At first, I thought that this was silly but then I sat down with my son and started coloring this picture. We had many laughs and giggles and even my husband joined us. After spending about 10 minutes together on this project, I finally realized how important it is to spend time together as a family.
It took a picture for me to realize what my son is already capable of and how fast he is growing up. After having so much fun with this art project, our family decided to spend more time together on family projects such as this picture. Now, we take time each week to do something creative together with many laughs and giggles. This is why I think this picture is very special because it brought a close family even closer together.
Anna,
ReplyDeleteYour story of how the project brought your family closer together, as well as provided you an insight to your child's development is a true testament of the importance of parent involvement activities in centers. A couple of years ago, while I was still with ACC, my base was working through the NAEYC accreditation process. One of the ACC people reviewing our process felt that “take home” family involvement projects were not considered actual parent involvement activities, and we were instructed to eliminate them from our lesson plans and parent involvement plans. Despite our arguments, we were forced to do so through accreditation. We eventually added them back in, but they are now considered extra parent involvement activities. It is a shame, as many parents do not have the time and sometimes confidence to come into the classroom, but are very willing and excited to do things at home. Just like your story, many of them get a first hand observation of where their children are developmentally and appreciate learning about activities that will help their children develop additional skills.
Anna, Your post has motivated me. I am going to implement similar take home activities to encourage parent involvement. I hope that for those parents that are not able to come into the school during operating hours and participate they will find activities like these to be just as important and enjoy the family bonding that goes along with it.
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