An Introduction to ECFE

Early Childhood Family Education

Welcome to ECFE!  We are excited that you have enrolled your child in our program!  We would like to take a moment to introduce you to Family Ed.  Each class will follow the same schedule:

45 minutes of Parent-Child interaction time

During this time you are encouraged to spend time playing with your child.  There will be some activities out that your child may choose to do.  These activities may include painting, cutting, markers, crayons, construction paper, play-dough, tape and spray bottles.  You are encouraged to sit with your child at these activities and help them with their project.  These activities all promote the use of fine motor skills (small muscles).  This is important muscle development of the hands.  These are the same muscles that are used in writing.  None of our activities were designed for children to do entirely independently.  As the parent, you need to work with your child and help them in learning how to use these materials appropriately. The teachers are there to assist you in teaching your child these skills. 

Every activity has a purpose that is important for the development of your child in one of the 8 domains of learning:

1.    Language (pre-writing, pre-reading, vocabulary)

2.    Math (patterning, rote counting, graphing, colors and shape recognition, number identification, one-to-one correspondence

3.    Science and Nature (exploring living things i.e. leaves, branches, rocks, grass, snow etc.)

4.    Creative Arts (expressing oneself using the art, music and movement)

5.    Social-Emotional Development (sharing, working with others, listening)

6.  Reasoning and Problem Solving

7.    Gross Motor Skills (using large muscles i.e. running, jumping, walking, skipping, dancing, stretching)

8.   Fine Motor Skills (using small muscles i.e. coloring, cutting, playing with play-dough, squeezing, writing etc.)

Circle Time (10-20 minutes)

       During this time, parents and children are at the carpet and participating in songs, stories and games.  Please be fully engaged with your child during this time.  We are teaching your child several of the 8 domains of learning.  Without your help, we can’t do this. 

Snack Time (10-15 minutes)

       Parents are expected to take turns providing a healthy snack to share with the entire class.  We will share any allergies that we are aware of.  During this time, we are teaching your child to say please and thank you, sit nicely, wait patiently, make choices etc.  Parents are more than welcome to stay until their child is set up at the table.  Separation issues are very common at this time.  We will help you to work through them as they arise. 

Parent Talk Time (30 Minutes)

       Once your child is set up with a snack, you go back to the parent ed. room with our parent educator.  Your child(ren) will stay back with the child educator and para.  During parent ed. time you will discuss various topics that are pertinent to raising children.  If you have concerns that you would like addressed, please feel free to share those concerns.