Are The Preschool Years Important? No Question!

In these days of economic challenge, it is even more important for individuals across the country to understand and share the benefits of quality early childhood education.  Whether you have a child five years old or younger, are part of the early childhood system, teach in the K-12 world, or serve on the local school board or a business leader at your local Chamber of Commerce, it must be on our radar.  Children are our future.

I believe that answers to these issues must come from a variety of collaboratives, not a single solution of federally-funded initiatives.  There are just too many mouths at the table these days with the economy, jobs, health care, etc. on the front burner.

So where does that leave us with early childhood? 

Of course, nationally established policies and a recognition of early childhood education as an essential part of our country's future is essential.  However, without grass roots implementations, those policies are doomed to fail.  Celebrating and supporting successes at the state level like AL and NC (whose programs have been evaluated independently by the National Institute for Early Education Research as having met all of their identified qualifiers of high quality early childhood education) and seeing how the most successful parts of these initiatives can be duplicated and adjusted to fit various populations is a start.

But I don't think any of us want to take the "teaching" element away from families, even if children are in full day early childhood programs.  That only isolates the education world from children's real lives and makes the educators' jobs more difficult.

We cannot forget how important the empowering of all parents to be their child's first and forever teacher is.  The Harvard Family Research Project is doing important work in this area and just in November, 2009 released a news article on Family Engagement: A Shared Responsibility.  In this article, based on research and ongoing studies by authors and researchers Lopez, Westmoreland and Rosenburg, a strong message rings out that we need to pay attention to:

"To enable the U.S. to excel in a global economy, education policymakers are raising expectations . . .Meeting this is a collective effort and, at the local level,
a shared responsibility between families, schools and communities."

Let's start by not wasting time pointing fingers as we often do - "parents just aren't interested" (that's a myth), "I don't feel welcome at the school" (if you don't, do something about it through the PTA/PTO, talking with an open teacher (there are teachers in virtually every school who understand the essential role of families in improving student achievement AND what the various roles are in this collaborative) or "I don't have time" (heard from both sides of the playing field).

Instead let's create a circle that focuses on the child in the middle of all this, recognizing limitations and barriers and work together to lower or eliminate them.  If we look at the assets we have to address this, rather than the shortcomings, and with a little effort consistently from a lot of people, we can do it.

In the early childhood world, I'm starting a little bonfire, a revolution, that focuses on this reality.  We can no longer ignore it.  Neither professional educators nor parents can do it alone.

If you live in the north Alabama area (near Huntsville), I want to encourage you to come to a celebration of this partnership between early childhood educators (teaching children in preschool AND kindergarten) and families of 3-6 year old children.  It is a special event being sponsored by Barnes and Nobles Bookstore at Bridge Street on April 10 from noon until 3:00PM.  There will be fun playful activities that can be duplicated at home or in the classroom, a chance to explore some wonderful children's books, win doorprizes, and meet authors of resources for children, educators and families.  You can email me at tla@readingisforeveryone.org for a flyer if you wish.

If you don't live nearby or cannot attend, don't be left out.  Check your local children's policy council or United Way to see what they are doing about this important issue.  Does your local library have an Every Child Reading program?  Is there a Mothereads (not just for moms) program nearby?   Perhaps a HIPPY initiative?  The important thing is that each of us commit to doing something about this important issue.  It doesn't have to take a lot of time. We already have a lot of resources

Here are a few other ideas to investigate:

join with RIF or Jumpstart in your community to read with a young child;

volunteer to serve on one of the councils in your community (does your university have an early childhood epartment with an advisory council?).

relieve a neighbor with young children by offering to take their child to a library story hour or special community event.

donate gently loved children's books to a preschool.

maybe an organization you are a member of or your business can help fund especially needed professional development for local early childhood teachers.

talk with your local early childhood leaders to find out their view and what they need.

Keep looking until you find what YOU can do.  A little effort from a lot of us will have a tremendous impact.

Once you've found your "slot," share with a comment to this blog your part in the revolution or a new idea found found, sparked by this blog posting.  It can start today with us, and what better place that the blog of Maupin House Publishers, a leader in educational resources.

Cathy Puett Miller focuses on the world of literacy in her efforts to promote education at home and at school.  She is author of Anytime Reading Readiness and Before They Read, two new Maupin titles.  You can learn more about her at www.readingisforeveryone.org.