Artifact 1: Evening with parents
Description: This artifact was created within the framework of the ECED 110 course. The main idea of this assignment was to develop an activity that would involve parents in children’s education. Parents were invited to come with their children to the thematic class and talk about their traditions, culture, and background. I was responsible for the invitation of parents and the development of the appropriate schedule.
Key element: 2a: Know about, understand, and value the diversity of families.
Demonstration of competence: In my class, children come from families with various social, economic, and cultural backgrounds. However, at their age, they do not fully understand that life of every family is unique. Undoubtedly, children will familiarize themselves with diversity through socialization as they grow older. Nonetheless, it is necessary to introduce them to the fact that all people are different, and the difference is not only in skin color or eyes shape but also in the worldview, system of beliefs, and traditions. In this artifact, I analyzed the local community to figure out what people live there (NAEYC, 2019). The conducted research reveals that this area is not homogenous. Hence, children should be aware of the existing differences because it is a way to teach them to be polite and respectful towards others.
Artifact 2: Complicated Topics in Simple Words
Description: This artifact was created as a part of the ECED 304 course. Children ask numerous questions each day: why the sky is blue, why birds sing, how do computers work, why does spring come after the winter. The purpose of this artifact is to bring together children from several ECE settings and invite a local expert to discuss with children such topics as climate change, technological progress and answer the related questions. This way, I developed a way how to use community resources to support the education of children.
Key element: 2c: Use community resources to support young children’s learning and development and to support families, and build partnerships between early learning settings, schools, and community organizations and agencies.
Demonstration of competence: Educators should be aware of using various community services for children’s education (NAEYC, 2019). In the case of this artifact, the educator shows the ability to establish cooperation between several early learning settings and engage the qualified third party in the learning process. Additionally, through this artifact, an educator actively communicates and cooperates with the families of the pupils.
Artifact 3: Collaboration with Parents
Description: As it has already been mentioned, families in the local community are diverse and, therefore, it is necessary to ensure the inclusion of all of them. The essence of this artifact lies in the establishment of trusting relations between an educator and parents of the children.
Key element: 2b: Collaborate as partners with families in young children’s development and learning through respectful, reciprocal relationships and engagement.
Demonstration of competence: It is necessary to inform parents and caregivers of what is going on in the class, all the achievements and failures of a child (NAEYC, 2019). This could be done either personally or via messengers and online meetings in Zoom. Through communication with parents, an educator should figure out whether the price for school trips is affordable and whether the in-class activities correspond to the views of parents. Besides, an educator should pay attention to the parents suggestions and concerns. More precisely, a parent might ask to spend more time with children teaching them to read. This way, an educator should think about reorganizing the education process not to harm children and meet parents requests.
Reference
NAEYC (2019). Professional standards and competencies for early childhood educators. National Association for the Education of Young Children. Web.