"Our mission is to provide a safe and nurturing learning environment, which allows children to acquire a higher level of thinking through self and environmental exploration. As a childcare facility, we meet the diverse needs of each individual child. Our curriculum encourages and incorporates family and community involvement. We build the foundation for successful development in all areas of social, emotional, physical and cognitive learning."
SOOO... As the Farmhouse Preschool, I was shocked to see we have a mission statement. Only because, it is something that is second nature to me although I would put it into a simple sentence I remember. Also, it is not something we have plastered to our walls at the center. I found it on the about me on our Facebook page (this is also the only website page but there is an email and a phone number for contact to the center).
"Children learn in diverse and safe environments through play by the guidance of the peers and the adults around them." -Haley
- Although this is also a mind set I use when working with all children in all different settings, weather it be babysitting, birthday parties or teaching. Which leads me to consider a few things after looking at the worksheet and my sentence.
- It is TOO vague! I could use this mission statement at any daycare, there is nothing in it that is original to Farmhouse (probably because we are part of a bigger corporate of daycare). Many include something about how the children have live farm animals and can interact with them, and how that separates us from other centers.
- It is TOO wordy for a parent that is just starting to look for a daycare and does not understand all the advancements of child development.
- Although, it does a great job being a mission statement AND NOT a vision statement, after all we are a daycare and do have to follow these standards.
Hey Haley! I think you did a great job critiquing your groups mission statement and I totally agree with you that it is too wordy and very general. Just for some constructive criticism your personal mission statement, to me, sounds more like a vision statement. I get them mixed up all the time too!
ReplyDeleteHaley thanks for your post and thoughtful critique. I think you (and Kelly in her comments) are getting at one of the core challenges of a good mission statement. How to make it broad enough to encompass all the work, but also specific to the particular organization. It does seem like incorporating farm animals (how cool!) into the mission would set your preschool apart. Sometimes a geographical marker (e.g. southern Rhode Island) can fill that role too.
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Victoria
HIIIII
ReplyDeleteI love how you critiqued the vague-ness of your mission statement. I agree with you on that your daycare should inclue specfic things like the importance of the farm animals themselves.