Impactful family engagement is a shared responsibility among leadership, teachers, and families in which centers commit to working in partnerships that pave the way for school readiness and children’s later academic success. Children who come from homes and programs that prioritize parental involvement have a greater chance of developing healthy social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development skills than those who do not. By attending this session, participants will gain knowledge in the following areas:
• Creating a welcoming environment
• Effective school-family communication
• Providing meaningful resources for families
• Shared leadership with families
• Conflict resolution: turning conflicts into partnerships
Presented by
Shermaine Humphrey
Mental Health Therapist
Florida United Methodist Children's Home
Shermaine is a Mental Health Specialist serving the Central Florida area. She has the pleasure of working with at-risk families and children who have been placed in foster care. Shermaine has a Master of Education degree and has been working with children and families for over 20 years. Aside from serving as therapist, she also does work as a consultant for early childhood learning centers in which consists of coaching, training, and encouraging early childhood educators to reach their highest potential.
Shayna Torres
Infant Toddler Specialist
Early Learning Coalition Of Orange County
Shayna Torres has over five years of experience in working directly with children and providing coaching and training for new and existing teachers. Torres holds a Masters’ Degree in Early Childhood Education with a specialization in working with at risk children from the University of Central Florida. Torres is a firm believer that every child, deserves a quality education and a fair start a life. With this, a significant amount of her work revolves around closing achievement gaps and educating the community on the importance of child development.
Age Group Addressed:
All age groups
Audience:
All
Core Competency Area:
Families and Community Partnerships
Skill Level:
Fundamental
Presentation Outcomes:
• Creating a welcoming environment plays a critical role in family engagement. When families feel a sense of belonging within an early childhood setting, they will be more willing to be actively engaged in their children’s education. This section of the session is designed to help educators build a toolbox that will assist in creating supportive, welcoming environments for all families and children.
• Effective school-family communication is essential for school readiness. Communication is the foundation of the partnerships needed to enhance children’s developmental skills. Research shows that the more families and teachers share relevant information with each other about a child, the better equipped both will be to help that child succeed, emotionally, cognitively, and physically. This section of the session is designed to help center leaders learn effective ways to communicate with families.
• Families need resources to help them learn about child development so that they can better support their children’s school readiness preparation. Distributing resources go beyond giving out handouts, it means that families are also given the tools and connections needed to strive. This section of the session is designed to help educators develop a holistic approach for providing families with meaningful resources.
• Research shows that family leadership has a positive impact on early learning and development and leads to greater academic success for children. The importance of engaging parents in the education of their children cannot be overestimated. Building relationships and trust between parents and center leadership and staff is the first step towards building partnerships that will eventually lead to family leadership. This section of the session is designed to help educators learn new strategies to encourage families to take on leadership roles.
• Conflict with families can hinder child development and lead to negative center climate. When conflict arises, it is critical that families and center leadership work closely together to address the issues so that differences can be resolved. Once conflict is resolved, partnerships can be developed to avoid any future issues. This section of the session is designed to help educators learn strategies to turn conflict with families into partnerships.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will learn the five steps towards creating a welcoming environment.
Participants will learn how to communicate effectively with families by using the five effective communication strategies.
Participants will learn about the different types of resources that families need to be successful.
Participants will learn how to create opportunities for shared leadership with families.
