- Whom you observed and interacted with in your setting during this module
- I interacted with the owner this week!!! This was such a shocker because I have been there all this time and I had yet to see her until I started asking questions about catering and the food that the kids were eating.
- I also was able to talk to a parent that saw me writing and simply asked who I was, little did she know that she would become my next victim for a million questions.
- Any special learning experiences you may have had or an experience that provided you with insight about children and families including advocacy efforts
- Not so much advocacy but definitely but compassion. When this parent started to open up and tell me that she is having problems paying her bills, childcare and transportation cost it made me grateful that my children are no longer childcare age. I also asked if there were service4s in place for her already because it is a HeadStart program and we are there to help the entire family and not just the child.
- At least two insights gained from your observations of, and interactions and experiences with, children’s families regarding advocacy efforts and needs related to your area of interest within the field of early childhood
- One insight that I learned is that Headstrart should also provide meals to take home if the parents can not afford food. It is a terrible feeling to know that your child has to wait until they come to school to eat a healthy meal and from listening to that parent that is exactly what she needs. As a mother she should not have to chose between eating and going to work.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Module 4
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It is hard to see and hear some families having such a hard time with day care. Those families who have the opportunity to stay home with their children and can do so makes a great difference income wise. Even though there is a pay cut since mommy or daddy are home now, but it is better that then knowing that what your making is not going to pay off your bills because you have to pay the daycare. It is said to hear about the eating issues with the family. How would you organize such a thing where parents can take home a healthy meal? What would you base it one? I do believe that schools should be involved in helping the parent in providing a healthy meal for their children but it is a lot harder than it sounds. Does the school allow extensions on payment? Also, there are services where the parent can get help with payment if they are not able to. Something she can look into.
ReplyDeleteHead start has an interesting history. The more I read about the more I learned. I remember when I first learned about how head start began in 1969 Mississippi. I later reread an essay by Alice Walker and learned she was part of that movement in 69 for head start. There was public assistance but even the food stamps families were receiving were so low that it was common to be malnutrition. School lunches were not the norm across the country. Most children went home or had bagged lunches.
ReplyDeleteThink about how far we have come in the last 40 years! Now our fight is for healthy food, and a meal to take home. One day care I worked at had a pantry, and families could get a certain amount of groceries a month depending on a few factors. There is at least a pantry for every area. Maybe asking the social worker or a community leader in the area can let you know what options they do have. I am sure they are there; it just knows where to go.
Marquitta-
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your thoughtful and insightful feedback over the last eight weeks. You've responded to every one of my posts with real regard to what I had said and the questions that I asked. You made me think about what I had written and even helped me take my paper in a new, better direction, and for that, I am very thankful.
It has also been interesting to read about your insight into childhood nutrition and it is obvious that this is a subject you care about. I look forward to seeing your advocacy work progress in the future.
Best,
Jessica