PreschoolFirst Congratulates Bemis Farms Preschool on achieving their NAEYC re-accreditation!

Interview with the Director, Genevieve Thompson:

PF Staff: What it means to be a director of a NAEYC Accredited child care program?

GT: Being a director of an NAEYC accredited center means that I have committed my self, staff, community, and families to a higher level of daily excellence. The program I run is constantly re-evaluating it's program to make sure it is meeting the needs of the individual families, children and the community we serve. Our program understands what is developmentally appropriate for the children we serve, and we will only provide a program that helps each child reach their individual full potential. We strive for personal best in all that we do in our program, and understand that the field we work in is constantly evolving and growing and that we must also in order to not become stagnant and dull in what we do. Being the director means that I must constantly challenge my staff to question their beliefs in the classroom, and guide them to continue t o educate themselves so that they can provide the best program available.

PF Staff: Why did your program plan to pursue NAEYC re-accreditation?

GT: This was not a decision we made in haste. We took the facts and expectations of NAEYC to the staff, and families and asked them for their opinions and support in this process. In order to complete the re-accreditation process it was important that everyone be involved and willing or it would not have worked. Having the NAEYC accreditation lets newly enrolled families, and the community be assured that you are committed to providing only the highest quality of care for the children you serve. It says that you are not willing to only obtain those standards given by the state you live in but you are willing to obtain much higher standards, and that you are not afraid to involve the families in the process.

PF Staff: Was PreschoolFirst instrumental during the NAEYC accreditation process? If yes, please describe how?

GT: We used PreschoolFirst in many ways.

First we showed how involved the families were in their child's assessment process from day one. Starting with the new family questionnaires, we are able to assess where the parent thinks the child is. We were also able to show through the activities that the families can do at home that we are able to keep the school-home learning connection. The activities also help our families learn about what is developmentally appropriate for their child.

Secondly, the teachers were able to use PreschoolFirst for their portfolios to show that they are doing individually appropriate assessment on the children, and that this continues as the children switch to new classrooms. We were able to show that the assessment was done through observation and that the teachers could tailor the assessment to meet the individual needs of the children they work with. The teachers could show how they used the data they collected to help with continual planning and also how they used this information in parent-teacher conferences to show the continual growth of the child to the families.

Lastly, as the director I was able to use PreschoolFirst to show the assessor during the site visit, how I was actively involved in assessment process. I showed her how I could view all the assessments being done, and could see if a child had red flag behavior that I needed to further explore. I also showed how I could communicate with the teachers, and parents, through PreschoolFirst. Lastly I showed how I could use the developmental handouts on PreschoolFirst to help new staff better understand the age group they were working with.

PF Staff: Do you think your families benefit from the PreschoolFirst system?

GT: I do think that families benefit from the program but they have to fully understand how the program works. To make sure that our families understand the benefits of PreschoolFirst I have a curriculum night that I host every other year where I have a section devoted to PreschoolFirst and how it is used in the classroom, and then how families can use this program at home. I explain what parents will see at parent-teacher conferences, and how we hope they will implement this program at their home. This program works well for the families we are currently enrolling who are from the Generation X and Generation Y group. These families are very comfortable with technology and like when things can be accomplished through email and the Internet. I think PreschoolFirst because it is on the Internet seems more of an updated and viable assessment process to them. I think the families also benefit because PreschoolFirst gives them developmentally appropriate activities in many different genres. Many families get very caught up on cognitive development, but forgot about how important gross, fine motor and social-emotional skills are.

PF Staff: Is there anything that you would like to see in PreschoolFirst system improve so that it would help providers a lot more during the NAEYC accreditation process?

GT: Not at this time.

PF Staff: Would you like to share your experiences and be a part of PreschoolFirst support group in future to assist other programs pursuing NAEYC accreditation process?

GT: I would be happy to help any program going through the NAEYC accreditation process.

If your program is planning to pursue NAEYC accreditation -- check out the Scholarship Awards NAEYC has to offer!

Whole Child Education: Is it new again?

A recent blog posted on the The Whole Child web pages hosted by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) addresses the ongoing questions educators face when they must consider evaluating "student achievement" vs. "whole child development."

In our current climate of test data obsession, the ASCD points out that "Kids simply won't achieve if we don't ensure they are healthy and safe, consider their social and emotional needs, tap into their interests, and demonstrate real-world application of the knowledge and skills we want them to acquire." This is a simple fact that early childhood educators have known for decades and that the NAEYC has supported in various position statements over the years.

Whole child education through intentional teaching supported by best practices - whether it be in a toddler group or a high school history class - looks very similar in all learning environments. Early childhood programs who gather meaningful information using a comprehensive asessment and curriculum system- such as Preschoolfirst - can actually use data to inform and guide whole child practices....and thereby improve learning outcomes.

The ASCD has committed to promoting Whole child educational practices as part of a focus on healthy school communities. PreschoolFirst has a few questions:

• Is your early childhood program a partner in the your community?
• Do you meet with the public and private elementary schools in your area to support a whole child–centered education system?
• What, if any, are the educational practices on which you agree? Are there any on which you disagree?
• Do you have a system that helps your program collect observations that prove "play" and supporting whole child development works?

To read the full ASCD blog visit In Defense of Whole Child Education!