I decided to navigate and research more closely into
the resources for parents. For the most part I have been looking at it from an
educator’s perspective. I found a link that led to Tips for Your Child’s
Developmental Assessment. I was intrigued by this because I have recently had
some issues with my son’s education and assessments that had to be implemented.
Reading through the tips I was comforted by the information given reassuring me
of the feelings that I have had about the process. Some of the tips that stood
out to me included; I am the parent and I should acknowledge the gut instinct,
I do not need to know all of the technical terms, I can find outside support,
and I am allowed to disagree. These tips are very important for any parent to know
before they go into an assessment. These processes can be intimidating and this
makes parents nervous. When I went into the few meetings at the school I was
faced with the two teachers in the room, the principal, school psychologist,
and the school counselor. This is ratio that had me worrying that I was alone
in my fight for my son’s education. I wanted to be armed with the correct
information and I was worried about knowing the law and all of the technical
terms and acronyms. This knowledge can be extremely overwhelming. The main
thing I needed to remember was that I am the parent and I know my child more
than anyone. Also, there are resources out there that can help and support. For
example, I learned of the Coalition for Education for Children with
Developmental Disabilities. This coalition will give you a plethora of
information, resources, and provide you with an advocate in your area that will
attend meetings with you.
This site has always reinforced the importance of
equity and excellence in early childhood care and education. After reading this article I am reassured of
the purpose of the website. The Zero to Three website is a place of useful
information, resources, and advocacy for children, educators, and their
families. There are many children that need proper assessments and when parents
are faced with this process, it can be stressful. Through this website parents
can find useful information to help ease the stress and reassure them that they
are in fact doing what is best for their child.
For parents that will face any assessment here is a
link to the tips to take into consideration.
Hi Sam,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with me your views on quality staffing. You know it seems to be an international thing when there is some sort of budget cut, early childhood seems to be the first to get it. It's as if we have no voice. We are invisible yet governments, scientists and other persons of interests talk so about investing in early childhood and how early childhood is the way to go. Last week my school assignment took me to a very poor community where they had received a brand new school from "Food for the Poor, Canada." The school was decked out with lovely resources such as new furniture, a brand new building, computers and other resources that would enhance the children's development. But when I decided to obeseve and document the educational programs for the day I was astonished that the practitioners were of very poor quality. So I quickly got on my phone called someone in the organisation I work with (Early Childhood Commission) about getting an early childhood trained teacher for this school only to be told that the institution cannot get an early childhood teacher because there is no money to pay one. I left feeling very down and despondent because I knew how important it is to have the right human resources in early childhood.
Zero to Three is a very informative website. I use it as a parent too help me find information about my children. Assessments always create a level of anxiety for both the parents and the child. Thanks for making the link known to parents who are being faced with assessments. My children are constantly being assessed. My six year old son comes home every week on a average with at least 80 words to spell and if can't spell them, the school makes it look like you the parent is not doing a good job. Thank's Again
Judy
Samantha,
ReplyDeleteI also explored the resources for parents link. This assessment tool is a great tool for any parent. I am intrigued to explore this application further. Thank you for sharing this with us all.
Meg
Samantha, I have to admit I use this website as a parent first and an educator second. You can never have enough resources, especially when you're a single mom.
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