In the world of education, there is an acronym for everything. School staff may get used to tossing around terms like PBIS, ECFE, CIT, PLC, or a myriad of other combinations of letters, but many community members may not always know exactly what is behind the letters.
ECFE stands for Early Childhood Family Education and is a program that has been serving Minnesota families since the 1980s with services provided by local school districts across the state. ECFE programs provide comprehensive educational and supportive services for expectant parents and caregivers with children from birth through kindergarten entry and are a key part of Minnesota’s early learning infrastructure.
Sheryl Peters is the Parent Educator for GFW ECFE who has more than 25 years of experience as a licensed preschool teacher as well as service to other area ECFE programs. She has been part of the GFW team for 10 years and has been able to see the program grow and change to best serve the needs of families.
“I believe that parents need to know that they are their child’s first teacher and play such an important role in supporting learning,” said Peters. “For me it’s all about how I can support them, answer their questions, or connect them to resources in the area that they may not know about”
ECFE classes take place at the new GFW PreK-12 facility once a week over the course of multi-week sessions depending on the age group. Parents and guardians attend the classes with their young children and in addition to Peters, are served by a licensed PreK teacher and a paraprofessional. While families in the infant classes remain with their child throughout the class, other classes give parents of toddlers and preschool aged children the opportunity to not only spend time with their child, but to connect with other parents.
The classes typically kick off with some child and parent interaction with different activities or art projects set up throughout the room. The teacher then does a circle time activity with the students while parents and guardians head to another room with Peters for the parent educator time. At the beginning of each session, families are given a list of potential topics to discuss throughout the class and they get to select what they will learn about.
“It is a great opportunity for families to talk about what is working for them, what they may be struggling with, or other ideas,” said Peters. “Ultimately it’s about supporting each other because these families are not going through this alone.”
Topics may include conflict resolution, emotional regulation, separation anxiety, positive discipline, or things like nutrition, sleep issues, and potty training. Families are also able to get advice and ideas on supporting literacy at a young age by reading to their child no matter how young they are as well as support for developmental milestones, language development, and whatever may come up.
Attendance has been strong at classes to the point that Peters says it’s not uncommon to have to grab extra chairs before the class can start.
“I know that these parents are tired at the end of their days and likely have to run home to get supper, toss some laundry in and come back for the class, but they show up because they know it’s valuable,” said Peters. “We try to make it as fun and informative as possible. My ultimate goal is that I want to give parents the ability to provide and enhance the best possible environment for their child’s learning and growth.”
A recent activity saw parents writing a letter to their child about what was going on at the moment or what their hopes for their child were. A few families said that they planned on giving the letter to their child when they are graduating high school.
Classes are taking place in the new PreK-12 facility and families are able to take advantage of the open areas outside of classrooms with books and comfortable chairs. Families are also able to connect with each other at special ECFE events and field trips, creating their own networks for play dates and family support.
“ECFE is a really important piece that offers fun and educational classes for parents and caregivers,” said Peters. “We may only meet once a week, but all of the components of the interactions, circle time, parent education, and everything really makes it a great place for everybody to be able to make connections.”
There is no shortage of “aha moments” that have been seen in GFW ECFE classes over the years. Whether it’s embracing a love of reading to your child, or not being fearful about a child not cleaning their plate after learning about the actual size of a young child’s stomach, there is always something to learn about being a parent. While experienced educators like Peters find themselves in high demand because of tough requirements to become a parent educator, she is hopeful that more young people will pursue parent education as a career.
“No one has all the answers for being a parent,” said Peters. “But with programming like ECFE, communities like GFW have a great partner in their corner to support families, connect them with resources, and have some fun together.”