YWCA Early Childhood Education Specialists Partner with Families as a Whole
Hi my name is Beth Wilson. I have the unique honor of serving as the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Specialist for two YWCA Minneapolis Children’s Centers: Ecolab and Hubbs Center for Lifelong Learning. I work with families who come from all different walks of life. I love that I am able to use my expertise, creativity and interests in a variety of ways between these two centers.
Whole Families, Individual Needs
By having the amazing opportunity to work with families as a whole, I am able to get to know them more intimately and meet their different needs. Many of the families I work with are English Language Learners (ELL). Some days I may help them with making calls to set up various resources and assist if there is a miscommunication with information.
Parent-Child Interaction and Resources
ECE specialists provide resources, conversation and modeling to parents for child development. Parents then use these skills in everyday parent-child interaction. We also work with families on developmental questions and produce a weekly Educational Highlights to connect home and school learning.
Successful Child Development and Reaching Milestones
I love working with teachers through observation, assessment, coaching and collaboration to encourage positive classroom behavior and child development. When children are engaged and not bored, they are more successful. Together we implement assessment objectives, incorporate children’s interests and add next steps into lesson plans to help children reach their goals and developmental milestones.
Partnering for Kindergarten Readiness
ECE specialists provide additional expertise and an outside perspective to give teachers extra support in implementing the best environment, developmental objectives and interventions. This multi-view approach, calling on many YWCA staff roles, gives children and families the best education they can receive to help them become ready for Kindergarten.I believe that we truly are a partner in each child’s education. By focusing on the child’s development, partnering with families and training our educators to be the best, we provide the best foundation for early learning.