Module 01 Theory and Family Centered Care and Education

· Early Childhood Theory

Our role as early childhood educators includes not only working with young children but also working with children’s families. Children are greatly influenced by their families; therefore, we must view children within the context of their families. As an early childhood educator who works with children, you will need to understand families.

Best practices in early childhood education dictate that for educators to promote children’s optimal learning and development, they must provide family centered care.

The focus is on viewing children within their families, and not in isolation. The result of family centered care is reciprocal relationships between early childhood educators and families. Those relationships will promote successful children, families and early childhood education programs.

Let’s examine some of the many benefits of family centered care for children, their families, and early childhood educators.

· Families can receive support in meeting the needs of their children.

· Families that are at risk can be identified and be connected with community resources.

· Early childhood educators can gain knowledge of children’s personalities, behaviors, and cultural styles to better plan for children’s needs.

· Children can feel valued and respected when they see their teachers and families working together.

· Children can learn the give and take of relationships as they see adults modeling social skills.

· Through reciprocal relationships, early childhood educators can promote strong parent-child bonds and encourage family engagement in children’s education.

· Families’ engagement in their children’s education in the early years will continue throughout their schooling.

Review of Key Areas of Early Childhood Theory

Let’s take a few minutes to review key areas of early childhood theory in the following ungraded exercise. This will help you connect the important ideas in early childhood education with the concept of family centered care and education.

Watch the following video, What is Family, to learn about the different definitions and structure of families.

Click here to view the video.

Additional Resources to Explore

· Website: Read more about family centered practice from Child Welfare Information Gateway

· Type the following in the search tool: family centered practice.