Blog 4: Observing and Interacting With Families of the Children in Your Settin

This week I observed in the three's classroom.  There is a little guy in the room that has some language delays and is also having difficulty interacting with his peers.  His social interaction or lack there of is concerning to his teachers and his parents.  He seems to be in his own little world and goes from area to area without truly engaging in any activity.  He will go and work with one of the teachers when he is called but other than that he simple wonders around the room.  I asked his teachers about this and they stated that they have had several conversations with the parents about his behavior.  The parents are saying that he is just behind in his language development.  The teachers are not sure this is the case and have asked the Preschool Directors to observe him and see what their opinion is.
The Directors have also noticed his behavior and feel that it is more than just a language delay.  They had spoken to the parents about their concerns at the beginning of the year but the parents wanted to wait and see how his behavior progressed.  The teachers and directors have now decided that they will watch him and make sure to write down what they are observing so that when conferences come up in a few weeks they will have some more information about his behavior for the parents.  They are also going to suggest that he be screened by the local early childhood development center to see if they can see any concerning behavior.
I was glad to hear that they had discussed their concerns with the directors and his parents.  This way all the people involved in his care were aware that there were concerns.  His teachers are truly concerned that his behavior has not really changed throughout the year but because his parents wanted to wait, they kept working with him and keeping his parents informed if something happened that was out of the ordinary.
The preschool directors and teachers although they felt that he needed to be assessed earlier in the year chose to respect the parents wishes.  They are quite confident that at the next conference which is in a few weeks that they parents will be able to see that he needs further assessment and set up a time for him to be seen by the early childhood specialist that deal with behavior issues and social/emotional development that may be outside the realm of expertise of the preschool staff.
There have been many different times during my observations at the preschool that I have heard teachers and parents working together to be advocates for the children.  I have witnessed it with a little guy that was having a difficult time with social interaction and the teachers suggested a speech evaluation because they thought the behavior might be stemming from frustration.  He is now getting speech once a week at the preschool.  
As far as the atmosphere for advocacy in the preschool I see it all over.  The teachers are planning and implementing lessons that are developmentally appropriate, they observe and assess as they are interacting with the children.  They are also very good about interacting with the parents and discussing any concerns they may have or just let them know about something their child had done that made them smile.