Welcoming in, Learning About, and Learning from Families

You are here
Early childhood education is most effective and rewarding when families and educators come together, developing respectful, reciprocal partnerships. This means that each and every participant is valued and engaged. In the best of worlds, children will feel support and inspiration from both their families and their teachers, radiating with sentiments like 鈥淢y family made me who I am today鈥 and 鈥淢y teacher believed in me and helped me believe in myself.鈥
While there may not always be agreement, families and educators each seek to understand, assume the best of the other, and actively work toward shared goals and solutions in a strong partnership. As 强奸视频鈥檚 position statement on developmentally appropriate practice advocates, these responsive practices 鈥済ive educators the knowledge or insights they need to provide learning experiences that are fully responsive to each child鈥檚 needs and experiences.鈥
This issue of听Young Children听explores a range of topics about welcoming in, learning about, and learning from families. Opening the cluster, Hannah Kye writes about 鈥淭he Preschool Birth Stories Project: Developing Emergent Curriculum with Families.鈥 This project centered on families鈥 narratives about their children鈥檚 births. Family members actively engaged in the children鈥檚 learning by sharing their stories and connecting with teachers about the project鈥檚 direction. In a companion piece, 鈥淲e Are Makers: Culturally Responsive Approaches to Tinkering and Engineering,鈥 Kye uses another family-centered project about babies to discuss how culturally responsive pedagogy can help children see themselves and others as capable makers.
鈥淓xploring Families鈥 Language Practices Through a Social Studies Inquiry in Kindergarten鈥 by Ivana Espinet, Maite T. S谩nchez, Sabrina Poms, and Elizabeth Menendez describes the authors鈥 collaboration in designing and implementing a family-focused social studies unit. Children and families explored their linguistic and cultural practices at home and in their Spanish-English bilingual kindergarten classroom. In sharing their work, the authors offer readers an example for working with multilingual families in other settings.
Creating and carrying out family-centered learning experiences depend on recognition and respect for families鈥 funds of knowledge. 鈥淲elcoming Black Dads: Action Steps and Reflections on Becoming Culturally Competent鈥 by Lindsey L. Wilson and Josh Thompson outlines five practices to help educators become culturally competent and build relationships with Black fathers. Voices of Black fathers are included along with action steps and reflection questions for each practice.
Spurred by recent legislation, Brian L. Wright鈥檚 Viewpoint piece, 鈥淲hen Blue and Pink Are Not Enough: Saying 鈥楪ay鈥 Matters to LGBTQIA+ Families,鈥 argues for the need to both engage young children in meaningful conversations about gender identity and expression and also outlines the need to welcome LGBTQIA+ families into the classroom community. Along with situating this legislation within the history of LGBTQIA+ discrimination, Wright identifies children鈥檚 books and accompanying activities to help establish a caring and equitable community of learners.
Next is 鈥淐reating a Breastfeeding-Friendly Early Learning Program鈥 by Rebecca Dunn, Karrie Kalich, and Lynn Arnold. Informed by research and policy guidelines, the authors share strategies and resources to establish breastfeeding-friendly early learning environments. They also acknowledge how updated guidelines respond to issues of equity and different family structures.
The cluster closes with 鈥淪ix Resources for Making the Most of Family-Educator Conferences鈥 by Tricia Zucker, Michael Mesa, April Crawford, Shauna Spear, and Sonia Cabell. Based on work involving teachers and administrators in four districts, the authors describe six free, research-informed resources for effective family-educator conferences. They also embed examples of how these resources were received and used by preschool teachers at different schools.
Early childhood educators are called to foster relationships with families in strengths-based ways, which brings up many questions and complexities to navigate. I hope you find support in this issue for your work in creating learning environments and experiences in partnership with the families in your setting.
Reflection Questions for this Issue
- How can you partner with families to expand on children鈥檚 interests in your setting?
- How are you tapping the experiences and expertise of the Black fathers in your program?
- When planning family-educator conferences, how can you use the resources outlined to support your preparation?
听
Four-year-olds in Ms. Susan and Ms. Andrea鈥檚 outdoor preschool were invited to create with a bin of blocks and piles of cardboard recyclables. They worked cooperatively to build this structure.
听
Would you like to see your children鈥檚 artwork featured here? For guidance on submitting print-quality photos (as well as details on permissions and licensing), see听.
We鈥檇 love to hear from you!
Send your thoughts on this issue, and on topics you鈥檇 like to read about in future issues of听Young Children, to听[email protected].
Is your classroom full of children鈥檚 artwork? Be sure to email听[email protected]听for details.
Annie Moses, PhD, is director of periodicals at 强奸视频 and听serves as听editor in chief of听Young Children听and听Teaching Young Children.
