The community library education resource is a very important resource for families and educators. It has various types of books, artwork stories, and pictures that can be used by children and educators to enhance learning in children. Exposure of children to the library enhances critical thinking skills, creative and social skills in children. This will also promote early literacy skills. It has alphabet books that will help young learners to be able to count and learn names. Counting books help the learner to count and recognize numbers. The presence of oversized books will help learners to be able to handle books and identify the various features of books. The library has special programs such as storytelling hours in the evening. Parents can also join their children in finger plays, songs rhymes, and other activities that can be continued at home. For the ages of 3 to 5 years, children require activities that are enjoyable and fun at the same time learning important skills. The library offers events such as reading aloud, storytelling, puppet shows, films; arts and crafts and other breading activities. The library corner will help young learners to critical think and also become creative. Reading of both fictional and non-fictional stories will help the children to develop listening skills and improve literacy. According to Wardle, toddlers that are 18 to 36 months are at a stage that they are learning language skills and therefore should have these activities in the library and then this extended home for enhanced learning (Wardle 2013). The books in the library will definitely answer most of the questions that children often ask and also teach the basics of life such as hand washing, riding bicycles, swimming among many other different activities. The library is also a store for audio and video cassettes of different children songs and stories including informative cartoons including educational toys such as stuffed animals and puppets.
The rationale for this resource is to teach the children to love and appreciate books and literature from a young age. These books and resources will definitely provide answers to most of their questions. It is at the library that the children will learn important literacy skills such as letter recognition, reading is done from left to right, language patterns, that the written word can come alive as talk when reading and other important skills. It will also center the learning process on the family where parents and members of the family are actively involved in the learning process of the child.
It is important to use and encourage parents to ensure they take their children to the library from an early age so that they can start interacting with books and the learning environment even before they go to school and enhance the learning of the above skills that are vital for learning. Children also engage in social interactions with others in the library. Grant and Ray explain that, appropriate games and puzzles also help the children to develop dexterity and spatial skills Grant and Ray,2015). As parents are encouraged to take books home from the library then children can have meaningful learning in the absence of television at home. These activities will reduce the time taken by the child watching television which usually promotes aggressive behavior among other vices the child may be exposed to. Materials obtained from the library will help parents at home introduce their children to wholes language and cognitive abilities through real-life interactions which television does not provide. A library will, therefore, provide a family-centered approach to education where there are better communication, supportive relationships and consistent behavior expectations for the child
The Resources for Early Learning (Brain Building in Progress) http://resourcesforearlylearning.org
This virtual resource is good for parents and I would recommend that parents use it from zero years of age onwards. It has lessons to be done for each age group depending on the level of development and age. For example, math activates for 0-33 months would start by counting your fingers and toes, play during bathing, or even stacking to help the child learn. Activities such as cooking can be used as learning opportunities to count and even when packing for picnics. These activities will help develop cognitive skills and nurture secure attachment of the children to the parents and others during the learning process.This resource has activities and tips to be used in the home environment to teach music, dancing, science, talking and listening to writing and drawing. All these learning activities and lessons are organized from birth to 33 months, to begin with. According to Votruba-Drzal this approach enhances communication and values and beliefs in the family and the community as a child grows in harmony with the education curriculum (Votruba-Drzal 2017). Then learning activities for children who are 3-5 years are categorized together and include activities such as learning with the help of family and friend s, plants and water, building houses and ramps and rolling among many activities
The objective of this is to inform parents and care givers on how to help the child to develop cognitive, social skills and emotional intelligence in a family and communal enviroment. The child will be able to develop autonomy and have good emotional development from interactions with others in the activities outlined in the resource. Short playlist videos are accessible to the children for all the topics on the website to enhance learning that has occurred in a real environment. The resource also has videos for both first time and veteran parents to learn more about parenting in an informative and interesting approach. This resource is comprehensive as it can also be used to train parents and educators to enhance the lessons that were learned at home by the child and therefore increase reinforcement and learning to fill any gaps that may have occurred in the process of learning.
This learning resource will be used by parents to empower children to develop initiative in socially appropriate ways. When children learn through outdoor activities such as picnics with the family they learn risk-taking, exploration and get fine and motor development. They also learn firsthand much about the world around them.
As an educator I will use resource in the learning of the children and all parents encouraged accessing the resource for use at home. To encourage parents to fully participate in all the learning processes outline for each age group to enhance smooth and continued learning from home to school without discord. The teachers that will be teaching these young ones will be trained through the same resource for effective teaching and learning to occur. In this family-centered approach resource, the child will learn to relate to the family and the community positive and responsibly
Victoria State Government Education and Training Resource (http://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood)
This resource is valuable for educators and parents as it includes all the areas of learning that are offered in the growing process of children and their learning needs.it also provides an area for training and supporting caregivers and educationists. Although developed for the Australian education system, it is applicable throughout the world. It’s quite comprehensive and details and therefore suitable for parents and educators to search for any topic depending on the age of the child. It also provides step by step learning requirements of children depending on age and how the parent can handle the learning and teaching process. This resource creates a link between the parents to educators and the learners to ensure there is continued learning from home to school.
The rationale here is that Learning is made fun through the activities to be undertaken by the parents and their children then extended to the school environment. The resource also highlights how educators can help parents to teach their children at home with an emphasis on the provision of learning needs of the child both at home and at the school. Nurturing secure attachments in early care and education programs are encouraged in this resource
This resource is suitable for an educator as it provides an educator with a platform to improve career needs through training. Educators will be able to help parents and caregivers to assist the young children in self-control and understanding autonomy. There is information on how an educator can improve skills and capabilities in the teaching professions. It also highlights the role of the government in the provision of education for all learning levels which is common to most governments in the developed countries. Educators also have links with other education support services providers and can, therefore, be able to advise parents according to the needs of the child. This resource will be accessed by educators to learn and implement their skills in the education of young children. Additional links provided will be used for further research by the educationist to acquire more information in this profession and apply in their setup and place of work.
References
Wardle, F. (2013). Collaboration with families and communities. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Grant, K. B., & Ray, J. (2015). Home, school, and community collaboration: Culturally responsive family engagement.
Votruba-Drzal, E. (2017). Handbook of early childhood development programs, practices, and policies. Wiley-Blackwell.
