A Basic Approach to Professionalism

1. Chapter 4 • Parent Communication A Basic Approach to Professionalism Successful Solutions Professional Development LLC

2. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Chapter Topics This course focuses on licensing standards, professionalism, family involvement, and communicating with parents. The final activity allows participants to reflect back over the training and identify what they have learned.

3. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Chapter 4 Parent Communication Strong, positive, cooperative relationships with parents are at the heart of quality child care programs. Recent studies have shown that the most effective programs for children are those which actively promote and encourage the involvement of families. You are in a unique position with children and families.

4. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Child Care Staff and Parents as a Team Chapter 4 Parent Communication Like school teachers, you see children daily and have ready access to their parents. Over a period of time you are likely to have more contacts with families than any other professional. Your position allows you to support families and help children and their parents maintain close relationships.

5. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Child Care Staff and Parents as a Team Chapter 4 Parent Communication Good working relationships with families enable you to be more responsive to each child’s needs. When parents and staff work as a team, they can share information and discuss ways to provide consistent care at home and at the program. Most parents are concerned about their children and want to do what is best for them. Let them know you share their concern and want to provide a program that meets children’s needs and allows them to grow and learn. Make sure they know you enjoy working with their child.

6. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Child Care Staff and Parents as a Team Chapter 4 Parent Communication Positive working relationships with parents are not always easy to achieve. Parents, like children, have widely varying personalities, ideas, values, concerns, knowledge, pressures, lifestyles, plans, dreams, resources, and constraints. You can begin by accepting parents as the most important people in children’s lives, regardless of differences among parents. In today’s complex world, the traditional definitions of parents’ roles have changed significantly and are continuing to change.

7. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Child Care Staff and Parents as a Team Chapter 4 Parent Communication One unifying theme may be that many of them are stressed by the challenges of meeting their obligations in the workplace, while trying to build and maintain healthy relationships with family and friends.

8. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Child Care Staff and Parents as a Team Chapter 4 Parent Communication In good child care programs, all staff members recognize that child care is a family service – that both parents and children are the clients or customers. In these programs, staff take the initiative in building and maintaining relationships with parents. Staff should receive training about parent relationships, beginning with exploring the widely varying attitudes that staff often have about parents. Strategies should be developed for parents and staff to work as a team.

9. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Providing Support to Families Under Stress Chapter 4 Parent Communication Parents are often under stress. Some stress is a normal part of daily life. Some families, however, are severely affected over a long period of time by significant sources of stress such as a community or family violence, homelessness, substance abuse, chronic illness or disability of a family member, learning a new language and adapting to a new culture, or lack of basic necessities. You are in an excellent position to lend a helping hand.

10. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Providing Support to Families Under Stress Chapter 4 Parent Communication Regardless of whether parents approach you or you approach them, keep in mind that supporting parents means enhancing their sense of competence by helping them find their own answers. Your job is to help parents get the support they need, not to provide it yourself. You should check with your supervisor or director before making a recommendation to parents for professional help.

11. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Providing Support to Families Under Stress Chapter 4 Parent Communication When parents confide in you, it’s essential to maintain complete confidentiality. It is helpful for you to be aware of resources in your community for parent and family information and services. You might keep a directory of local services available and learn more about those that may be most helpful to parents of the children you serve. Remember that your directory should reflect the families of kids in the program.

12. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Providing Support to Families Under Stress Chapter 4 Parent Communication You can also give parents information about the developmental stages of children. You can provide copies of articles, lend books or videotapes from your resource library, or let parents know of community workshop on relevant topics.

13. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Parent Involvement Chapter 4 Parent Communication Caregivers need to learn from family members to create an environment that reflects the children’s home experience. To do this they need to learn the parenting beliefs and culture of the family. This can only occur by building partnerships between child care providers and parents. Two-way communication between caregivers and parents creates an environment that welcomes families. The caregiver-parent relationship is vital. Parents need caregivers for reassurance and emotional support.

14. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Parent Involvement Chapter 4 Parent Communication There is no one model of parent-program interaction. Parent involvement refers to patterns of participation in education programs by parents.Parent involvement activities may include assisting in the classroom, helping with fund-raising activities, home teaching, supplying classroom resources, and attending parent education classes. Parent involvement can be the key factor in the success of a program.

15. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Parent Involvement Chapter 4 Parent Communication The relationship between parents and child care professionals needs to be one of mutual support and learning. Often, teachers are surprised to learn that parents want unhurried time to experience relating with them. Parents want to learn more about their children’s experiences, interests, and development. They may also want advice on how to work with their children at home. To provide this support, caregivers and parents need to become partners in teaching young children.

16. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Parent Involvement Chapter 4 Parent Communication As a child care professional, you will need to build positive relationships with parents. To do this, set aside time to communicate with parents, particularly at the beginning or end of the day. During the conversation, share your observations and knowledge of early development behaviors. Parents also enjoy learning of their children’s preferences and ways of responding to people and things. Communicate a child’s strengths to the parents. Parents will then be more accepting when you have to share a child’s weaknesses.

17. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Parent Involvement Chapter 4 Parent Communication Always welcome parents to the center. Whenever possible, include them in the program functions. Parents may be observers, resource people, volunteers, or guests at special celebrations. They can share a hobby or interest, as well as ethnic traditions. Studies show that caregivers who are confident of their skills and abilities are more inclined to include parents in program functions. Likewise, studies show that good relationships with parents affect a teacher’s feelings of self-esteem and competence as a teacher.

18. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Daily Attendance Chapter 4 Parent Communication Parents are required to sign children in and out each day with their full legal signatures. This makes sign-in/sign-out sheets a perfect place to pass important information back and forth. It takes a little time, but it gives parents a sense that their child is important to you and helps you inform them about their child's "other world."

19. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Daily Attendance Chapter 4 Parent Communication Parents are required to sign children in and out each day with their full legal signatures. You can add a column to the sheet for messages such as: 1. Reminders to give medicine or to take medicine home. 2. Parents authorizing other people to take their children home. 3. Notes from parents that their children will be going home early. 4. Reminders for parents to bring in extra clothes.

20. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Daily Attendance Chapter 4 Parent Communication Some messages will be personal or too long to fit on the sheet. The person leaving the message can write on the sheet that a folded note is attached with the person's name on it. School-Age School-age sign-in/sign-out sheets need morning columns for parents to sign them in and caregivers to sign them out to go to school. They also need afternoon columns for caregivers to sign them back in from school and parents to sign them back out.

21. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Daily Attendance Chapter 4 Parent Communication WAC 170-295-7030 states that "the parent or other person authorized by the parent to take the child to or from the center must sign in the child on arrival and sign out the child at departure..." Licensing requirements do not state a minimum age of a person authorized to sign a child in or out. However it must be a responsible person who can assure the safety of the child once they leave the center. Many centers, due to liability issues, develop their own center policy stating that no one under the age of 18 years of age (or 16 years of age) may sign a child in or out. Module 0

22. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Daily Attendance Chapter 4 Parent Communication If you have a policy regarding a minimum age for signing in and out, be sure to clearly state it in your parent handbook. If you do not have a center policy (or if you make an exception), you must decide on an individual basis whether a particular older sibling is responsible and capable of signing out their younger sibling and walking the child home.

23. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Daily Attendance Chapter 4 Parent Communication Before making a decision to allow an older sibling to remove a child consider the following: 1. The age and maturity level of the older sibling. 2. How busy the traffic is on the route home (if they have to cross busy streets). 3. If the younger child listens well and follows directions. 4. Whether there are other options or alternatives for the family to consider.

24. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Daily Attendance Chapter 4 Parent Communication Best Practice Set a center policy stating that only persons over the age of 18 can sign a child in or out of your center. You can make exceptions to your policy as needed in order to meet the individual needs of your families based on the particular children involved. If you do make an exception, have the parent sign a statement giving authorization to their under-age child to remove the child from your program and keep it in the child's file.

25. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Confidentiality Chapter 4 Parent Communication Stephanie’s parents may share with you personal information about their divorce to help you work with Stephanie in the most understanding way. You may know that Dale’s mother has cancer, and that Kathy may tell you about her father leaving the family. As a child care professional, you will have access to a wide range of privileged information. You may see personal records and learn private information about others. For example, you may know which children do and do not receive child care tuition assistance.

26. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Confidentiality Chapter 4 Parent Communication In most cases, you must keep sensitive personal information private. This is called keeping confidentiality. It means not sharing this information with others beyond what is required by your work. Keeping confidentiality protects children, families, coworkers, and the program itself.

27. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Confidentiality Chapter 4 Parent Communication Confidentiality does have some limits. For example, you can and should share information about children and families with certain coworkers for reasons relevant to the job. For example, you should inform other staff members who work with a child about the child’s special medical, physical, or learning needs. This information helps the staff provide appropriate care and learning experiences.

28. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Confidentiality Chapter 4 Parent Communication Likewise, you may need to inform your director about the unethical practices of a coworker after you have tried unsuccessfully to resolve the matter with that person. This information helps the director keep the children healthy and safe. In this case, you are required by law to break confidentiality. The law requires that cases of abuse and neglect be reported to the proper state agency. Your legal responsibility as a mandated reporter outweighs your responsibility to keep private information. If you suspect neglect or abuse, follow your program’s policy for making this report. Child abuse and neglect present another exception to confidentiality.

29. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Confidentiality Chapter 4 Parent Communication In most other cases, it is unacceptable to break confidentiality. For example, you should not gossip with your coworkers, friends, or family members about the children and families at the center. Do not talk to parents about other families or children in the program. Avoid discussing the personal matters of coworkers. These practices are unethical.

30. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Confidentiality Chapter 4 Parent Communication If parents learn you have broken confidentiality, they may feel betrayed. Their resulting suspicion could cause long-term damage to the reputations of you and your program. Broken trust can strain coworker relationships and undermine teamwork.

31. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Confidentiality Chapter 4 Parent Communication Some centers ask their employees to sign confidentiality agreements. These agreements protect the confidentiality of a program’s families, children, and fellow employees. A confidentiality agreement should specify with whom various types of information can and cannot be shared. If an employee violates this agreement, the employee loses his or her job. At times, knowing which information to keep private can be challenging. It is always best to err on the side of caution.

32. Traditional Washington STARS In order to pass this training, this is what you must do: Passing the OnlinE STARS Training 1. Read course materials provided in the lessons 2. Sufficiently complete all chapter assignments 3. Participate in Student Forum Discussion Board Assignments 4. Submit an evaluation form with a valid STARS ID number

33. A Basic Approach to Professionalism Chapter 4 Parent Communication Course Evaluation Form 2