine-family-involvement-network-of-educators/fine-newsletter-archive/january-fine-newsletter-resources-on-leadership-and-advocacy). Christine Patton, & Justina Wang, (September 2012). “Ready for Success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful Transitions into Kindergarten” FINE Newsletter, Vol 4, Issue, 3. Issue Topic” Facilitiating Continuous Family Involvement. Retrieved from. (http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/ready-for-success-creating-collaborative-and-thoughtful-transitions-into-kindergarten). Parker, N. (September, 2012). “We were a Hard-to- Reach Family” FINE Newsletter, Vol 4, Issue, 3.Issue Topic: Facilitating Continuous Family Involvement. Retrieved from. (http://www.hfrp.org/publications-resources/browse-our-publications/we-were-a-hard-to-reach-family).