Adolescence / 11-18 years of age

Indicates transition into adulthood

Puberty into adult size body
Sexual maturity
Thoughts become abstract & idealistic
School directed towards higher education
Entrance into the working world
Establish autonomy from family
Define personal values & goal
Guide children keep them safe from harm
Partner in learning along side the children
Encourager
Listener
Communicator
Nurture the children through all aspects of
development: social, cognitive, emotional
and physical
Always be flexible
The objective of this presentation is to
gain an understanding of child
development, and what my role is as a
child development professional, as wee
as my involvement in the lives of the
families I come in contact with.
The second level of Bronfenbrenners model, the
mesosystem, encompasses connections between
microsystems, such as home, school, neighborhood,
and child care center (Berk, 2013, pg. 27).
Connects each area of immediate interest to the
childs individual microsystem
Activities at school
Parental involvement
Academic learning
Homelife
Each relationship within the childs mesosystem will support
development if the connections between each
develops ties that include visits, exchanges of
information and needs of the child put first.



Parenting home environments to
support children as students
Communicating school to home and
home to school communications about
states of child
Volunteering recruit and organize
parent help and support
Learning at Home provide info to parents
about how best to help students with
homework, activities, etc.
Decision Making include parents in school
decisions, developing parent leaders &
representatives
Collaborating with Community identify
and integrate resources and services from
the community to strengthen school
programs, family practices, and student
learning and development (Epstein,
How does this type of involvement influences a
childs learning and development
By establishing a home environment that is supportive to
the child will encourage learning, proper habits, beliefs
and values.
The greater the degree of parental support, the greater
the adolescents social competence (Turner & Welch,
2013, pg. 71).
One idea the school or community could
implement right away that aligns with the
cultures represented at the school
Have a clear understanding of the diversity of the students
Knowledge of the families background, cultures, goals,
concerns and most important the views of the children

How does this type of involvement influences a
childs learning and development
Having a open line of communication with the parents will allow
for constant review of the childs progress or struggles
Knowledge of school policies allow them to know what is
expected of them
One idea the school or community could
implement right away that aligns with the cultures
represented at the school
Develop a program that allows for open communication
between the students, educators and parents that will focus on
the development and learning abilities of the students without
undermining the students individual needs.

How does this type of involvement influences a
childs learning and development
Volunteering allows children the opportunity to learn
school or community service and how to contribute to a
project or common goal
Volunteering gives children a look at new skills they can
obtain by working with adults in a combined effort to
complete a project
One idea the school or community could
implement right away that aligns with the cultures
represented at the school
By offering a community project like a new playground at
a local park, adults and children can volunteer their time
to complete the project. The project could represent the
different cultures represented within that community

How does this type of involvement influences
childs learning and development
Allows children to complete homework at home
Additional time to increase skills and abilities to help them at
school
Exhibit positive attitude towards schoolwork from parents
teachers children the same
One idea the school or community could
implement right away that aligns with the cultures
represented at the school
One great idea the school and community could organize
together is weekly extra help at the school to assist children and
parents who might be struggling. Having school staff and
community members volunteer on a rotating schedule will allow
everyone willing, the time to help but not be overwhelmed with
committing to it each week

How does this type of involvement influences a childs
learning and development
Allowing the students to be apart of some of the decisions making that
directly involves the students will show them that their opinions matter
and that they do have a voice and it is heard
Having a voice allows the students to formulate plans to implement in
their school, the result is children learning and using their minds to help
make decisions that will increase their development
One idea the school or community could
implement right away that aligns with the cultures
represented at the school
PTA/PTOs are great for schools, but I would also think that there should
have an organization with students from each grade as well as cultures
represented in order to get an overall view of what should be
implemented. This group of students could be the voice of the student
body and help in the decision making process of their school.

How does this type of involvement influences a childs
learning and development
Children need to learn about the community in which they live. By
learning and working with their community and leaders, they are able to
gain knowledge about the workings of their community.
One idea the school or community could
implement right away that aligns with the
cultures represented at the school
I think every school need to have a Junior Chamber of Commerce. We
have one in my hometown and they are very active within the
community and bring a diverse group to the table. They have excellent
ideas that incorporates students with community leaders, and they gain
knowledge. This will also help their skills with their peers in the classroom.
As children appropriate the knowledge and strategies generated from
working together, they become competent, contributing members of
their classroom community and advance in cognitive and social
development (Berk, 2013, pg. 640).

Berk, L.E. (2013). Child development (9
th

ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Epstein, J. (n.d.). Epstein's framework of six
types of involvement. Retrieved from
http://www.unicef.org/lac/Joyce_L._Epstein
_s_Framework_of_Six_Types_of_Involvement
(2).pdf
Turner, P.H. & Welch, K.J. (2013). Parenting
in contemporary society. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson