Child Development 7
THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY
THE FAMILY’S ROLE
Home and school are a young child’s two
most important worlds
 If home and school are connected in positive
and respectful ways, children feel secure
 True partnership
 Focus instead on developing a relationship
with every family so you can work together
to support children’s healthy development
and learning

GETTING TO KNOW FAMILIES
If you try to relate to families in only one way,
you will reach only a small percentage of the
families who respond to that approach
 Appreciating Differences

 Family
structure: start by keeping an open mind
about what constitutes a family
 Personality and temperament: some are easy to get
to know, others shy away from school situations
GETTING TO KNOW FAMILIES

Appreciating Differences
 Life
experiences: education, socio-economic status,
health issues, and length of time in this country
 Cultural differences: Culture has been defined as
the beliefs, values, and practices we have learned
from our families, either by example or through
explicit direction
GAINING SELF-AWARENESS
How did you become aware of your personal
identity- nationality, culture, ethnicity?
 How did you define a family?
 Were girls treated differently from boys in your
family?
 How and when were you encouraged to express
your ideas and feelings?
 How was discipline handled?
 Was independence encouraged?

USING INITIAL CONTACTS TO LEARN ABOUT
FAMILIES
Initial contacts with children’s families are
opportunities to get to know a little about each
other
 Enrollment

 Gather
information by speaking informally with
families during enrollment

Home Visits
 Families
are often more comfortable in their own
setting than at school
MAKING FAMILIES FEEL WELCOME
The environment you create in your classroom and
the way you introduce the program can make
families feel they belong and they have a role to
play
 Important message families can receive when they
enter the building and your classroom is that this
is also a place for them
 Introducing your program: booklet, tour of the
classroom, open house, letter to families, display

MAKING FAMILIES FEEL WELCOME

Building trust
 To
feel welcome, families need to trust you
 All families come with expectations, responding in a
positive manner
 Greet family members by names
 Uncover special skills
 What topics interest parents

Reaching put to all family members
COMMUNICATING WITH FAMILIES
Good communication is essential for building
partnerships. Families want to know what
experiences their children are having at school
and what have you learned about their child
 Daily exchanges: make it a point to note
something the child did during the day
 Formal communications: daily or weekly
bulletin, telephone calls, e-mail, journals

PARTNERING WITH FAMILIES ON CHILDREN’S
LEARNING
When parents are involved, children do better
 Teachers need to think of parent participation
in new ways
 Involvement can take many forms-from
contributions parents can make at home to
classroom volunteering and sharing
information on the child’s progress

PARTNERING WITH FAMILIES ON CHILDREN’S
LEARNING

Offering ways to be involved
 Discover
special interest or abilities of all family
members
 Ask family members what they enjoy doing with
their children
 Parent participation in curriculum planning
PARTNERING WITH FAMILIES ON CHILDREN’S
LEARNING

Making classroom participation meaningful
 Enables
them to see how you work with children
and promote learning
 Talk with families ahead of time
 Flyer with ways how they participate
 Observe
and show you are interested
 Follow children’s lead without taking over
 Ask open-ended questions
 Offer assistance when it Is needed
PARTNERING WITH FAMILIES ON CHILDREN’S
LEARNING

Meeting with families


Families will be interested in what you learned and you
in turn can learn about the child from their family
Preparing for a conference
Child’s portfolio and your ongoing observations
 Summarizing report


Conducting a conference
Share work samples
 Explain each work sample
 Families observation

RESPONDING TO CHALLENGING SITUATIONS

Families under stress
 Some
families are coping with basic needs and
experiencing ongoing stress
 Community
with violence
 Unemployment
 Demanding job
 Domestic and/or substance abuse
 Depression
 Lack of insurance
 Adapting to a new language and/or culture
RESPONDING TO CHALLENGING SITUATIONS

Families under stress
 Do
not have the emotional energy or physical
resources to provide nurturing care for their
children
 Let them know resources are available
 Community
agencies and hot lines
 Brochures
A
list of support groups
RESPONDING TO CHALLENGING SITUATIONS

Dealing with misunderstanding
 Understanding
and respecting practices that are
different from your own help you build positive
relationships with families and involve them in your
program
 Sometimes accepting what the child does
 Child’s language development