Winona Area Public Schools
The licensed parent educators with the Winona Early Childhood Family Education program have started a newsletter to celebrate 50 years of the program in Minnesota.
“May We Hold Space For You” will be a bi-monthly electronic newsletter featuring parenting tips, resources and community commonly found in Winona ECFE programs.
“There are so many parts of this job that I appreciate, but my top two are watching a caregiver build relationships with other families and in turn build better relationships with their children,” said Heather Millard, ECFE Coordinator and a parent educator for 16 years.
ECFE started in Winona in 1980 with the Central Parent Program before moving under the Community Education umbrella in 1984. It provides classes and discussion groups for parents and guardians, enriching classroom learning through play opportunities for young children, ages birth to third grade, and home visits. It is based on the idea that the family provides a child’s first and most significant learning environment, and parents are a child’s first and most important teachers.
“I had never heard of ECFE before I landed in our Baby and Me class as a parent 14 years ago,” said Lynnea Pfohl, a parent educator with Winona ECFE. “I’ve been in our parent education room at Goodview, in one capacity or another, ever since. I’m grateful to have transitioned from a parent who found great value, lifelong friends and community in ECFE, to a parent educator who gets to help facilitate those same connections in new families.”
ECFE classes consist of three components: parent and child interaction, children’s programming and parent discussion. The newsletter covers some of the starting points for conversation in the parent discussion part of ECFE classes, including links to helpful podcasts, articles and videos.
The title of the newsletter is in reference to the start of the parent discussion time, when the parent educator usually asks something along the lines of "May we hold space for you today?" as a way to check in with each parent in the room and see if anyone has a parenting problem they need help with.
According to Psychology Today, "holding space" is a practice of making space for somebody else's experience and centering them. To hold space, one must be fully present and create a safe environment. Once the circumstances are created, holding space fosters listening and empathizing.
In that spirit, "May We Hold Space For You?" can be seen as a way to welcome more people into the Winona ECFE community, to share the roller coaster of emotions that comes with parenting, and to provide help and guidance through tips, resources and an invitation to join the variety of ECFE programs and classes available to the public.
To see the newsletter, or to be placed on the mailing list, visit waps.pub/winonaecfe.