Roles of Families and the Community

One responsibility of professionals when working with children is offering support for families by sharing information with them about developmentally appropriate strategies for their children and the availability of resources in their community. Recall that during Week Two you developed a flyer that taught the families that you work with about the role of working memory, attention, and executive function in learning and development. Now, imagine the principal of a local school district saw your flyer and has invited you to submit a proposal for an upcoming district-wide professional development conference. Your proposal will need to analyze the role that families and communities play in promoting optimal cognitive development for a specific age group of children. Before starting your assignment, review the Week Three Instructor Guidance for additional information, resources, and support. Additionally, review the Grading Rubric for this assignment to understand how you will be evaluated and contact your instructor using the “Ask Your Instructor” discussion before the due date with questions.

To begin, choose which age group your proposal will focus on:

• Option 1: Infants and Toddlers (Ages 0-2)
• Option 2: Preschoolers (Ages 3-5)
• Option 3: School-Aged (Ages 6-8)

Then, complete The Role of Families and the Community Proposal Template to address each of the following:

• Influence of Theory (2 points): Explain how theory can influence the choices families make when promoting their child’s cognitive development abilities for your chosen age group. Use specific examples from one theory of cognitive development that has been discussed thus far in the course.
• Home Environment (1.5 points): Explain how the environment that families create at home helps promote optimal cognitive development for your chosen age group. Provide at least two strategies that you would encourage families to use to foster this type of environment.
• Families and Executive Functions (2 points): Discuss the role that family plays in developing executive functions for your chosen age group. Provide at least two strategies that you suggest families use to help foster the development of executive functions.
• Families and Memory Development (2 points): Examine the role that family plays in memory development for your chosen age group. Provide at least two strategies families can use to support memory development.
• Families and Conceptual Development (2 points): Examine the role that family plays in conceptual development for your chosen age group. Use ideas from your response to the Week Three Discussion 1 forum to provide at least two strategies families can use to support development in this area.
• Community Resources (1 point): Explain at least two community resources that you would suggest families use to support the cognitive development of their children for your chosen age group.
• Supporting Families (2 points): Analyze the role that you would play in helping to support families within your community to promote optimal cognitive development for your chosen age group.

The template:

• A title page is not necessary for this assignment due to the layout of the required template.
• Length (.25 points): Your completed The Roles of Families and the Community template must be 6 to 8 double-spaced pages in length (not including the reference page).
• Source Requirement (.75 points): Reference at least two scholarly sources in addition to the text.
• APA Formatting (.25 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment, which includes citations in the body of the assignment and references list.
• Syntax and Mechanics (.25 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.