Parenting Future-Focused Kids

The Importance of Early Childhood Education

July 07, 2021 Madison School District Episode 1
Parenting Future-Focused Kids
The Importance of Early Childhood Education
Show Notes Transcript

This podcast will focus on the importance of Early Childhood Education and preparing your young learner for the new school year.  Guest, Dr. Eric Bucher, Community Education Program Manager, holds a Doctorate of Education in Leadership & Innovation from Arizona State University. His research focused on early childhood professional development and early childhood Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math known as STEAM. 

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Welcome to parenting future focus kids, a Madison School District podcast for families that provides resources for supporting your child's academic success, as well as social, emotional and physical wellness. Each podcast will focus on a different topic, and we'll provide tips on how to inspire your child's creativity, collaboration skills and critical thinking all while preparing them for the future. Today's topic will focus on the importance of early childhood education and preparing your young learner for the new school year. I am your host, Nicole Rodriguez and I would like to welcome Dr. Eric Bucher, a community education program manager to the show, Dr. Eric Bucher, has a Doctorate of education and leadership and innovation from Arizona State University. His research focused on early childhood professional development and early childhood science, technology, engineering, arts and math known as steam. Thank you so much for being here today. Dr. Bucher? Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and how you became so passionate about early childhood education. Well Nicole, thank you so much for having me, I'm excited to share the importance of early childhood education, and some tips and strategies for families as they're supporting their young learner to be successful not only at home, but also in school. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a first generation college graduate. I've dedicated nearly 14 years of my career to working with young children and families and supporting early childhood educators across the state. My parents were both in the military, they served in the Air Force my dad for more than 20 years, my mom for around four years. And I think as part of that experience, what they taught me was that all of us are part of a community and that we contribute to the greater good. So what really drew me to early childhood education is that when we give back to our communities, when we invest in our children and families, it makes all of our communities strong and vibrant. And that's where my passion lies is really helping make sure that all of us have access to the resources we need to be successful as communities because we were all in this work together. Over my career, I've spent some time supporting everyone from direct service, I worked with infants and toddlers, and preschoolers in a childcare program. And then over the course of my career, I've had the opportunity to work at a science museum developing early care and education programming for children, families and educators working at the state level, overseeing our federal grants to support increased access to quality, early care and education across the state. And most recently, now in my role as the Community Education Program Manager, part of my role is helping support professional development for our preschool teachers. Oh, that's truly incredible. Again, thank you so much for being here. I know, our community, especially now, getting back into the swing of things and in person learning and all of that that comes with it. The support from community education is important now more than ever. So what are the benefits of early childhood education? Why should parents or families consider preschool or any you know, prior to kindergarten, early childhood education is a public good, we know that when we invest in our young learners, we help build their skills to be successful learners as as infants, toddlers and preschoolers. But it also sets the foundation for their lifelong learning for the skills they're going to need to be successful not only in school, but for the rest of their lives. Early Childhood Education is infrastructure. So what we know just like bridges, or roads, electrical systems and power grids are the child's education is is integral to the community, it helps parents get to the places they need to go to work to school and contribute to the economy. In quality, early care and education programs. Parents can expect to see their child engaging with qualified teachers that support their social emotional development, physical and cognitive development. So in those early years, we know that it's the most impactful time for children to develop their, their lifelong learning skills. Early Childhood is so important, because not only does it support parents and families and helps our communities thrive, but it also provides a space where children can develop skills like scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, develop how understanding of how to be a good friend, and how to contribute to their classroom community. And then create creates a foundation for their their successes as children who move into kindergarten and beyond their lifelong learning skills. It's such a critical time in their development. Yeah, absolutely. And as you mentioned, children begin learning very early on as a matter of fact, they begin learning at birth, and they continue learning every single day.  What advice would you give parents who maybe have infants and toddlers or who are right before that preschool stage? Sure. I think the most important thing parents should know is that they're their first and most important teacher of their young child, that the relationship and the connections that they have with their child helps foster their light their love of lifelong learning. What's most exciting I think about infants and toddlers is that

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There, you haven't quite yet developed the verbal skills of being able to talk like maybe three or four or five year old might be able to, but they still are doing such complex thinking they're building connections in their brains and parents can help support that process. So the advice I would give to parents of infants and toddlers is to first and foremost, spend as much time as you can, talking, holding your baby reading alongside with them, offering them opportunities to notice things when you're out in the grocery store, or when you're on a walk, to talk about the things that they notice. To spend some time, maybe going to the library and checking out some interesting children's books and reading those together. Even just sitting together and holding one another while you flip through the mail and read, you know, a piece of junk mail or when you are at the grocery store, talking about the types of food or the items that you see, for example, when parents visit the grocery store, and they've got their infant with them in their carrier, they might point to the oranges and the apples in the fruit stand and say, Wow, look at the shininess on the apple and look how, the orange looks smooth. But when you touch it, there's some bumpy pieces, or Hey, let's smell this orange together to see if it's fresh. So just those opportunities to talk with children is probably the most important things that parents can do to support their child's development. And along those same lines. You know, though, I feel like those are things that can be applied to not only infants and toddlers, but they can be adapted to maybe older a little bit older children as well, maybe if they're preparing for preschool or kindergarten. So it's the summertime right now, we're approaching the new school year, what are some things that parents can do to help their child over the summer, you know, just get ready for learning? Sure, oftentimes, we see lots of opportunities in the community for parents and children to engage visiting a local park and spending some time playing on a playground or taking a walk around the local neighborhood. Visiting a museum. Oftentimes museums will offer free days for children and families to visit. So taking care of your child and and teaching them and developing their early learning skills doesn't have to cost anything, parents can really find joy in just spending that time connecting and talking with their child, both at home, but also in the community. During the summer, as we sort of here in Arizona try to stay away from the heat outside. If parents are spending more time indoors with their children, they may spend some time cooking together, inviting kids to play with pots and pans while they're making lunch or dinner. As children become older, and they're able to begin to grasp tools and maybe stand on a step stool to reach the counter, they can help mix batter or they can help put ingredients together for a salad. So just encouraging kids to get engaged in the everyday activities that parents would do anyway in their in their household or in their home, I think is particularly important, not only during the summer, but of course throughout the year as well. So you talked a little bit about how kids can get involved in the kitchen or just everyday activities, is there an importance of maybe creating routines over the summer to you know, get them ready for the school year, and what to expect whether it's preschool or kindergarten, there is Yeah, children thrive in safe, secure, trusting relationships. And what we've what we hear from researchers at the Harvard center on the developing child is that we should think about it as sort of a serve and return like you're playing tennis, it's a reciprocal relationship that a parent engages in with their child. So a parent might take the turn of seeing a specific phrase, and they serve that interaction over to their child. And then maybe the child interacts and responds with a coo, or maybe says a one or two word statement or smiles or laughs the child then returns the ball back to the parents court. And so it's like this back and forth. reciprocal of engagement and interaction between children and their parent. The importance of that is that it creates a safe, secure, trusting environment where children know that they're well taken care of, that they're in a safe environment. And that's when learning can occur when children have that safety. And that security, which is why routines are so important for young children, creating as much consistency as possible. So children know what to expect, and have a sort of an understanding of what's to come. So for example, of parents might take some time to say, hey, in about 20 minutes, we're going to be preparing for lunch. So, uh, you know, finish, playing with your materials, we'll finish up playing, and then I'm going to you're going to help me make lunch together right or having a consistent nap time each day. We know for infants of course that takes a little bit of time to get used to, but especially for toddlers and three year olds having as consistent of a nap time as possible. So they get that rest and can rejuvenate and have their energy for the afternoon. also thinking about if a parents bringing their child to a childcare program, or Turner, the Karen education program, consistently dropping off at the same time and picking up around the same time as best as we can, as families is particularly important in that provides against

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secure environment, a trusting environment, so the child can really focus on spending the time engaging, and learning. Beyond that that routine is so important. I think that routines are not only important to, you know, have have children understand what to expect when going into, you know, a preschool or kindergarten classroom. But it might help deal with some of that sadness or anxiety that they might feel starting at a new school or even in a classroom in general, do you have any other tips for dealing with sadness or anxiety as young students transition into their early learning environments? Sure. So anxiety, and sadness that add in and transition into a new environment is normal. It's it really shows that there's a strong connection between the child and their parent and that they, that's the person that they trust. So they need that time to be able to get to know the teacher or the early care and education provider and build that relationship over time. So that they can also feel that same sense of security and trust that they feel with their parent. It takes time, I would encourage parents to really be thoughtful of keeping that consistent routine, when a child's being dropped off with with a preschool program, taking the time to talk with the teacher to get to know them to share any insight on you know, what, what the child's interested in? Or maybe what the child's experience was the night before. So did they get enough sleep? Did they not get enough sleep? Did they seem to be really hungry in the morning, and so maybe, then we make sure we give them breakfast. So being having that reciprocal communication with early childhood educators is very important, especially in that transition. The other piece that early childhood educators would work on in most quality settings is making sure that the child is well taken care of that they have an opportunity to develop that strong relationship with the teacher. So you might see a teacher during drop off spending the time talking with a child and introducing themselves, offering them a couple of ways to get engaged, like Oh, wait, you know, we'll say goodbye to mom, we'll see mom, when when she picks you up this afternoon. Let's go play together in the block center, it looks like you're really interested in Legos. So that's one example of what on our end, early childhood educators would be doing to make to make sure that children felt a safe, secure transition. But again, it takes time, it takes a trust. So I think oftentimes, it's even harder for parents than it is for the children. Because as the children and transition to the program, there's lots of new people to meet. There's lots of materials to play with. So for parents, just taking that time to know that it's normal for that, that anxiety to happen with children, but doing our best to set up children for success by set by giving them prompts like we're going to be dropping off today, at preschool. And I'm going to see you when when I pick you up at three o'clock or four o'clock or five o'clock, giving that specific feedback and letting them know that you're dropping them off just for a little bit of time, but that you will be back and that you'll be picking them up and you'll see them later. And that helps that transition for the child as well. Absolutely. And I think that is so important, especially this year, you know, anxiety and sadness is is natural. It's something that children are going to feel but this year has been especially challenging for parents as well as students. What is your best advice for preschool and kindergarten parents as we transition into this new school year, it has been such a challenging year for parents and families. During the pandemic, they've shown resiliency, they've developed flexibility and adaptability to meet the ever changing needs of being in school of the needs of their young child and their family. And I think one of the most important things to know about transitioning back into school is that since the pandemic, early childhood educators and teachers have been on the front line continuing to try to find the best ways to connect with children and families. And I think we've learned a lot from our experience of how we can still stay connected and build those relationships even in the most challenging of times. So I encourage parents to really recognize that teachers and childcare providers are there to support their child and help the family be successful and thrive. So taking the time to build that relationship with the new teacher and the new environment that you're transitioning into helping children understand what the expectations are that let's say they're moving into kindergarten in the new school year, providing some consistent routine pieces around here's what you'll be expecting when you go to kindergarten. Here's what you're going to be doing throughout the day. Here's where I'm going to drop you off. And here's what I'm going to pick you up and helping children know that even though this will be a major change for many children, that we're still it's part of their education, that it's part of their, their routine, and that the teachers and the childcare providers and all the staff at schools are really there to support their success and they're trusting safe people and really helping them feel excited and prepared beforehand to for that transition. Absolutely. And I know for me anyway, being prepared helps ease some of that anxiety. Some of that, unknown. So for new parents coming into the Madison Community Education preschool program,

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Tell me a little bit about what that would be like and what their child would experience. Madison's Community Education preschool program is really founded around relationships that's at the heart of the work that we do. That we believe deeply that when we develop strong positive relationships with children and with families, all of us can come together to make sure that the child is successful not only in their preschool experience, but that they also have those skills necessary to be successful in school, beyond and in life. So when a parent walks into a community education preschool program here in the Madison School District, they would see teachers interacting positively and warmly with young children, teachers might be sitting on the floor or conducting an activity together, they may be walking around and engaging in conversation, they'll be reading books. with children, there'll be fostering language and vocabulary, creating a safe, secure positive environments that children can really benefit from the learning that teachers are offering. In our program, we're really fortunate to have many qualified early care and education providers, people who have had years and years and years of experience that parents can expect to see teachers who are well qualified, who've had lots of experience in child development and understanding how to build those positive relationships. And they also receive professional development. So they're continuously crafting, they're developing their craft and understanding new research that comes out. And then using those skills to support young children and families overall, they'd step into a warm, caring, nurturing environment that really is intended to support children's success and family success in our program and beyond. I think that that support is important. Now more than ever, you know, that social emotional development, in a warm environment, to learn in everyday. So what types of activities or learning what a child participated in Madison preschool classroom? Sure. So in the Madison preschool program, we're really thoughtful about setting up spaces and experiences that really develop the whole child that children don't just learn language, and then transition over and learn about science or they don't just develop math skills, and then say, Oh, it's 9am, I've got to stop over and go over and do experiences with my physical development, right? We know that children develop all those skills holistically, oftentimes, and some of the same experiences. So when teachers are doing their preparation and planning for the materials or the experiences that they offer to children in the classroom, they're very thoughtful about ensuring that we're looking at the whole child development are we thinking about the vocabulary we use when we're offering a science experience with children are we also integrating some math concepts as well as physical development. So what a parent would see when they walk into the classroom is multiple centers that are set up to support specific types of learning. But the idea that learning happens across the context, not just within a specific domain of learning. So parent would see a block center with plenty of wooden materials to build with maybe some recycled items, people blocks, animal blocks, or children could structure and build interesting creations together with one another. they'd see like a library space where there's a cozy corner, if a child's missing their mom or dad or grandpa or grandma, they could take some time in the company space with the teacher and maybe look at a photo of their parent or read a book together, they'll see lots of messy materials like paint and sand and water and things that we know that young children learn with. And the best children learn best through play. And we know that play with messy materials oftentimes helps develop some really deep and complex thinking skills. They will see teachers interacting with children, having conversations, fostering connections between children, we, in our program, we have recently adopted the Sanford harmony, social emotional curriculum. And the teachers use that as a resource to create spaces for children not only develop as individuals, but they develop as part of a community, they learn what it means to be a good friend, they learn what it means to to contribute to the well being of the community, they learn how to handle disagreements, or how to negotiate challenges with one another. They learn how to take turns and how to share appropriately so that social emotional pieces is really important foundation of a Madison preschool classroom. Thank you for mentioning flexible learning spaces. I think that's really important for any child of any age to have access to learning that best suits their needs. And we've talked a lot about resources for families today. But I know that not all of our listeners, maybe have children who are at the preschool age or early childhood age, but I know that they're passionate about maybe working  in early childhood. Are there any openings in the community education department and how could someone get involved in your program? We've been really fortunate to have long term educators, people who've been with the program for years and years and years. And I think that's, of course speaks to the the team and the collaboration that we've built over decades of providing peace.

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service here in the community. It also speaks to the benefits that we have in our in our department. So they're sometimes positions to become available. And of course, we encourage people to keep an eye out at Madison az.org for any upcoming available positions. But we have a multitude of positions that work with young children in our department. And I can talk a little bit about what those look like and what the benefits are. So as positions open and people are making decisions, we would of course, love and encourage them to come work with us and we'd love to have new early childhood educators join the team and be a part of supporting children's learning. In our preschool program, we have several positions that contribute to a strong, vibrant early care and education program. We have early childhood program aides or preschool aides who helped contribute to the health and safety of the classroom. they collaborate closely with the teacher to provide rich and engaging activities. throughout the day. We have a full time ecpa positions as well as part time pmac ecpa positions. We also have early childhood program teachers or preschool teachers, whose responsibility is the facilitating learning around the classroom environment. They spend time developing lesson plans to engage the children in the classroom. They create activities and experiences that are aligned with the Arizona early learning standards and they document and assess young children's learning to really highlight the growth and development that happens in our classrooms over the course of children's time with us. Some of the benefits for our community education department include paid professional development time consistent meetings where teachers and aides come together, they do planning together, they collaborate, they look at assessment data and about what they're learning about children's development in the classroom. And they make decisions about what activities and what lessons to provide based on that data. So we offer that paid professional development and planning time. We also are a unique department and that we are also closely connected that as we mentioned, relationships are so critical to the work we do with children. But it's also critical to the work we do in with our staff and in our department. So we invest time in getting to know one another. We're a strength's based department. So what we look at are the unique strengths that each of our teachers bring. And then we create spaces where those teachers can actually support each other with their their strengths and feel a sense of connection and commitment and that they're being supported through that strengths based lens. So there are many benefits that come along with being here in our early childhood department at the Madison School District. And I've had the pleasure of visiting some of the preschool classrooms and I definitely see that our students are having fun but our staff are having fun as well. And that's so awesome to see. For those listening if you are interested, you can definitely visit us on our website at Madison az.org slash jobs and see what's available. So how would a family enroll their child into a preschool program? If a parents interested in enrolling in our Madison preschool program, there's a few ways to get involved and get more information, give us a call 602-664-7956 You can also email c e info at Madison ed.org You can also visit our website at Madison az.org to find some additional information on when registration opens, read our handbook and what parents are expected to contribute as part of our program and then learn more about registration and and what's what might be available. In terms of our available slots. At the Madison preschool program. We accept both quality first scholarships as well as scholarships subsidies from the Arizona department of economic security and our intent there is to to support families who qualify to be able to access quality, early care and education. If cost is a barrier for participating in a childcare program, and parents can find additional information about their eligibility at Madison az.org. Parents in other parts of the community in Arizona. If you're interested in learning more about child care that's available near you, you can check out the AZ childcare resource and referral network AZ CCR dot com. And that provides a space where parents can search their address and it'll pop up the available childcare programs across the state that are available and then they could give a call and find out if there's available slots. Well, thank you so much again for being here today. Dr. Bucher. It was truly an honor. And we hope to have you back again soon. It was a pleasure. Thank you. Thank you again for listening to parenting future focus kids. To listen to our latest episodes, visit Madison az.org slash podcast.