Social Work Collaboration
Alice Williams
SOC350
July 15, 2009
Professor Gayle Van Dijk
Final Assignment
Southwestern Accreditation Facilitative Projects’ Collaboration
The goal of an early childhood program is to prepare children from birth to five for kindergarten. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “The years before a child reaches kindergarten are among the most critical in his or her life to influence learning (Prepare My Child for School, http://www.ed.gov/parents/earlychild/ready/resources.html)”. The Obama Administration under his Education Act has established an array of services to help daycare providers and early childhood centers to continue to achieve this goal. Although daycares are responsible for teaching children the knowledge they need to thrive, it is dually important to empower parents and guardians with information to reinforce their child’s learning. We also empower families by providing resources, websites and do trainings for parents.
When I founded Affordable and Loving Childcare, LLC in 2002, I had one purpose and that was to nurture children by providing a safe and structured learning environment. However, I recognized very early that “it takes a village to raise a child”. In an effort to move towards excellence, I began building a team of staff who valued children and education. As I worked diligently to obtain my associates degree in 2005 – I would encounter some difficulties dealing with some families and others would be long lasting trusting relationships.
I knew that I eventually wanted to become accredited so I became a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in 2003. In 2006, I began attending Connecticut Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC) conferences and networking and that was where I met other day providers and was encouraged to pursue accreditation.
The program collaboration I chose to research is the Southwestern Accreditation
SOC350
July 15, 2009
Professor Gayle Van Dijk
Final Assignment
Southwestern Accreditation Facilitative Projects’ Collaboration
The goal of an early childhood program is to prepare children from birth to five for kindergarten. According to the U.S. Department of Education, “The years before a child reaches kindergarten are among the most critical in his or her life to influence learning (Prepare My Child for School, http://www.ed.gov/parents/earlychild/ready/resources.html)”. The Obama Administration under his Education Act has established an array of services to help daycare providers and early childhood centers to continue to achieve this goal. Although daycares are responsible for teaching children the knowledge they need to thrive, it is dually important to empower parents and guardians with information to reinforce their child’s learning. We also empower families by providing resources, websites and do trainings for parents.
When I founded Affordable and Loving Childcare, LLC in 2002, I had one purpose and that was to nurture children by providing a safe and structured learning environment. However, I recognized very early that “it takes a village to raise a child”. In an effort to move towards excellence, I began building a team of staff who valued children and education. As I worked diligently to obtain my associates degree in 2005 – I would encounter some difficulties dealing with some families and others would be long lasting trusting relationships.
I knew that I eventually wanted to become accredited so I became a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in 2003. In 2006, I began attending Connecticut Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC) conferences and networking and that was where I met other day providers and was encouraged to pursue accreditation.
The program collaboration I chose to research is the Southwestern Accreditation
Bibliography: Chrisman, Kent & Couchenour, Donna. Families, Schools, and Communities, Together for Young Children. Delmar Learning. (2005) Families and Community Relationships; A Guide to the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Related Accreditation Criteria (2005) Resources: info@educationconnection.org Education Connection and Northwest and Southwest Accreditation Facilitative Projects http://www.naeyc.org National Association for the Education of Young Children http://www.ctcharts-a-course.org Connecticut Charts-A-Course http://www.ed.gov/parents/earlychild/ready/resources.html