Did You Know.......

The Family Resource Center has a Healthy Start Program? Healthy Start is made up of six components; GRADS, Teen Peer Health, Children’s Behavioral Health, Families First, Adolescent Health and Maternal Mental Health. GRADS is a parenting resource for teen parents in the high schools. Children’s Behavioral Health works with at risk children with a diagnosed behavioral issue. Families First works specifically with pregnant moms and babies through the first year of life. Adolescent Health and Teen Peer Health target teen health issues related to peer pressures in the high school. For further information on any of the Healthy Start components contact Kathy Burton-Smith at 566-3825.

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Staff Spotlight

This quarters spotlight is Vonda Valdez. Vonda is the Resource Specialist for the Toy Lending Library (TLL). Among her many duties include Toy Land Express - a mobile delivery services, maintenance of the Satellite Sites (CFDC and Bloomfield Family Learning Center) and community agency referrals. Vonda is a mother of three; Brittany, Monique and Robby. Her hobbies include stamping up, family time, reading and shopping. Come visit Vonda in the TLL or at the CFDC satellite on Monday mornings from 8-11 and Wednesday afternoon from 1-5.

What’s New in the Library?

Resource Books for Parents/Providers:

A Woman’s Guide To Healing the Heartbreak

All About Anger: Violence, School Success, Sex,

Balancing Work and Family in the Family Child

Basic Fractions: Attainment’s

Behavior Problems In Preschool Children: Social

Changes My Family and Me: emotional, social

Crazy Time Surviving Divorce

Dealing with Disappointment: Helping Kids Cope

Disciplining Kids without screaming & scolding:

Early Childhood Education: NAEYC Career

Family Child Care as a Small Business: Early Care

Getting Men Involved: Kid Safety of America

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen: Program1

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen: Program 2

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen: Program 3

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen: Program 4

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen: Program 5

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen: Program 6

Kid Tips: study strategies for students with learning

Monster in the Closet Childhood Fears: Childcare

My Kid’s #405

New Fathers, New Lives: A video to help men

Record Keeping for the Family Child Care Provider

Right and Wrong and Being Strong, A Kids Guide:

Show Me Math: Attainment’s

Social Skills Strategies: A Social Emotional

Sun Safety: A Growing Health Concern: National

The ABC’s of Secondhand Smoke: Training

Children’s Books:

Baby Boo Soft Book

Bye-Bye, Bully!: A Kid’s Guide for Dealing With

Crocodile Dentist 1 crocodile, instructions:

Poisoning Your Children: The Perils of

Games and Resource Toys

Hi Ho! Cherry-O: cognitive, fine motor, number

Hush Puppy Puppet: social, visual, fine motor

Mouse Trap: cognitive, fine motor game board, 4

Operation Game board w/”Cavity Sam” & tweezers

Pic Nic Table/Easel #2: gross motor, social

Puppy Puppet: visual, fine motor

Upcoming Events at the FRC

Family Coping and Parent Support

Ongoing

The Family Resource Center will be offering an ongoing parenting series for families who want to know about:

- Parenting styles and discipline

- Adult and child temperaments

- Child development

- Family strengths and life transitions

- Family communication

- Community resources

- Basic health and safety

Alice Trujillo will present the training on Thursday evenings, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Family Resource Center at 3539 E. 30th Street (next to the new Burlington Building and across the street from Kiwanis Park). Call 566-3825 to register.

Childcare is not available on site.

Understanding Sexual Predators

September 10

9:00-4:00

Topics in this workshop include theories of rape and child molestations, pedophilias, female abusers, treatment and assessment. This workshop is relevant to programs working with child, adolescent and adult offenders.

Presented by Michael Castenell, LISW

Cost $100 ($50 to Continuum members)

Creating Partnerships with Parents

Nov. 5

9:00-3:00

Emphasize based approach when providing

information, skills and techniques to

caregivers/parents of young children and will

highlight what young children need most –

caregivers nurturing, sensitive, and responsive

to their needs.

Cost - $75.00 ($35 for

Continuum members)who are strengths

Brown Bag Series: Family Support Practice 101

Oct. 6,13,27

Nov. 3 & 10

8:30-10:30

Six part series is an orientation – introductory level training designed to support and enhance the hands-on family advocate/home visitor/liaison to those who desire to enrich and strengthen their skills in working with families. Topics include family centered practice, communication, challenging behaviors and boundaries. Cost $175 ($90 for Continuum members)

All of these trainings are brought to you by the

FRC Family Support Training Program

Contact Alice Trujillo for further you information or to sign up

505-566-3825 or

email trujilloa@sanjuancollege.edu

The Block Corner…

Beyond Transition: Ensuring Continuity in Early Childhood Services

THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC

In the early childhood field, the word TRANSITION is used in many different ways. Traditionally, TRANSITION has been used to describe the period of time that falls between two different types of activities. TRANSITION may also be used to describe the time period in which children move from home to school, from school to after-school activities, from one activity to another within a preschool, or from preschool to kindergarten. In each case, early childhood professionals have been concerned with easing the transition between two different types of activities or environments.

CONTINUITY: A CONCEPT REVISITED
With more and more children participating in early childhood programs before they enter school, there is an increasing focus on the transition that occurs when children move from preschool to kindergarten. Many children have problems adjusting to elementary school programs that have a different philosophy, teaching style, and structure than those programs in which they participated during their earlier years. Transition efforts were designed to help ease the entry into school by preparing both children and families for the differences children will encounter.
But more recently, there has been a growing consensus that the key to effective services for young children is less through bridging the gap between different types of programs, and more through ensuring continuity in certain key elements that characterize all good early childhood programs. This notion of continuity is not new. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, efforts such as Project

Developmental Continuity and Follow-Through were designed to ensure that the
principles of good early childhood programs continued into the early years of elementary school. But today's concept of continuity has changed in several respects. First, there is now much more consensus in the field regarding what constitutes appropriate practice in all types of early childhood programs from infancy through the primary grades. There is also growing recognition that parent involvement is a key to a child's success and should be encouraged as children move on to elementary school. Finally, the need for supportive services for both children and families has intensified. Comprehensive family support and health services are critical components throughout the early years.

TOWARDS CONTINUITY: THREE KEY ELEMENTS
If programs are to provide effective early childhood services throughout children's early years, they must share at least three characteristics: developmentally appropriate practice, parent involvement, and supportive services for children and families.

Developmentally Appropriate Practice…
Continuity across early childhood services is facilitated by the degree to which all programs are developmentally appropriate. Naturally, the setting, age range, and abilities of the children will differ across programs. As children progress from preschool to kindergarten and on to the primary grades, they show increased motor and language skills, they can pay attention longer, they can play more cooperatively, and they are more able to develop interests

that go beyond their immediate surroundings. Throughout the preschool and early elementary years, children learn best through active exploration of their environment and through interactions with adults, other children, and concrete materials that build on earlier experiences.

Programs for young children should not be seen as either play-oriented or academic. Rather, developmentally appropriate practice, whether in a preschool or a primary classroom, should respond to the natural curiosity of young children, reaffirm a sense of self, promote positive dispositions towards learning, and help build increasingly complex skills in the use of language, problem solving, and cooperation.

Parent Involvement…
One hallmark of any successful early childhood program is the degree to which it involves parents. Such involvement should not stop when children reach the schoolhouse door. Good schools for young children welcome family members in ways that go well beyond traditional parent activities such as fundraising and annual parent-teacher conferences. Ongoing communication between parents and teachers has become increasingly important. Parents can be involved as decision makers, volunteers, and staff. They can participate in parent education and support groups, be encouraged to observe the classroom, and, in general, take a more active role in their child's education both at school and at home.

Schools also need to respond to the diversity among families. Parent activities need to be responsive to the language and culture of the family and be tailored to meet specific needs of teen parents, single parents, working parents, blended families, and families with special service needs. Given the increasing number of working parents with young children, employers can be supportive of parent involvement by providing release time for parent participation and by initiating policies that support work and family life.

Supportive Services…
Effective early childhood programs, particularly those for low-income families, need to respond to the comprehensive needs of children and families for health care, child care, and other family supports. Traditionally, schools have not played a role in ensuring that such services are provided. Yet there is a growing recognition that schools are the natural hub for child and family services. New relationships between school and other health and human service providers are emerging as comprehensive services are integrated into public education.

Supportive services that include school and parent representation promote collaborative processes and community development. The uniting of school and community resources and concerns, and the clear recognition of the fact that the school is embedded in its community, sustain healthy environments and contribute greatly to continuity for children and families.

CONCLUSION
Traditional notions of transition, which focus on bridging the gaps between different types of early childhood programs, are changing. Because we now know that young children learn in similar ways throughout the early years, all programs in the community should adhere to developmentally appropriate principles from infancy through the primary grades. In addition, parent involvement, family support, and linkages to health services, which often characterize preschool programs, should continue into the early years of elementary school. It is through the continuity of such services, in and out of the classroom, that we will eventually move beyond a concern for transition and ensure continuous and effective services throughout the early years.

Beyond Transition: Ensuring Continuity in Early Childhood Services
FOR MORE INFORMATION

Behrman, Richard (Ed.). THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN: SCHOOL LINKED SERVICES. Los Altos, California: Center for the Future of Children. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 1992.

Bredekamp, S. (Ed.). DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAMS SERVING CHILDREN FROM BIRTH THROUGH AGE 8. Washington, D.C.: NAEYC, 1987.

Epps, Willie J. "Issues in Strengthening Linkages and the Transitions of Children," NHSA JOURNAL 10 (Winter, 1991): 44-48.

Kagan, Sharon L. "Head Start, Families and Schools: Creating Transitions That Work," NHSA JOURNAL 10 (Winter, 1991): 40-43.

Katz, Lilian G. ENGAGING CHILDREN'S MINDS: THE PROJECT APPROACH. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1989.

Levy, J.E., and Copple, C. JOINING FORCES: A REPORT FROM THE FIRST YEAR. Alexandria, Virginia: National Association of State Boards of Education, 1989.

Lombardi, J. (Ed.). EASING THE TRANSITION FROM PRESCHOOL TO KINDERGARTEN. Washington, D.C.: Administration for Children, Youth and Families, OHDS, USDHHS, 1986. ED 313130.

Melaville, A., and Blank, M. WHAT IT TAKES: STRUCTURING INTERAGENCY PARTNERSHIPS TO CONNECT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES WITH COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES. Washington, D.C.: Education and Human Services Consortium, 1991. ED 330748.

National Association of State Boards of Education. RIGHT FROM THE START. Alexandria, Virginia: National Association of State Boards of Education, 1987.

National Association of State Boards of Education. CARING COMMUNITIES: SUPPORTING YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. Alexandria, Virginia: National Association of State Boards of Education, 1991.

"Position Statement: Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs Serving Children Ages 3 Through 8." YOUNG CHILDREN 46 (March, 1991): 21-38.
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This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under OERI contract no. RI88062012. The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI or the Department of Education.

ERIC Identifier: ED345867
Publication Date: 1992-00-00
Author: Lombardi, Joan
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education Urbana IL.

For more information about the San Juan College Family Resource Center, please contact:

Bellamie DeHerrera-Mason

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Date Last Updated: Sept. 21, 2004