ECE Student Contributor Update from Kiersten

Kiersten shared the following reflection to the ODEC board: 

"The practices that I use to ensure everything is family-centered are promote active participation of families, and developing a service plan for families and their child. The ways I promote active participation of families is in the decision-making for their children. I meet with families whenever is needed and always have open communication with families. I am always texting and calling parents for good and bad days with students so they always know what’s going on while their children are at school. The other way is through developing a service plan for families. I sit down with families and create goals that they would like to see their children achieve. We create a plan to achieve them and then have periodic meetings to see how the students are doing to achieve the goal. "

ECE Student Contributor Update: Casey

It is important for educators to be aware of the practices that they are using in the classroom in order to ensure that their interactions and interventions with children are family-centered. Many people do not think about the typical classroom consisting of children with disabilities, and it is important for teachers to include the families of all the children in order to keep them up-to-date about the daily routines necessary for proper inclusion of all students in the classroom. The more opportunities to be involved that the teacher provides families with, the more they can be included and knowledgeable about their student’s life in the school. There are different practices that a teacher can use to ensure this happens, and it is only a matter of willingness among the teacher and families’ parts in order to make those practices effective.  

Since every child is unique in their learning processes, it is important to set goals that are specific to each child and ones that are achievable at the moment. Working with the family of a student to set those goals is an excellent idea, because after all, the parents or guardian know the child best, and they can offer the best information to the teacher that will be beneficial in creating achievable goals. Throughout the school year, the goals can be modified depending on the student’s growth throughout the year. It is important that the teacher is consistently communicating with the family so that each party is staying up-to-date on the student’s growth and progress both at school and at home. Communication is key when it comes to ensuring success for a student, because the learning process does not end in the classroom. There is a wide variety of practices teachers can use to ensure that their interventions with their students are family-centered, and it is important to make sure that those practices are being used correctly and a child-specific.