What Does It Mean To Educate The Whole Child

Family and teacher involvement is a necessary factor when it comes to the growth of children. As noted in the article, “What Does it Mean to Educate the Whole Child,” “collaboration occurs within and outside the schools among teachers, between teachers and parents, among teachers in different schools, among teachers and related services personnel (e.g., speech therapist, audiologist, counselor, psychologist, reading specialist), and among teachers and community agency personnel” (What Does it Mean, n.d., p. 14). When families and key stakeholders within the school system collaborate together it aids with the barriers of a child's learning progression. Collaboration helps by providing the support the children need for their intellectual, social,

emotional, and physical growth.
The intellectual growth of a child is how they acquire new information.

As stated in the article,“Intellectual Development,” “Vygotsky believed that “learning occurs, in part, when assistance from others is within the “zone of proximal development,” and as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Edwards, 2014, para 2). Therefore, when families and the key stakeholders within the school system collaborate together, they are able to help meet the needs of children who struggle with intellectual growth. This goal can be obtained by having an effective communication system which will allow easy access of information that is needed to assist the child.

Some examples of intellectual development in which the child may need assistance with is (a) writing names, (b) reading books, or (c) letter and word recognition. When teachers and families collaborate they can come up with ways to support the child in these area, as well as many more. Teachers can send out newsletters, or emails to communicate to parents of various activities that are going on at school, which they can implement at home to increase intellectual growth of their children. Some parents can create a game night to get everyone involved and also make learning meaningful and

fun.
Collaborative relationships are also essential for the social growth of children.

The social growth is the development of how children communicate with other people. As noted in the article, “About Social Development,” “Children’s earliest and most extensive learning about social relationships occurs in the family, also parents and care givers can support positive social development when they model respect and consideration and encourage children to be similarly respectful in all their relationships” (About Social Development, 2008, sec 3, para 1). When family members and teachers demonstrate to children how to be (a) kind, (b) courteous, and (c) polite, the child mimics that initial behavior which makes it easier for socialization to occur. According to the article, “Promoting Social Development Through Play,” there are several ways in which teachers and parents can engage children in playing activities to help them with socialization; (a) character play, (b) cooperative play and (c) parallel play (Tomlin, 2008). Promoting social growth through play can enhance the child's social competence. Character play is when the child watches and mimics other children, cooperative play is when the child plays in groups with other children, and parallel play is when the children is playing with the same materials but playing separately (Tomlin et al.,

2008).
Emotional development is defined as “the emergence of a child's experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of emotions from birth through late adolescence” (Odle, 2013). “Positive collaborative relationships with families promotes emotional growth by providing the support children need to deal with emotions and feelings. Promoting emotional growth in children starts at home. A child first learns about emotions from their parents at birth. Odle (2013), states that emotions a smile may express emotions as early as six weeks of age but it is not until about age 6 months that a smile can be considered more emotional and social in nature (para. 3). When a child shows emotions, that is their way of communicating with the world. With effective communicaiton between families and teachers, those emotions that are displayed at home and school can be handled in a appropriate manner that is suitable for the well-being of the child. It enforces structure that is needed to keep the student in line with their behavior and education.
Establishing collaborative parent-teacher activities is also pertinent in the physical growth of children. Parents can become volunteers for the classroom throughout the school year. While volunteering, it gives them a relevant amount of time to participate in the classroom activities provided by the teacher. Physical growth can be enhancing a child's gross motor skills as well as their fine motor skills. The gross motor skills is the child's larger muscles they use to perform activities such as throwing a ball or running, and fine motor skills is teaching them to write.
Intellectual, social, emotional, and physical growth starts from the home. Parents are the key stakeholders that are essential for providing a fostering and engaging environment for their children. According to me, they are the support system the children need before any type of schooling takes place. They must be a willing participant in the growth of their children so the transition will not be as difficult when they begin school. Ultimately, as they get older and begin school, the responsibility is shared between parents and teachers. According to the article, “Building Parent-Teacher Relationships,” positive engagement between the school and parents influences positive behavior and action from the parents to become more involved in their child's education (American Federation, 2007). Also, when parents are involved it makes the work load easier for teachers with assistance coming from them (American Foundation et al., 2007). When positive communication is circulating between everyone, the focus stays on the child and what is best for their well-being.
Without the assistance from parents their would be no cooperation from students. Although teachers are there to educate students, parents are responsible for making sure they arrive to school daily and on time. Until students reach a certain age, parents are also responsible for their homework that is completed and test they have to prepare for. My duty as a teacher is to make sure that there is open communication at all times to help with any assistance that is needed. Some examples of communication are (a) parent-teacher conferences, (b) sending home newsletters, and (c)
sending out frequent emails. While being a parent with three children, I understand that sometimes I may not be able to attend parent-teacher conferences at the designated time frame, but I do realize that the majority of people use technology and receive emails through their phone.