EC218 Developing Family Partnerships

Syllabus

Bay Mills Community College
COURSE NUMBER: EC218
COURSE TITLE: Developing Family Partnerships
COURSE DURATION: Fifteen weeks from date started.
CREDITS: 4
PRE-REQUISITES: EN101 or (EN111and EN112), and EC105

INSTRUCTOR: Sandi A. King, BSN, RN, CLC

Tel: 906-647- 2052 (primary) or 906- 440-6651 (cell #)
***PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE IF I DO NOT ANSWER ***
Fax: 906-635-3706
E-mail: beaglelovermom@hughes.net

Hello and a very warm welcome to my class! I am looking forward to this sharing and learning experience with you and am available on an as needed basis via email, fax, or phone if you have questions or comments about the course content or assignments.

Course Description:
This course is designed to give students the essential partnership building skills that contribute to Head Start's overall effectiveness as a supportive, family centered community program. Students will learn about critical roles they will play as an Early Childhood worker, both individually and as part of team interactions with families, as well as gain knowledge and skills necessary to promote and sustain supportive partnerships. Topics covered will include: cultural awareness, development of individualized Family Partnership Agreements, identification and implementation of family centered goals, strengths and support, follow-up and tracking, comprehensive and confidential record keeping, as well as skills encompassing personalized attention, mutual respect, trust, acceptance, and flexibility. 

Course Objectives:  
Expected Outcomes: Graduates of the Bay Mills Community College Early Childhood Family Partnerships emphasis area will possess the skills to work with families and on the behalf of families in the local community.

Outcome Measures: Upon successful completion of their coursework, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the process for setting family goals and planning based on the strengths, needs, and interests of the parents to foster a relationship of mutual trust.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of the Family Partnership process and an ability to complete an individualized Family Partnership Agreement with parents.
  3. Identify and access community services and resources available to assist parents in meeting goals and needs of the family, as well as identifying resources to assist pregnant women, children, and families to meet the individual needs of families, children, and/or children with disabilities, mental health issues or special needs.
  4. Plan parent involvement and educational activities that are responsive to the ongoing and expressed needs of the parents as individuals and as members of a group.
  5. Support parent involvement in community advocacy and support parents in their role as active community members.
  6. Demonstrate an understanding of early childhood development and early childhood education practices.
  7. Demonstrate understanding/sensitivity to ensure that interactions with families are respectful of each family’s diversity, culture, and ethnic background.
  8. Work in collaboration with community partners.
  9. Demonstrate an understanding of the home visiting process.
  10. Demonstrate knowledge of health standards/requirements.
  11. Communicate with teaching staff issues that need to be shared as a way to better serve children and families.
  12. Maintain confidentiality.

BMCC Policies:
All students please review the following policies and procedures

Student Handbook : (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/index.html).
Drop or Add a Class : (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/index.html#course).
Book Refund and Book BuyBack Policies:(http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/vbookstore.html)
Billing or an outstanding bill: (http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/billingProcedures.html).
Information about class schedules and transcripts:(http://www.bmcc.edu/StudentServices1/Handbook/transcripts.html).



Resources:
You will need a copy of:

* Creating Partnerships With Parents: An Educators Guide. Donald C. Lueder, 2000. ISBN#0810839261
   (may be obtained through Bay Mills Community College Online Bookstore).

* Head Start Handbook of the Parent Involvement Vision and Strategies ISBN# CAT. #7
  (may be obtain through Bay Mills Community College Online Bookstore).

* Early Head Start Program Strategies: The Family Partnership Agreement Process
  (may be obtain through Bay Mills Community College Online Bookstore).

* VIDEO: “Partnership with Parents”. ISBN# CAT.# 910 (may be obtain through Bay Mills Community College-Contact John Lindsay).

* A Guide to Culturally Sensitive Care: Program for Infant/Toddler Caregiving. CDE PRESS. ISBN # 001057
  (may be obtain through Bay Mills Community College Online Bookstore).

* National Training Guides: Abstracts Additional reading for the class from:
  Head Start Information & Publication Center

* Training Guides for the Head Start Learning Community: (Use the following links)

Family Partnerships: A Continuous Process
A Design for Family Support
Communicating with Parents
Building on Success
Supporting Families in Crisis
Supporting Children with Challenging Behaviors: Relationships Are Key
Supporting Family Learning
Engaging Parents
Safety First: Preventing & Managing Childhood Injuries
Designing Parenting Education
Building Supportive Communities
Effective Transition Practices: Facilitating Continuity
Transitions: Parents Are Key
Partners in Decision Making
Setting the Stage: Including Children with Disabilities in Head Start
Enhancing Parent Involvement: Staff Development Training for Building Family Partnerships

* Head Start Performance Standards - #1304.1 – 1304.60

* Supplemental Resource Information - National Training Guides Abstracts

APA AND ATTACHMENTS:

Your formal written assignments require APA format. Please send all assignments as attachments. This applies to all weekly assignments submitted.

* All formal assignments and papers will need to be done as follows:
*Title at top of page and page number at bottom of page, both centered including your initials at the top right side of the page
*12 point font in either Arial or Times New Roman
*1" margins (top, bottom, left, right)
* Prepare all assignments in Microsoft Word “ONLY.”
* Save your work as a ".doc" file (this is the MS Word default file type).
* To send an attachment click on attachment icon in email document
   (looks like a paperclip or go to insert and choose file – go find your file and click insert button).
* Type in a subject line that includes the name of the assignment and your initials.
* Send assignment.
*I will accept assignments faxed to me at the number listed above as well.
*I will accept assignments faxed to me at the number listed above as well.

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS:

Each weekly session will be comprised of:

* Reading assignment(s)
* Lesson Learning Activity(s)
* Definitions or Resources

Lesson Activities:
Most of the weekly lessons include miscellaneous activities designed to assist you with becoming proficient in locating resources and information relating to the different topic areas. These are included under the weekly assignment, and the point values for each activity are indicated after each assignment. Simply follow the directions given for that activity.

Definitions:
Definitions are to be compiled into a microsoft document, in alphabetical order, for you to have as a reference guide. This document will need to be submitted in the 15th week.

Resources:
The intention of the resources compiled throughout the 15 weeks will be to prepare a resource guide you can use in the communities you are currently working with. If you do not plan to stay in the community you are working in once you graduate, this resource guide can be left behind for future staff to utilize. This resource guide will need to submitted in the 15th week in a pamphlet format, as if you were going to give it to a family or leave it in community agencies. If you are familiar with Microsoft Publisher this will be an acceptable program to create and submit the assignment, otherwise you may use Microsoft Word. This resource guide will need to submitted in the 15th week in a pamphlet or booklet format, as if you were going to give it to a family or leave it in community agencies. If you are familiar with Microsoft Publisher this will be an acceptable program to create and submit the assignment, otherwise you may use Microsoft Word or Word Perfect.

***SAVE EACH ASSIGNMENT IN YOUR COMPUTER AND ALSO KEEP A PAPER COPY***, in the event that your assignment is not received by the instructor and needs to be submitted again. Keep all documentation of assignments, quizzes, correspondence, etc., until you have completed the course and your final grade has been posted by the College.

Grading Scale:

Students must earn a "70" or better to receive credit for this course.
A94 - 100%C74 - 76%
A- 90 - 93% C- 70 - 73%
B+ 87 - 89% D+ 67 - 69%
B 84 - 86% D 64 - 66%
B- 80 - 83% D- 60 - 63%
C+ 77 - 79% F 00 - 59

Completing the Course:

This is a 15-week course. You may complete the course at your own rate, however, all lesson assignments and the final exam, Resource Guide, Definitions Paper, and FPA, Follow-up Plan, and Family Map MUST be completed within the required 15 weeks. Students who fail to complete the course within the required 15 weeks will have their grade decreased by one letter grade per week, for each week past the 15th week. This will help to make the grading system fair to those students who get their work done on time. An extension may be granted of up to 5 weeks based on individual need/circumstance and will need to be discussed and approved by instructor prior to completing the end of Lesson 7.

For a Lesson to be considered "complete," means your instructor must have received your lesson discussion questions, assignments, and resources, responded to you with your grade results, and recorded your grade. If at any time you are in doubt as to whether your assignment was received by the instructor please send an e-mail inquiry. Keep your response from the instructor as documentation.

Anti-Virus Protection:

If you do not already have your computer protected by up-to-date anti-virus software, you are strongly encouraged to visit http://www.grisoft.com/, and download the latest version of AVG anti-virus protection. This will not only protect your computer from viruses that may be transmitted via other students' e-mails to me, it will protect my computer, other students, and the entire College from any viruses that may attach themselves to your e-mails. AVG is free, and will automatically update itself weekly if you select that option. This will help to protect all of us from all those nasty viruses out there.

Remember:

If at any time during the completion of this course you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me for guidance. I will be available to assist you however I can. If I do not get back to you for a day or two after you send me a communication or leave me a message please do not worry, I will make sure to check my email and voice messages on a daily basis. I hope that this course will give you the foundation for building successful family and community partnerships and the experience of finding the resources available to help you effectively build these partnerships to assist the families you will be serving in your early childhood career.


TRANSFER POTENTIAL:
Bay Mills Community College is a fully accredited institution. The credits earned in this course may be applicable to an Associates in Arts degree in Families and Children offered by other institutions. But every college sets its own transfer policies. Before any student takes this course planning to transfer the credits to another college, they should check with the registrar of their college to make sure the credits can be transferred.


Information about Early Childhood Education Advisor.

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