CHAPTER 2
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FAMILIES
OUTLINE
I. Emotional Supports for Families with Children Who Have Disabilities
A. The Need for Professionals to Respect Families
B. The Need for Emotional Support
II. Parental Reactions: Dealing with Grief and Other Feeling States
D. Depression and Discouragement
E. Adaptation and Adjustment
F. A Father’s Perspective
G. Transitions
III. The Family as a System
IV. Extended Family and Sibling Needs and Reactions
A. Siblings
V. Parents as Team Members
VI. Options for Family Engagement
A. A Continuum
B. What Fathers Say About Their Involvement
VII. Partnering with Culturally Diverse Families
A. Cultural Models and Child-Rearing Practices
B. Language Differences
C. Parents’ Expectations of the Preschool Curricula
VIII. Working with Special Family Populations
A. Immigrant Families
IX. Understanding the Impact of Poverty
A. Homelessness
X. Summary
XI. Apply and Adapt
ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS AND VOCABULARY
Active listening
Coaching
Empowered (empowerment)
Extended family subsystem
Family-centered practice
Family functions
Family interactions
Family life cycle
Family resources
DISCUSSION TOPICS AND ACTIVITIES
2. Make a list of the public and private institutions in your area whose purpose is to help families of children
3. Visit and, if possible, volunteer in your local family resource center.
4. Review and discuss why parents may feel fearful about their meetings with center personnel. What can
professionals do to help relieve these feelings?
6. Develop a questionnaire that you can use to determine the interests and needs of parents for parent
involvement. Try it out on a few parents. Compare it with that of classmates and revise when necessary.
8. As a class, discuss issues of confidentiality, privileged communication, and conversation in the teacher’s
ACTIVITY: UNDERSTANDING FAMILIES’ EMOTIONAL REACTIONS
You Will Need:
3 post-its per student
available writing instruments
Directions for the Activity:
Ask the students to take 2 post-its and a writing instrument.
Tell the students that you are going say a statement and that they should quickly write down the first
answer that comes into their head.
Have them write what immediately comes to mind.
ACTIVITY: PARTNERING WITH FAMILIES
Directions for going deeper into the topic of partnering with families:
Students will first read pages 38–39.
In this section, students will read and summarize two articles that interest them.
Come prepared to share the following information about the articles in small groups of 3 to 4 students
during class time.
Next, each group can share out to the whole class some of the highlights about partnering with families that
they discussed.
COURSE ASSIGNMENT
Cultural Model Essay Rubric Grading Sheet
Assignment directions:
In order to acknowledge and understand the diversity of childrearing beliefs and practices among families, students
must first acknowledge and understand their own beliefs and practices about childrearing. Exploring and analyzing
Essay will consist of the following:
Discuss the historical and current situation related to the roles the following values about childrearing play in your
life. Discuss how these topics do or do not influence you today and how they might have an effect on your work
with diverse families. Keep in mind staying focused on relevant information concerning the implications for your
work with young children and their families.
History: family history of ethnic origin, language (s), geography and immigration ____
Discipline approaches ____
Attitudes towards disability ____
Conclusion:
Bring it all together. Summarize how your cultural model has helped you to reflect on the influences of
Rubric:
A
Exceeds standards
B
Meets standards
F
Below standards
Exceeds Standards
Meets standards
Below standards
__Essay shows a deep level of
thinking, reflection, and risk-taking
__Essay is thoughtful and has some
evidence of risk-taking
__Essay is mostly “surface level”
and lacks thoughtfulness
__Thoroughly and thoughtfully
discussed each value above
__Adequately discussed each value
above
__Discussed values are vague,
surface level or are incomplete
__Discussion always focused on
implications of work with diverse
families
__Discussion focused on
implications of work with diverse
families most of the time
__Discussion sometimes focused on
implications of work with diverse
families.
__Historical and current situations
were discussed all the time
__Historical and current situations
were discussed most of the time
__Historical and current situations
were discussed some of the time
__Conclusion tied to personal
growth and shows commitment to
develop as a teacher
__Some evidence of risk-taking and
thought to personal growth is
evident in the conclusion
__Lacks evidence of commitment to
personal growth and the conclusion
C
Majority meet standards; some below standards
D
A few meet standards; some below standards