Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/giving-parents-true-power/5021230/
It is an exciting time for our country as the Obama Administration encourages and provides incentives for Early Head Start and child care to forge new partnerships and serve additional vulnerable children and families in their communities. With this increased attention, it is important to shed light on aspects of our work that are not commonly understood, for example, the role of the Policy Council as a central element of quality in Head Start/Early Head Start.Parents enrolling their children in Early Head Start or Head Start are often young, or raising their children alone; often they haven’t completed their own education; nearly all are working to meet their families’ needs while overcoming the many obstacles of poverty. For them, the idea that their right as a parent is to be a teacher and an advocate is transformative. Research and experience have shown that parental involvement, both at home and in the classroom, make a difference for children. Head Start works to imbue every interaction with parents with this idea, and reinforces it by giving parents true power.
Since the founding of Head Start, parent engagement has been a key component, and parents’ right to make decisions about ...