Why is it so
hard to bring our community in the classroom?
While reading this chapter I thought to myself we living in a
community, yet there is no sense of the community in the program that I work
for. Why not bring our part of our daily lives into the classroom to make it
more meaningful to the children. I
thought about my own center and thought why not open up the classes and let
them mingle and see what happens. I’m an extended day teacher and work with
three year olds. The site I work at has two three year old classes and two four
year old classes. The three and four year olds have separate buildings. In each
building there are two classes (same age group) which are separated by a
sliding door. I would like to see it opened now that I have read this chapter.
I was captivated by the scenes in the beginning of this
chapter. All scenes made even the reader feel welcomed because I could feel how
the characters would’ve felt knowing that they are welcomed in their children’s
school. I wished that would be the feeling when the parents picked up the their
children are the end of the day. It made me start thinking of what I do to
welcome the parents when they pick up their children. I noticed that the
parents are more willing to talk in the afternoons because most have to rush
out in the mornings to get the work or drop off other siblings. My partner and I
try to talk with the parents and most times they want to know if their child
had a good day in school. I find myself distracted because we do have to
supervise the rest of the children in the classroom. This also made me think
about our rules in my preschool and we have a strict policy which allows the
parents a 10 minute window to pick up their children from extended day and
leave. If we wanted to make a time for parents to connect with their children and
the teachers I don’t know how that would be possible at my particular site. It
is something that I’m going to look into.
Yes, its so hard to make those kind of decisions for changes in the program when you are not the one in charge at the program! This chapter was great though and really encourages one to look at the center they work at and observe wether the program environment is welcoming and cozy, or strict, fast, and short with parents! I have observed at both types of programs and what a difference I feel in one verses the other :) The welcoming, calm environment feels relaxed, laid back. It makes you want to sit for a few minutes and chat with teachers or other parents or maybe spend a few minutes listening to your child tell you what he did that day at school. I had so many thoughts and ideas running through my head after reading this chapter, I hope I get to implement some of my ideas into my own program one day! I see what you mean by it being difficult sometimes to create a sense of community in a program that has strict rules about pick up time, or separate classrooms for all the different age groups! Maybe your director has never considered another way of doing things? Maybe some of these new ideas are ones you could chat with her about! She may love some of the ideas and be willing to try them! You never know unless you try ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteWhy do you suppose that it is so hard to bring our communities into the classroom? Do you feel these challenges are common amongst ECE programs? What separates ECE programs that feel this way and others that are easily able to get communities involved? In your case, how would extending the parents pick up time directly affect your program? What is your director’s stance on welcoming families and the community into your program? How can you and the staff work closely with the director to find ways to get families more involved? Does your program’s culture encourage these types of interactions?