A note of thanks

I want to thank all of my classmates and the professor for being supportive in this advocacy journey. This has been a very stressful quarter for me between school work, my job, and preparing to have my second child. I am now at the point where I am writing my final reflection papers and I hope to have those complete in the next couple of days. I feel that I have learned a lot from this class and from my fellow students. I look forward to receiving my degree and welcoming my new addition, who will be here within the next 10 days! I wish everyone luck in their future endeavors.

Enlisting and Providing Support

•Questions you have with which your colleagues may be able to provide help and support

                Questions I have are how are you formatting your presentation and how large of a group are you presenting to?

•Resources and information you are seeking

                I am seeking additional ideas on how to reach those hard to reach parents…the ones that don’t seem to want to be reached. If you have any ideas or things you have done that have been successful please share!

•Resources and/or information you have found helpful and insightful

                I have found many resources that I can use to share with parents and staff on increasing parent involvement. There are many web sites that can be useful in my area…Below are some of the links I have found for resources in my community:

 Invest in Children:  http://investinchildren.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/home.aspx

Ground Work Ohio: http://www.groundworkohio.org/

Voices for Ohio’s Children:

http://www.vfc-oh.org/cms/site/91bb18d67e98c7a2/index.html

Zero to three: http://zerotothree.org/

Child Care Exchange: http://www.childcareexchange.com/

Euclid City Schools: http://www.euclidschools.org/

Euclid Public Library: http://www.euclidlibrary.org/kids/build-a-kindergarten-star

 

 

               

 

 

 

My advocacy journey...

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

“We must become the change we wish to create.” Gandhi

The focus of my advocacy plan will be to increase parent and family involvement at Kiddie City with hopes that it will increase the involvement of the parents throughout their child’s school career

• What inspires and excites you most about your advocacy plan and being an advocate?

What excites me most about my advocacy plan is that I know that I can help make a difference in the lives of children by helping their parents realize how important it is to be involved in their child’s education from the start. Starting to get parents involved in center events and conferences at the child care center level will get them in the habit/routine of being involved in the later years. It will also help the parents realize that we are educators, not just babysitters.

• What challenges and/or anxieties do you feel related to engaging in the advocacy efforts you have targeted?

The only concern I have is how to motivate staff that may be frustrated from past failed attempts at getting parents involved and how to reach those parents that in the past have seemed to be unreachable.

• What do you believe will be most effective in helping you overcome any challenging emotions you may be feeling with regard to presenting and implementing your Advocacy Action Plan?

I am excited to present and implement my plan. This is something I have wanted to do for a while and this class has showed me how to make time to focus on it. The challenging emotions will come with persuading teachers who feel as if they have tried it all already and trying to connect with parents who seem to be unreachable. The only other emotions I am encountering is the anxiety I am feeling in trying to get through this class to graduate in June as I am expecting a baby in June as well, so there is a lot on my plate right now between home (husband & 4 yr old), work, school, and pregnancy.

• How can you encourage others in their advocacy efforts, and how can others encourage you?

I can encourage others in their advocacy efforts by sharing my past experiences and offering suggestions that may have worked for me regarding their topics. Others can encourage me by sharing any motivational ideas to engage staff and any ideas to reach those unreachable parents.