Theoria Technical College ECE-200 Assignment: Child, Family, Community

This assignment, prepared by a student, delves into the interconnectedness of child, family, and community, drawing from the course ECE-200 at Theoria Technical College. It begins with an examination of the bio-ecological model and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, analyzing how these frameworks influence child development. The assignment includes personal reflections on childhood experiences and a newsletter to parents outlining various play-based learning approaches. Furthermore, it addresses child guidance strategies, pro-social skill development, and the impact of societal influences on children. The paper also explores family goals, values, community resources, and the role of early care and education as a community resource. It incorporates practical elements such as a brochure on child guidance approaches and a discussion on the role of diverse cultures in shaping children's behavior, providing a comprehensive view of child development within its broader context.

Running head: CHILD, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
Child, Family and Community
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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CHILD, FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
Table of Contents
1. Bio-Ecological Model..............................................................................................................2
2. Maslow Hierarchy of Needs.....................................................................................................2
3. Personal Reflections.................................................................................................................3
4. Newsletter to Parents................................................................................................................4
5. Child Guidance Approaches.....................................................................................................7
5.1. Identification of Behavioral Issues...................................................................................7
5.2. One on One Counseling with Children.............................................................................7
5.3. Problem Solving................................................................................................................7
6. Teaching Pro-Social Skills.......................................................................................................8
6.1. Part 1.................................................................................................................................8
6.2. Part 2.................................................................................................................................8
7. Societal Influences on Children...............................................................................................9
8. Family Goals, Values and Culture.........................................................................................11
9. Community Resources...........................................................................................................12
10. Early Care and Education as a Community Resource........................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................15

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1. Bio-Ecological Model
There are a number of ways by which I was affected by the above structures as a child. My
family was guarded and protective always, giving me a secure environment in which to grow up
in. My peers were friendly and supportive. I never lacked for companionship because of them.
My community was largely indifferent to me during my growing up years but the school I
attended was marvelous. I had the best teachers and best child care facilities in school. I
remember the matron at my play school. She loved me so much and always singled me out from
the rest. My religion did not have a significant role to play in my upbringing but at the very least,
it taught me to believe in God.
Child
Family
Religion
Peers
School
Child care
Community

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2. Maslow Hierarchy of Needs
Being given plenty of food to eat and water to drink, especially food that is highly
nutritious in value is what will help children to meet their bodily and mental needs and
requirements at the first level. By eating on time, sleeping on time and eating foods which are
nutritious, children are going to be able to grow and development well enough at the pace they
are expected to grow at (Burford 2017).
At levels 2, 3 and 4, children are overcome by the need of belonging. They simply need
to feel safe and secure at these levels and their self-esteem is also something that is shaped at this
point of time. It is therefore important for interactions between teachers and children and parents
and children to be characterized by a great degree of positivity at this point of time. Parents and
teachers need to encourage children when they do their school work or homework or whenever
they perform any little errand. Children need to be complimented on their appearance too from
time to time, and must be rewarded in a small way if they do well in the tasks and activities that
are assigned to them. This will help children to develop positive self-esteem, while feeling safe
and feeling desired or wanted by their teachers and parents at the same given time (Burford
2017).
The types and structures that fulfill all of the five levels of Maslow’s pyramid or
Hierarchy of Needs are a safe, secure and happy domestic or family environment and a positive
and secure school environment. Both such environments are likely to fulfill the needs and
requirements of children, as they progress through the different levels that are mentioned in
Maslow’s hierarchical model of needs (Dearing et al. 2016).

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3. Personal Reflections
From what I remember, I was quite a demanding baby. I was seldom away from my
mother’s lap and I would cry very hard if I was put down or if someone else tried to hold me. Of
course my memories in this respect are really faint but from whatever it is that I can recall, I was
a spoilt little baby and if I am to go by what my parents tell me, then yes I lived up to their
expectations. They wanted me to want them to fuss over me and spoil me.
I agree with the above statement. I do know that adults who have grown up without any
parental care or affection tend to seek out the same from other adults later in life, as is the case
with my best friend. She grew up in a foster home and she now lives in a rented apartment and is
quite close to her aged landlady. She treats this lady like the mother she never had and shares a
warm and loving relationship with her, which I find to be quite touching.
To be honest, no I am not a person who has trust issues. I grew up with a loving set of
parents who always thought the world of me, and the environment in which I was raised was
quite safe and secure as well. For this reason, I am often unable to empathize with fellow adults
who do suffer from trust related issues. My parents were open and honest with me when raising
me, and I was not in the habit of keeping secrets from them. They never let me down or betrayed
my trust and lived up to my expectations. Consequently, issues pertaining to trust and
abandonment are quite negligible as far as my upbringing is concerned.
4. Newsletter to Parents

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Dear Parents
Welcome to yet another edition of our school’s b-monthly newsletter. This semester we
have decided to introduce some exciting measures for children in the classroom in order to better
engage them with what it is that is being taught to them and to give them more incentive to come
to school. We would like to therefore take the opportunity to brief you on some of the types and
categories of play that we will be initiating in the classroom setup, that are certain to keep your
little ones happy and content when they are in school.
We will allow the children to engage in unoccupied play for a certain hour or so in the
day. Unoccupied play gives children the opportunity to be on their own and to explore their
interests and hobbies while they sit idle, having nothing to do. This is the time during which they
will be likely to look around them and observe their environment and learn about this
environment in a conscious or unconscious way, which in turn is going to contribute quite
significantly to their wellbeing (Di Marino et al. 2018).

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Onlooker play is also something that we are going to encourage in the classroom. For this
purpose, some children will be divided into groups for play activities while other children will
get the scope to sit and watch them play. This onlooker play will also help to develop in children,
the act of observing their peers and their surroundings and learning about them in an informal
way (Eruvar et al. 2018).
Parallel play is a third form of play which we are going to be introducing. Here, children
in the class will be given specific toys or puzzles and they will be encouraged to play on their
own, but side by side next to one another. We believe that this is a form of play which will help
children to focus on their tasks or activities at hand even though others around them are doing
something that is different (Eruvar et al. 2018).
On behalf of our school and administrator, we sincerely hope that you are on board with
such initiatives and we look forward to receiving our feedback and suggestions concerning the
same.

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With gratitude and warm wishes,
Mandy Robinson
Coordinator – Tiny Tots Play School
5. Child Guidance Approaches
Please refer to the attached brochure for information on this section.
6. Teaching Pro-Social Skills
6.1. Part 1
Ten positive behaviors that have been listed down by the students are the desire and the
incentive to achieve more in what they do, the passion and excitement with which they do their
school work, the commitment that they make to doing their work as perfectly as possible, to take
the risk and do things others would not want to usually do, to believe in what is impossible, to
focus on vision more than anything else, to be optimistic, to be goal oriented at all times, to be
disciplined and to be punctual. All these positive traits when inculcated are certain to help
students to grow up into positive and productive adults (Goldfeld et al. 2018).
When it comes to understanding the types of culture that are prevalent in the societies and
communities that the students are growing up in, mention has been made about the fact that the
students are exposed to cultures such as Chinese culture, Indonesian culture, African American
culture, Indian culture and Korean culture. In other words, the students are well exposed to Asian
and African cultures, to quite a considerable degree and as a part of the social interaction

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process, have managed to acquire some essential traits and elements associated with each of
these cultures, and that too in a positive way, more of which will be discussed in part 2.
6.2. Part 2
`All of the cultures that have been mentioned above are those that have influenced the
behavior and the growing up experiences of the students in a number of different ways. To begin
with, the African American culture in the immediate social environment is something that has
taught the students to appreciate good church music, blues and jazz. The members of the African
American community partake in and host jazz and blues events on a regular basis in society, and
some of the students have had the privilege of attending such events, more than once. The
Indonesian culture has exposes students to spicy food and has taught them to appreciate different
types of flavors when eating food, something that children who hail from Caucasian
communities were not too familiar with before at all (Heerman et al. 2018). The exposure to
Indian culture has taught the students to appreciate song and dance of a different culture, and it is
clear from the responses that have been provided by the students that they are quite obsessed
with Bollywood culture and everything to do with it, including the loud music and the dramatic
roles performed by actors. The exposure to Korean and Chinese culture appears to have had a
strong impact on the eating behavior and the culinary habits of some of the students. They have
learnt to use chopsticks for eating food, something that they were unfamiliar with in the initial
years of growing up, as it is not practiced in their immediate home environment. In learning how
to use chopsticks, they have come to appreciate and understand how food is consumed in parts of
the world that are different from their own, and the uniqueness associated with the same
(Goldfeld et al. 2018).

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7. Societal Influences on Children
One of the most important socializing events in my life was when I was taken by my parents
to attend a Chinese wedding. It was a fantastic experience and I got to see firsthand, the type of
traditional costumes and the numerous rituals that are performed as part of such weddings.
The status of my family did have a certain factor to play in my socialization. I do come
from an upper middle class family which is why I got to interact with elite people for the most
part during my growing up years.
I was never the target of bias and I am very fortunate about the fact that I am not. I grew up
in a society and in a community where respect was fostered and shown for people of all types of
races and communities. It was a truly egalitarian society in which I was raised.
I was not raised in a biased family. As a result, I was not affected by bias, nor was I
encouraged to ever engage in bias at a young age. My parents and other family members have
always taught me to respect people from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.
The income level of my family allowed me to receive my education in a private school. I was
quite sheltered and protected in my growing up years and I had little knowledge about the grave
realities of life. The income level of my family allowed me to enjoy a very secure childhood.
Racism had no part to play in my socialization. As I have said before, I grew up in a society
and in a community where respect was shown for people of all types of religions and ethnicities
and so I was encouraged to do the same.
One of the best things that I remember about starting Kindergarten is the autonomy that
was given to me by my teachers when doing classwork. My teachers would not always stand by

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my side and observe what I was doing, which they would do when I was in playschool and upper
nursery.
I was quite content with the school that I was sent to and I believe that it was one of the
best in the locality. That having been said, I am unaware of any schools that were better than the
one I attended or worse than the school I attended.
I was not much of a mixer when I was in school. However, I was fairly interactive in the
class and had a group of friends, about four or five in number, who I could always turn to for
support and companionship and who made my growing up years quite pleasant.
Television had a significant impact on my childhood. I remember being quite an avid viewer
of television, and I would especially love to watch cartoons a lot
I did learn something from watching television, and that was the value of honesty. That
time when Jerry puts a soap bar in Tom’s mouth because he appears to be lying about his golf
score (Tom and Jerry cartoon), was one that convinced me back then, that lying is just not okay.
8. Family Goals, Values and Culture
Yes I am aware that I am an American by birth and I greatly appreciate the American culture
because it is truly diverse in its nature and scope. In the United States of America, we are
encouraged to pay respect to all types of creeds and cultures since we are a nation that has
descended from immigrants and value therefore, people of diverse cultures, ethnic and religious
backgrounds (Horii et al. 2017).
If a person walked into my home, they would not notice anything specific about the
culture to which I belong. This is because my home is a typical American apartment with the