As part of their job, early childhood educators need to effectively interact with the children under their care. The right, often playful approach can help toddlers reach their milestones quicker as they are cared for in a safe and happy environment. Childhood educators need to be able to effectively communicate with the children in order for them to advance and learn. While the child is the most important element in this arrangement, there is another crucial party that also needs to be attended to: the parents.
While dealing with all the facets of running a successful child care service, child care directors and owners sometimes struggle with continuously educating their staff on how to effectively communicate with parents.
Of course, nobody wants to deal with an irate parent, it’s time consuming and upsetting, but should the time come, do you know whether you or your staff would be able and prepared to handle the situation? And more generally, is your team trained in effectively communicating with parents overall? It’s surprising how this has remained a common issue for many child care services across Australia. In this week’s blog, we’ll explore a few different online resources that can assist early childhood educators in improving their communication skills to ensure that both they and the children’s parents, continue to enjoy a happy partnership.
This is a resource mainly aimed at parents but from time to time, they release interesting articles for early childhood educators. Tips include:
Click here to access the information.
Aussie Childcare Network This is an educational website for early childhood educators, teachers, parents and students doing their early childhood studies in Australia.
Here, they talk about effective communication and how it’s not just about dealing with parents, you also need to consider those that you work with. Having a strong and supportive team will help you address parents and any issues they may raise with you in the future. On the site, you’ll find a helpful article that covers tips on how to build relationships with families as well as co-workers.
For families the article focuses on:
For co-workers the article focuses on:
Click here to access the information.
KidsMatter is an Australian mental health and wellbeing initiative funded by the Australian Government and beyondblue. It’s also a partnership between education and health sectors. Here you can learn about:
Click here to access the information.
Ultimately it’s about the child’s welfare, they need to be comfortable, feel safe and have fun. Remember, the concerns of parents or care givers are coming from a loving place, they just want the best for their kids. You, as an educator, want the best for them too so there’s no reason why both parties can’t be on the same side and work together to achieve the positive outcome you’re all after.
Do you have any suggestions on how to effectively communicate with parents? Place them in the comment section below, we’d love to hear from you!
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