Come for a Visit: Encouraging Community Involvement
"Quality child care helps parents go out to work knowing their children are safe."
- Rosemarie Klein
A regular part of many early childhood education programs is a visit from someone in the community, be it a firefighter, a farmer, a parent or a dental hygienist, to talk to the children about what they do.
This year's Prime Minister's Award recipients also see bringing members of the community into the centre as helping them meet another goal: publicizing what goes on in an early childhood education setting and how that work benefits the community.
One example of this is the Breakfast for Learning program run by Pamela Blanchfield at the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara in Niagara Falls (see "Stories With My Cereal").
In Tignish, Prince Edward Island, Tracy Doyle regularly invites local professionals to visit her Magic Moments Child Care Centre. The children learn from the visit and the visiting professional sees firsthand the broad scope of learning activities that take place in an early childhood education setting. A tireless advocate for her programs and early childhood education in general, Doyle also involves the children in local festivals and parades whenever possible, and encourages local businesses to display signs promoting Early Childhood Education Week in November.
Even when it's just for fun, a visitor still gains insight into the professionalism of an early childhood education setting. "A local ranch owner brought her horse right into town for us," says Donna Huyber of Lakeview Children's Centre in Langruth, Manitoba, a member of the Childcare Family Access Network (C-FAN) team. "The children were able to spend a lot of time petting it and watching it. The owner was impressed by the children's good behaviour and by their questions."
Here's an idea…
"Take the children for nature walks. Go slowly and help them to really look at everything that's around them. Pick up stones, sticks, leaves and all the other things they find and bring them back to use in crafts, art and science exploration."
- Liz Reid
Community Contributions
Making community contributions in areas related to education or child welfare also brings the activities of the early childhood education setting to the attention of community members. For example, Tammy Gingras, another member of the C-FAN team, is part of McCreary, Manitoba's Healthy Child Committee. She meets monthly with a community representative, the kindergarten teacher, a resource teacher and the principal of the local elementary school to design and implement activities in the community promoting early literacy. "It's helped me develop a good working relationship with the school and some awareness in the community of how our early childhood education program contributes to children's literacy," she says.
Vancouver's Liz Reid devotes many hours to improving the teaching and practice of early childhood education in her province, efforts that also contribute to better community understanding of the field. In her spare time away from the Little People's Parent Participation Preschool, she teaches early childhood education courses at Langara College in Vancouver, chairs the Early Childhood Education Advisory Committee at the college and works closely with the students and teachers there.
Business and Service Group Sponsorships
In addition to writing grant applications to large philanthropic foundations and organizations (see "Funding and Resources: You Can't Always Get What You Want…"), Huyber requests funding for specific projects from local service organizations. "The Legion or the Elks are usually more than happy to donate money to fix the playground or buy a piece of equipment," she says. "Every time I write a letter requesting funds for a project, it's a chance to tell them what we do at the centre, too."
In the same way, the Co-op store in Tignish, Prince Edward Island, is happy to donate food for the annual Magic Moments family barbecue, says Doyle.
Public Relations
Many early childhood education settings send out newsletters informing parents of their activities. Doyle broadens this public relations effort by also writing letters to local newspapers, keeping them informed and advocating for the support of quality early childhood education.
"Winning this award has done a lot to increase public awareness of early childhood education in our community," adds a pleased and excited Gingras. "People stop us on the street to congratulate us, but then they also ask what the award was about and what we're doing in the centre!"
"Quality child care helps parents go out to work knowing their children are safe," says Rosemarie Klein, the third member of the C-FAN team. "It gives them the opportunity to increase family income, which is a benefit to them and to the whole community."
Parents benefit in other ways, too. For example, special needs children can be placed in intervention programs close to home, and stay-at-home parents can get an occasional break, Klein says. As a result of public relations, sponsorships, community contributions and involvement, Klein sees a slow but steadily growing acknowledgment of the importance of quality early childhood education to children, parents and the community.