Preschool Roundtable, with GatherRound Consulting
In this week’s episode, we’re pleased to welcome back early education consultants, Kathy Pomer and Sarah Koffler, for a “preschool roundtable” of topics concerning parents and the extended communities of caregivers, educators, mentors, and specialists who provide their children guidance and care.
What questions can parents ask when searching for the right school for their child and family? What answers should they seek? What should they expect from an education or childcare program, and what can those programs reasonably expect from their children? How can parents constructively communicate with their child’s educators, and how should they respond to constructive criticisms of their child’s growth and development?
In a broad discussion of the many issues confronting parents during their child’s early education years, ParentTalk delves into each of these questions, and helps parents identify programs and practices that support the optimal growth and development of their children.
For more on these topics, please visit the previous episodes in our child education series: Choosing a Preschool, 5 Things Every Preschool Teacher Wants Parents to Know, Connecting Home and School, Great Expectations, Pt. 1, and Great Expectations, Pt. 2.
For more on Kathy Pomer and Sarah Koffler, you can visit their consulting and early education advocacy practice, GatherRound Consulting.
“Very often, unwanted behaviors are actually created by the classroom that the child is in. Overcrowded, untrained or poorly trained teachers, very little support from the community or even their directors; people are floundering. And if adults are floundering, a young child isn’t going to be far behind.”
– Susan Glaser
Episode Highlights:
– Preschool Roundtable Topic #1: Handling Unreasonable Expectations and Inappropriate Milestones in Early Education
– Communicating with children’s educators
– Emphasizing learning continuums over averages
– Understanding how early care and education centers evaluate and support children.
– Preschool Roundtable Topic #2: The Epidemic of Preschool Expulsions
– Questions and things to look for when evaluating the fitness of a preschool or early care and education center.
– Questions and things to look for when evaluating the fitness of a preschool or early care and education center.