b>ANOKA, Minn. – (May 7, 2015) – The school year is coming to an end. But, in school districts across the state, learning begins well before Kindergarten. More than 100,000 children and their parents take advantage of early childhood programs in their school district, which bring in families with for classes, playtime, activities, and more.
“Children need to be ages birth up to kindergarten. They spend part of the time playing in the classroom. There are all kinds of fun activities to do; we have painting, we have Play-Doh, we have a sensory table and with really creative teachers you never know what’s going to be inside those things,” said Jody Bordwell from Anoka-Hennepin ECFE.
Program and classes start for children right after birth and continue up until the child starts kindergarten, when they move into the k-12 program. Part of the reason why the classes are so popular is for the parents to learn about normal child development.
“Kids don’t come with instructions but what we provide is a partnership with parents. You know your specific child or children the best, but we know children. Our staff, for example, have seen thousands of preschoolers. How many of us can say we’ve seen hundreds or thousands of babies and toddlers? So between what you know about your child and what we know about children in general and what we know about the research about parent education, that’s what ECFE is all about,” said Marilee Christensen-Adams from Anoka-Hennepin ECFE.
In most of the classes, after some playtime with both the parents and children, the parents leave the room to learn about a specific topic while their children continue to have fun with the staff.
Families pay for the classes on a sliding scale, depending on what they can afford. In addition to the class fees, ECFE is funded through grants, state aid and levies. “We are extremely fortunate. ECFE is the only one of its kind program across the nation and Minnesota is the only place that has it,” said Bordwell.
Parents seem to enjoy the learning, and also enjoy the time to connect with other parents. As ECFE has grown in the Anoka-Hennepin District, they have added a special class just for dads.
“This is a new class we started running this year because we were finding out that dads don’t necessarily work during the day. So we have dads who are stay at home dads, we have dads who are coming who work a different shift or different day, so this is their time to be with their child and spend doing the activities that we have set up in the room,” said Bordwell.
And while the kids seem to enjoy the playtime with their peers and their parents, the classes have benefits for moms and dads to learn about basic milestones and connect with others who may have similar questions.
“What kids and adults need is just human contact, human relationships, learning in contexts. We can all learn something from the internet but it’s powerful when it’s in relationship. So when you break that isolation, you come to a class, you learn that you’re not alone when your toddler is having a tantrum,” said Christensen-Adams.
Parents of children in ECFE have documented understanding their child better, communicating more clearly with their child and having better relationships with people who can provide them with support. In addition to the parental benefits, kindergarten teachers say that it is very clear which students have been involved in early learning.
“They can tell which children have been involved in activities where they have to follow other people, follow the rules, they’re learning to follow directions, building confidence in themselves so when they go off to school they’re like I know what this is, I can do this,” says Bordwell.
Along with that, 98 percent of parents say that participating in ECFE classes has improved their parenting.
“Our goal is to help children get ready for kindergarten, to help parents know development about children; none of these kids come with manuals,” says Bordwell.
As school districts partner with parents, together they help prepare the children for a lifetime of learning. “The research is very clear about parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. Secondly, learning begins at birth. So who, as a parent, doesn’t want to know and do the very best for their kids,” says Christensen-Adams.
ECFE classes are available in school districts across the state.
Related Links:
Anoka-Hennepin ECFE
Spring Lake Park ECFE
Centennial ECFE
