ECD 62 – Child, Family & Community Tuesday and Thursday 11:00am-12:15pm Spring 2008

Zina Rosen-Simon Phone 424-1178 Office 1314 Office Hours Mon. 10:30am-12:00pm Tues. 12:30pm-1:30pm Wed. 10:30am-12:00pm Thurs. 12:30pm-1:30pm [email protected] additional office hours available by appointment Catalog Description: Patterns of family living in contemporary society, including the varying roles and interactions of family members; demographic, socio-cultural, racial and economic; factors affecting family life, relationship of the family to early care and education and to community resources. 3 units

Course Requirements: 1. Class participation and group work are an integral part of the course and will be reflected in the grading. Points will be given for contributions during group work done in class. Students can earn points for being present during group work and by contributing to the discussion, work process, and results. 2. Complete all assigned readings on time. 3. Complete all written and oral assignments by the due date. Papers handed in late will be penalized 20% for each class session beyond due date. 4. The midterm is worth 15 points. It can be made up within 5 days, but will be worth only 50% of the points earned. 5. It is your responsibility to find out what you have missed if you were absent. Identify a buddy who can share with you the information of what transpired in your absence. If you decide to drop the class, you are responsible for officially dropping with admissions and records. The instructor is not responsible for dropping you from the class even after repeated absences. 6. All assignments must be typed. 7. Plagiarism will result in a zero for the assignment. You will also be required to meet with the Dean of Student Services to discuss potential consequence of this infraction.

Text: The Child in the Family and the Community by Janet Gonzalez-Mena Supplemental Readings: will be passed out in class or, if specified, be in the library on reserve. Grading: 112-125 pts. = A 100-111 pts. = B 87-99 pts. = C 75-86 pts. = D less than 75 pts. = F

Point Values for Assignments

Assignment Point A Look at Myself Paper………………………..15 pts. Newspaper Reading……………………………. 5 pts. Midterm…………………………………………15 pts. Cultural Interview………………………………15 pts. Children’s Books………………………………. 5 pts. Resource Agency Report……………………….10 pts. Group Presentation Multicultural Curriculum….35 pts. Final…………………………………………….15 pts. Class Participation……………………………...15 pts. 130 pts. total

A Rubric/grading scale will be provided prior to each assignment to delineate the quality of work needed to obtain points for varying aspects of the assignment.

Midterm and Final

The midterm and final questions will require short answers. The content will be from the text, lectures, discussions, presentations, audio visual materials and assigned readings.

The midterm and final are worth 15 points each CLASS TOPIC/S COMPLETED ASSIGNMENTS Jan. 22nd Review Syllabus & Assignment Jan. 24th Historical Perspective - Societal Influences Effecting Children Jan. 29th Socialization from the Ecological st Jan. 31 Perspective - Urie Brofenbrenner Have Read : Handout Ecology of the Child The Best Daycare There Ever Was th Feb. 5 Attachment- Development of Sense of Self Chapter 1 Feb. 7th Self Esteem

Feb. 12th Autonomy/Social Competence Chapter 2 Feb. 14th No Class - Faculty Flex Day th Feb. 19 Family Image A “LOOK AT MYSELF” PAPER st Feb. 21 Ecology of Family and Socialization Chapter 3 Feb. 26th Initiative- Ecology of School and Teaching Chapter 4 Feb. 28th Quality Education / Ecology of Childcare Mar. 4th The Media Chapter 5 Mar. 6th Group Work - Community Issues Reflected NEWSPAPER READING & in Newspapers Chapter 6 Mar. 11th MIDTERM EXAM MIDTERM EXAM Mar. 13th Teaching the Global Community Chapter 7 th Mar. 18 Creating Community Chapter 8 th Mar. 20 Cultural Interview Discussion CULTURAL INTERVIEW DUE & Chapter9

3/25 & 3/27 NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK st April 1 Anti Bias Curriculum TWO CHILDREN’S BOOKS rd April 3 Multicultural Perspectives PRESENTED & Chapter 10 and 11 April 8th Community Resources Chapter 12 April 10th Community Agency Report Shared COMMUNITY AGENCY REPORT April 15th Poverty & Homelessness Chapter 13 April 17th Children with HIV Chapter 14 April 22nd Abuse Chapter15 April 24th Children with Special Needs Chapter 16 April 29th Advocacy PRESENT: MULTICULTURAL GROUP PROJECT May 1st Present Your Groups Multicultural PRESENT: MULTICULTURAL Research and Classroom Emersion GROUP PROJECT May 6th Present Your Groups Multicultural PRESENT: MULTICULTURAL Research and Classroom Emersion GROUP PROJECT May 8th Present Your Groups Multicultural PRESENT: MULTICULTURAL Research and Classroom Emersion GROUP PROJECT May 29th FINAL Thursday May 29th 9:30-11:20am *Required reading will also include the articles that are assigned throughout the semester A “Look at Myself” Paper This will be an essay in narrative format describing your “life” and paying special attention to: Part 1 – Address in paragraph for questions 1-10 1. your family’s cultural background (celebrations/traditions) 2. your family’s values – and how were they taught 3. your family dynamics, the relationship and roles of the varying family members 4. societal influences on your family, economics, education, political influences

Consider: 5. How has your life as a child, a student, and an adult has been altered by any or all of these influences? 6. Are you proud of your background? 7. Are you defensive about it? 8. Will you continue your heritage when or if you have children? 9. How might this background influence your work with children in a early care and education setting? 10. Does recognition of your past experiences make you more or less open to differences among the children and families that you might serve?

Alternative Approach to questions If you do not have a strong cultural background or clearly defined family values or an understanding of the family dynamics, discuss how this has affected you. What will you do if and when you have children? What other factors in your upbringing will contribute to your work with children? Consider these and other situations resulting from your family’s influence when doing your essay.

To gain some insight into your heritage possibly you could ask elderly members of your family some questions. .

Part 2 - Conclusion 11. After reflecting on your upbringing state your “sincere” feeling toward multicultural education and/or the incorporation of the recognition of family diversity within the classroom.

If any part of this assignment is too personal, painful, or just plain private, you have every right to omit portions from your typed report, BUT, please think about those issues and how they will enhance or interfere with your sensitivity to others, especially the children that you will be teaching.

15 points total: 11 points for thorough answers that address all of the questions 4 points for organization, spelling, grammar and neatness 4

Newspaper Reading Read any article from the community newspaper that relates to children and families. Clip the article and turn it in to me with your name, and a paragraph of why you think the information contained within the article is relevant to children and/or families.

On the date noted in your syllabus share with the class the key information contained within the article. Do not read your summary but just capture the key relevant points.

Use a paperclip to attach the article to your summary because we will be using the article for a group activity within class.

You can present two additional articles for a possible 2 pts each. (potentially 4 extra credit points)

All extra credit articles must be turned on March 6 th no exceptions

Midterm and Final

The midterm and final questions will require short answers. The content will be from the text, lectures, discussions, presentations, audio visual materials and in assigned readings.

The midterm and final are worth 15 points each

5 Cultural Interview You will turn in a typed presentation of your interview with a person of a culture different than your own. This person will preferably be from a different country of origin or someone of a different race. Ask questions about his or her family, and upbringing. Ask him or her about childhood and school experiences that have contributed to the person that he/she have become.

You can identify the person by his/her real name or an alias can be used. This paper is not about people in general from that culture but is specifically about the person you interviewed. Aspects to include: -Roles of family members; father, mother, children, grandparents. -Did they have extended family - explain? -What type of discipline was used and who provided primary guidance? -How were the children cared for and who cared for them? -What were the family values and how were they taught? -Who was responsible for the family income? -How was education viewed by the family? -How were special events celebrated? -How were religion and politics handled by the family? -How were people from other cultures viewed by the family? -What was the economic status of the family? -Has this person ever felt unaccepted by others in America? If so, how? -In this person’s opinion how can teachers and child care providers help children from different cultures and minority populations feel more a part of our society? -Talk to this person about their cultural traditions and ask him or her what is being done to preserve these traditions? Generate three questions of your own to ask the interviewee.

Cultural Interview - 15 points total: 10 points for thorough answers that address all of the questions 3 points for the questions created and thorough responses 2 points for organization, spelling, grammar, and neatness

6 Children’s Books: Bring to class two (2) children’s books which illustrate other cultures or books that focus on children who are facing difficult family situations such as their parents divorce, prison stay, substance abuse, or a disability… The book should be appropriate for a children who is somewhere between 2 and 8years of age. . To be turned in: type the author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, and a short description of the books. Orally you will share the books with the class. You may read all or part of the books or tell about them. 5 point total: 2 points for your choice of books fitting the assignment requirements 2 point for the presentation 1 points for the bibliographical information

Resource Agency Report: Each of you will be selecting an agency to investigate. You will sign up in class. You are expected to visit and research the agency. On letter size paper you will type the following information: What are the services provided? What are the requirements for receiving these services? How many staff members are employed and what is the training of the staff? How much do the services cost? What is the need for this service in the community? Please share any other aspect of the agency’s service which interests you. Bring to class any brochures, flyers …or other publications that are available. Ask three questions that you have created and share their responses in your report also. You will also give an oral report about the agency that you visited and researched. 10 points total: 7 points for content, organization, and thoroughly addressing questions in the written report 3 points for classroom presentation providing handouts and sharing information about the agency

7 Multicultural Curriculum: You will work within an assigned group for this activity. I will be giving you the cultural background of a family whose child will be attending your program. Your group will develop a curricular environment that will show respect for this child’s heritage. Think about the physical environment that would be welcoming to this family. You will be providing curriculum that is reflective of the family’s culture. Your research will help determine the activities that you will choose to offer in areas such as art, music, dramatic play, games, cooking, group time, field trips and language experiences. Examples of what will be used and displayed in the physical environment will also be required. What experiences can you provide that might be reflective of the culture of that country. You will be providing varied ideas that will be incorporated throughout the year as an integral part of the ongoing life of the classroom and not just as a token way of incorporating culture.

Assignment – Part 1 1. Each group will turn in one report with contributions from each group member. 2. It will begin with a one page general summary of information acquired about the people and culture of that country. Information that may be relevant to working with the child and his or her family. (Customs, values, historical influences) Include one to two community resources that may assist you in learning about the country or culture. 3. In addition, each group member is to provide a one page summary of the resources that they read to learn about the culture that relates to the area of curriculum that they will be presenting in class. Interviewing a person from this country could count as one resource. This is important so that the experiences that you provide are authentic and children come away with a broader true understanding of others. A bibliography is required for this and at least three references are required. Please cite your references in MLA style. 4. Each member will then include a minimum of three curriculum ideas for the area of curriculum that they are presenting. Include your objectives, the materials required and how they may be presented.

Part 2 - In class you will show and demonstrate your curriculum. 1. As a group you will depict curriculum that you will integrated throughout your classroom that is reflective of the family’s culture? -Each person will share a minimum of three ideas for the area of curriculum that they are presenting that can be incorporate into an early childhood classroom. It will be presented both orally and visually. -Each group member will carry out or demonstrate one activity with the class. 2. Each group member will provide a typed copy of the ideas that they presented for each class member. 3. You are encouraged to work as a team as you would in a child care setting to develop curriculum that would be sensitive to children and families from the country/culture that you are representing. Your activities will be evaluated based on your resourcefulness and to your consideration in portraying the culture in a respectful authentic way.

8 Multicultural Curriculum Report grading: General Research of culture relevant to classroom environment/curriculum 3 points

Curricular ideas that are respectful and authentic 5 points

Curriculum ideas include objectives, materials, and potential methods to enhance the environment and children’s experiences 10 points

Organization, grammar, and spelling 2 points

Oral Presentation: Knowledge conveyed about the culture especially related to their area of curriculum 3 points

Sharing (through visuals and real items and experiences) authentic ways to portray culture through appropriate classroom opportunities for young children 10 points

Clarity, aesthetics and organization of presentation. 2 points

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