Amy is Four Years Old and is the Youngest of Three Children: Working with Families & Communities Case Study, NUI

AIM

To give students an understanding of a range of special and additional needs and the effects of such on children and their families. To develop the student’s knowledge of best practice and contemporary issues regarding special and additional needs.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this module the learner should be able to:

1. Conceptualise ECEC as a community service
2. Involve parents as partners in ECEC
3. Examine the dynamics involved in contemporary parenting
4. Evaluate the impact of family context on outcomes for children
5. Create opportunities for families to be supported in Early Years Services / Family Support Services
6. The Aistear & Siolta Practice Guide and its application to current best practice principles for working with families and communities

CASE STUDY

Amy is four years old and is the youngest of three children and is the only girl. Amy attends your service five mornings per week under the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme. Amy presents as a reserved child who struggles socially and can seem anxious and worried at times. Amy is very close to her older brother who is ten. She does not mention her eldest brother much but he is a teenager.

Amy’s mother loves her children very much but struggles to parent them due to mental health and addiction issues. Even though Amy’s father is incarcerated, and Amy does not see him very often, she refers to her dad in a positive manner. Both of Amy’s parents are drug users although her mother is attending drug treatment services. Whenever Amy’s father is released from prison her mother relapses.

1. Critically evaluate what you see from the case study as the potential impact of family life on Amy and the adverse effect of parental problems on young children with reference to resilience and vulnerability factors.
2. Consider how an early years’ service can help alleviate the negative impact of parental problems and enhance and support resilience in relation to the partnership with parents and community.
3. Refer to relevant academic literature, national policies, and guidelines in your answer.