Hello! Thank you for taking the time to look over this
page. I hope you will find resources that you and your
child can use at home. I believe the family is an
essential piece for whether a child enjoys attending
school and succeeds while in the classroom and on
the playground. Families are the original place our
child begins to learn. Our families teach us our original
lessons about ourselves, our community, how to get our needs met
and the power relationships.
The information you will find as you continue to read will hopefully
provide you with greater insight to the daily activities of your child.
The items which are most important to me on this page are the
classroom calendar for the current month, links to the math and
reading Internet-sites the students are using in class, links to the
research which supports my model and printable documents
pertaining to field trips, school functions, community sports and
administrative needs. However, it is important to me that I provide
you and your child with what you need. Please contact me with any
questions or concerns you might have at any point during the year.
Classroom Calendar
We have special events happening in
the classroom on the days which
show a picture. Please look for
informational packets in your child’s
backpack the Friday of the week
before the event. This Month we have
an event every week as the students
are getting to know one another.
Learning Links
The following sites are learning sites which enable you and your child
to have fun learning from home. Many of these sites are easy for
your child to use independently. However, as well all know, our
children love to show off their new skills.
The first series of link connect you and your child to the sites that
provide your child a place to learn while playing games. These four
sites are credible sites which offer content you can feel good
providing your child.
http://www.fisherprice.com/fp.aspx?st=2602&e=gamesLanding&mc
at=game_infant,game_toddler,game_preschool&site=us
http://www.sesamestreet.org/games
http://www.nickjr.com/kids-games/
http://disney.go.com/games/#/games/
The following links are more geared to you and your child learning
together as a family. . I hope that you will take the time to identify
which sites may be useful for you in your role as a nurturing parent. I
know that in my own role as a parent, there is always more to learn.
123 Child
www.123child.com
Over 650 activities and discussions on topics of interest
Awesome Library
www.awesomelibrary.org
A terrific search engine for lots of topics, including education and parenting
Early Childhood Educators and Family Web Corner
users.sgi.net/~cokids
Good site for child care/early childhood teachers and parents: articles, family
and teacher pages and a search engine.
Explorescience.com
www.explorescience.com
Activities to do without becoming a member as well as sharing course
homepages with other teachers -- mostly for school age.
Families and Work Institute
www.familiesandwork.org
This site offers Families and Work Institute news, executive summaries of their most
popular publications, a publications "shopping cart", and a community
mobilization forum.
Family.Com
www.family.com
Disney's family web site with a wide variety of information about children from
birth through teenage years including health information, activity suggestions,
and parent information.
National Parent Information Network
npin.org
Clearinghouse on early childhood development, elementary education and
urban education.
Natural Child Project
www.naturalchild.com
Interesting site with a point of view about how children should be raised with
respect for their natural abilities and humanity. Includes advice, articles, and
other features.
Informational Forms
Please check back during this month as you
and your child communicate with me about
what is most useful for this section.
My thoughts are to post field trip forms, class
activity descriptions, volunteer sign-ups,
descriptions of school events, school
announcements & youth sports enrollment slips.
What would you like to see here?
My Classroom Model –
Bronfenbrenner’s Theory: bioecological systems theory
This theory looks at a
child’s development
within the context of the
system of relationships
that form his or her
environment.
Bronfenbrenner’s theory
defines complex “layers”
of environment, each
having an effect on a
child’s development
(Bronfenbrenner, 1990).
The interaction between
factors in the child’s
maturing biology, his/her
immediate family, the community environment and the societal
landscape creates the direction of his/her development. Changes or
conflicts in any one layer will have effects on each of the other
layers. To further a child’s positive development then, we must look
not only at the child and her immediate environment, but also at the
interaction of the larger environment as well (Paquette, 2001).
Implications for practice
This theory has dire implications for the practice of teaching. In
today’s society it appears necessary for schools and teachers to
provide stable, long-term relationships. Yet, Bronfenbrenner believes
that the primary relationship needs to be with someone who can
provide a sense of caring that is meant to last a
lifetime(Bronfenbrenner, 1990). Thus we need to encourage the
active involvement of the parents in the child’s education.
Schools and teachers fulfill an important secondary role, but cannot
provide the complexity of interaction that can be provided by
primary adults. For the educational community to attempt a primary
role is to help our society continue its denial of the real issue. The
problems students and families face are caused by the conflict
between the workplace and family life – not between families and
schools. Schools and teachers should work to support the primary
relationship and to create an environment that welcomes and
nurtures families. We can do this while we work to realize
Bronfenbrenner’s ideal of the creation of public policy that eases the
work/family conflict (Henderson, 1995).
Educating a child takes cooperation and involvement from
educators, parents, families, and the community. Everyone has
heard the saying "It takes a village to raise a child." Research has
shown the greater the family and community involvement in schools,
the greater the students’ achievement (Niemiec, R., Sikorski, M., &
Walberg, 1999).
References
 Addison, J. T. (1992). Urie Bronfenbrenner. Human Ecology, 20(2), 16-20.
 Berk, L.E. (2000). Child Development (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
23-38
 Bronfenbrenner, U. (1990). Discovering what families do. In Rebuilding the
Nest: A New Commitment to the American Family. Family Service America
[web site]. <http://www.montana.edu/www4h/process.html>
 Henderson, Z. P. (1995). Renewing our social fabric. Human Ecology, 23(1),
16-19.
 Paquette, D ( 2001). Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. 1-4.