In this module you will:
- Identify different methods to use when communicating with families
- Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of different forms of communicating with families
- Analyze the importance of keeping families informed
After reading Keyser (2017) answer the following questions:
- Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the reading in 4-6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text.
- What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why?
- How does this reading connect to your personal experience?
- Of the many methods and ways to communicate with families described, which do you think are the 3 most important to use when working with families of infants and toddlers? Why?
- What else could have been done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home?
- How will this reading help you become a better infant-toddler professional?
Respond to 2 other posts!
Keyser-2017
1. Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the reading in 4-6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text. The main idea of this article is communication and the importance of having daily communication between families and teachers. This article also explains, different ways both families and teachers can communicate with each other like, daily phone conversations or written conversation to one another. Furthermore, this article explains how daily communication check-ins provides different opportunities for strengthening the partnership between families and teachers. It also, gives support to children and their needs by keeping families and teachers up to date with each other.
2. What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why? The quote that is most meaningful to me is “Teachers can also structure activities that help parents and children, reconnect at the end of the day” (65).
3. How does this reading connect to your personal experience? This reading connects to my personal life because as a mom, I think having daily check-ins are important for both me and my children. Knowing my child’s progress in schools helps me support my children. When my children’s teachers call me to inform me of how my kids are doing in school, I feel happy and I build a sense of trust in their ability to teach my children. I feel like my kids are really cared for and when I am informed or made aware of their challenges, the teachers and I both come together to come up with ways to support them in their learning development. We have built a great partnership through daily communication.
4. Of the many methods and ways to communicate with families described, which do you think are the 3 most important to use when working with families of infants and toddlers? Why? I think the 3 most important ways to communicate with families is, communicating over the phone via text or call. I think this support those families who may work and can’t always meet in person. Another way I believe in setting up time in the morning or afternoon for parents to stop by, even setting up one on one meetings to conversation with families and lastly, I think apps help. I think with all the technology people us this is a great way for families and teachers to stay in contact and communicate with each other.
5. What else could have been done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home? I know in the article Tatiana mentioned she sometimes leaves Damians’ shoes off so she can talk to dad, but I actually think getting time ready will help the transition for Brett and Damian to go home. I also think there’s other ways to help families into transitioning to go home like, listening to calm relaxing music or doing calm exercises like breathing in and out a few times. Children, families and teachers can all do this for a few seconds to help everyone transition into a relaxing and calm manner before going home. I actually learned during a fieldwork yoga class that some schools have done this and seen children transition from an exciting, hectic and busy day to a very calm and relaxing mood by the end of the day when were ready to go home.
6. How will this reading help you become a better infant-toddler professional? This really helped understand the importance of daily communication. This reading also gave me new ideas to communicate with families. I can use these methods such as written conversation to communicate and do daily check-ins with my parents. With all of the technology that we have these days, I never thought about the written aspect of communication, but after reading this article I know see how this can be a great way to communicate as well and I definitely will be using these methods as a teacher.
Hi Erica! I also agree that for the case with Tatiana and the kids, the best way to transition is to get the children in a calm state of mind so when it comes to face the changes they receive it in a less traumatic way.
Erica, I really liked that idea of the calm exercise you came up with. I think that’s a great way to signal the children that its time to prepare for pick up and also get them into a calm state to transition more smoothly.
Hey Erica, I agree with your answer to question 5. I feel that if kids don’t have time to calm down before going home, then the classroom will just end up crazy.
Erica — Thanks for your detailed reply! I agree that helping children reunite with families is an important part of the day — which connects to Damien & Brent ! Why was the quote you picked meaningful to you? What methods does your child’s school use to communicate with you? I think you captured that using the strategies that work best for the family are the most important ones!
Agree great detailed answer
1.Main Idea: This articles touches on the importance of communication between families and teachers.The article also talks about how communication can bring ad give support to children as well as how you can strengthen your relationship with families and teachers as well as the opportunities that can come from daily communication.
2. ” It is important that you share with families at least one observation of the child each day.” ( page 65 ). This quote stood out to me because it is important to understand that some parents may worry about the well being of their child as well as what their child did and how they behaved throughout the day. Some parents may even worry if their child missed them throughout the day so it is important to share information at the end of the day.
3. This article does not necessarily relate to my personal experience.
4. Communication through technology is one of the easier ways to talk to parents considering the fact that a lot of parents are not stay at home parents or they don’t have such a flexible schedule. Whether it be communication through call or text. Another way would be at the end of the day when parents some to get their child. You can share information about the child or the program and events that might be happening or coming up and what you would like the parents to bring. Lastly, daily notes and announcements. Notes and emails also offer parents and teachers a chance to communicate with each other even if teachers are working late.
5. After a long day, I would suggest a small meditation cool down. Because it can get pretty hectic throughout the day, it is important to have a cool down so that some of that energy can leave the body so that the child id calm when its time to go home.
6. This reading has helped me understand the importance of daily communication and taught me different alternatives to help communicate with families.
Hey AAlyah! just like yu I also believe that communicating with parents electronically is one of the easiest way because of its flexibility.
great job.
Aalyah, I like the quote that you picked for question #2. It is important for teachers to observe kids and give families some feedback! The families should feel connected to the center as much as the kids do.
Aalyah — Thanks for sharing your ideas! Did your teachers use the methods described to communicate with your family? What if they had? All 3 of the communication methods you identified are important! How would the meditation cool down help Damien and Brett? Tell me more!
1. The article is about how the communication between families and teachers is so important in order to keep both sides aware of the child’s changes, health and events. Teachers that are able to communicate with families are able to provide better quality care since they are able to acknowledge the child in a deeper way. And on the other hand, families that are able to communicate with teachers are able to learn about their child’s processes even when they are not together.
2.”Many families who haven’t seen their child all day will be eager for news. Some parents will be wondering if their child missed them”. (P.6) Because as a babysitter I have been able to see children missing their parents after not seeing them for a whole day, and thanks to being able to communicate with the parents I have the opportunity to let them know about their child’s processes.
3.This article connects to my personal experience as for me being a babysitter of a toddler, I’ve had the opportunity to do pick ups at the child’s school and I can see how the staff members take the time to chat with each parent and tell them about the child’s day.
4. I strongly believe that the most effective methods to communicate with the families of infants and toddlers are: Chatting with the family member over either pick up/drop off time, so that both the teacher and the parent can talk about the child in front of him. Another way I believe is very efficient is to send hard copy notes in the child’s backpack/lunch box so that when the child is home and the parents are going through the bag they can read the note in a very clear way, and if the have any concerns they can talk about it either in person at the school or communicate with the teacher in any other possible way.
5. As a babysitter I have experienced that when its time for a transition from a big activity to another, or especially from a change of place or situation, what works best with children is to do an activity that doesn’t require a lot of excitement, actually, an activity that allows them to calm down so when its time to switch activities, or to transition from place to place the idea is welcome and the change its not so traumatic.
6. This reading will help me become a better infant/toddler professional in a way that the article made me understand the importance of having communication with the families. Now I have deeper understanding of families that when they haven’t seen their little one is normal to be eager to know everything about their child’s processes such as eating, napping, diapering, playing etc. Also it is very important that us, as educators, take the time and be willing to be flexible to communicate with parents.
Juli, I like how you related each of your response to your personal experience as a babysitter. In #5, you mentioned the transition that a child should have in order to relax and calm themselves down. Switching to something relaxing from a hectic day is important for children too as much as it is important for us adults. Good job!
Hey Juli, I definitely agree with you about the effective methods of communication. I really liked the idea of the note in the book bag so the parents are still being informed about their child.
Hey Juliana, I like the quote that you chose and I would’ve never noticed the purpose behind it but thank you for enlightening me with your reasoning.
Juli — Thanks for your post! The quote you picked highlights that tension that many families have about leaving their child with someone else! As we talked about in class, families often want to be the ones with their children, but for many reasons can’t be and have to work. Families want their children to be well-cared for and to have fun, but they also want their children to miss them! What has it been like for you to communicate with families?
1. Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the reading in 4-6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text. – The article was on family-teacher partnerships. The daily communications, check-ins and finding out time to talk to parents help them feel engaged and involved in their child’s learning. This article mentioned both phone and in-person communication. It actually varies from parent to parent with what they are comfortable with and choose to follow. It is said that in person communication is easy to follow and helps the child and the parent in the long run. Phone communication is also beneficial but sometimes takes more effort and planning. The two communication process helps both parents and the teacher to give feedback, work as a team to support and build a relationship for the development of the child. An important aspect that caught my attention was that by having this partnership, the child feels that their two worlds are connected (page 60).
2. What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why? – “Rather than having two distinct lives, children can feel that the two parts of their day are connected and whole (page 60)”. This quote made me think how important it is for the child if teachers and parents work together as a team for a his/her development. The child gets their bit at home and then it reflects back in school. Working as a team for a child’s development is best when they spend and utilize time with the ones who know them best and are experienced at the same time. Example – loved ones who want nothing but the best for the child.
3. How does this reading connect to your personal experience? – This reading connects to me personally as when I was a kid, and when I was around my parents when they were communicating with my teachers about my development or my behavior, I felt that I was never really involved and included in it. Like my teacher never directly mentioned – “Oh! Vavi, I am just telling your mom about how naughty or how well you did this activity today”. I feel that it is important for the child to be aware of what has been discussed about them so that they know the feedback, good or bad, which would help them in their own development.
4. Of the many methods and ways to communicate with families described, which do you think are the 3 most important to use when working with families of infants and toddlers? Why? – The three most important methods and ways to communicate with a family that I feel is both convenient and beneficial are – providing daily notes and announcements, making family journals and also through technology like calls, texts or even by emails. Notes and announcements are helpful as it gives a heads up to parents to plan their days accordingly. It also reminds them with upcoming events or something they need to send with their child. This way it helps the teachers and parents be on the same page. Second method that I mentioned was making a family journal with pictures of every child with their parents along with a quote or a note that the family wants to put there. This will make kids feel close to their family while being with the caretakers. It will also show the child that their family is considered important and is respected even outside home. Then comes interacting through technology. Technology is so helpful in today’s world where every parent cannot accommodate their schedule and also find it difficult to meet in person. Teachers communicate through calls, texts or emails to check in with parents and visa-versa. Keeping parents informed about their child is important and also the teacher should be informed too by the parents if they need to do something in a more certain way. All these methods help the parents and teacher communicate and work as a team with one another.
5. What else could have been done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home? – As kids do get tired in school, playing a soothing music for them or music of their choice will help them relax themselves and get in the mood to go back home. Damien could do the same and Brett can join him so that Damien feels a sense of home once again.
6. How will this reading help you become a better infant-toddler professional? – This reading will help me build good communication skills and map the alternatives if one option doesn’t work, then I know that there are many others. As a teacher, I would be attentive of children’s needs and communicate well with parents about the same.
Hey Vavi, I like the quote you chose. I feel that its very important for children to feel comfortable at school just like at home and I agree with the example you put at the end of that answer.
Hey Vaishnavi, Wow I really enjoyed all of your responses to each question many rich vivid details. Especially the first one it really shows that you understood the reading well. Great Work :).
Vavi– Thanks for your insights! You picked a powerful quote! It connects back to Baker & Manfreddi/ Pettit (2004) from weekly module #2 on relationships! When teachers and families have strong relationships, everyone benefits — especially the babies! What methods of communication did your teachers use with your family? Your idea of Brett and Damien engaging in an activity together may help them to make the transition!
1. The main idea of this reading is how important it is to communicate daily with one another (teachers and families). The reading also explains different ways you can communicate with the families. It’s important to keep in touch with families so both you and the family are aware about what’s happening and how you can make things better for the child.
2. A quote that was meaningful to me was “ Talking with families daily offers you a chance to stay apprised of children’s moods, family events and experiences, and out-of-school connections to friends and community.” (page 60). This quote was meaningful and important to me because I feel like if you do not have communication with the parents then you won’t understand the child as much as you should. You don’t know if the child if going through things at home or just having a hard time because you don’t communicate with their families.
3. When I was in elementary school, I missed a lot of school days due to medical reasons, throughout the years some of my teachers would take time out their day to talk to me and my parents so they can understand what i was going through and it helped a lot. they would keep in touch with my parents to make sure I was doing what I had to do to keep learning while I wasn’t in school.
4. Communicating through technology. Some parents don’t have the time to have face to face conversations so with technology you can always send a text, email, or call so the parent can talk whenever they are free. Setting up time before dropping off children to have one on one conversations if they have time. Also daily notes and announcements. This is good to let families know about events, any update on their child, what their learning. Just to keep them up to date on whats going on.
5. Most kids are ready to go home so sometimes they rush and it’s just crazy everywhere. I feel that before transitioning to go home, everyone should get ready then sit down in silence for a few minutes to calm down.
6. This reading helps me have a better understanding of why it’s important to communicate with families and also the different ways I can do that.
Hey Solanny I really liked why you chose the quote, I definitely agree that without the knowledge from the parent you definitely don’t know what is going on with the child.
Solanny — Thanks for your thoughts! I agree that communicating with families on a daily basis is an important way to help teachers learn about babies! If children are picked up at different times, how would the moments of silence work? How would it help Damien and Brett?
1. The main idea about this article is on family teacher partnerships and how important it is to communicate with each other daily. It also explains two ways to communicate with each other, phone and in person communication. Though the phone can be very beneficial, it has a lot more effort put into it along with planning while in person can help both family and child in the future. It is also important to keep in touch with each other (parent/teacher) so you know what to be aware of when it comes to the child and what you can do to make it better.
2. A quote that was meaningful to me was “if children are present while adults are talking about them, you must think about what they are hearing. If the conversation is about them, they should be included”(pg 61). I chose this quote because I always thought it was important to not just communicate with the parent but to the child so they know how good they are doing and what are some things that they can work on at school or at home with their parent.
3. As a mother this connects with my personal experience because my son’s teacher and I communicate as much as we can through the school week either by phone or notebook and what I mean by the notebook is I will have a notebook in my sons book bag for the teacher so I may ask how my son is doing at school, is he getting along with the kids, etc… If I cant understand something that she has written back to reply to my concerns we would talk on the phone on what is going on and what I should do with my son and I can let her know what certain things she can do with him to get his attention.
4. Communicating through text, email, and call I find most important because not every parent is a stay at home parent. Their are parent that have busy schedules and are not able to meet with the child’s teacher. Another is talking with the parent when they are picking up the child or dropping them off and let them know what’s going on in front of the child. You can also leave a note in the Childs book bag or maybe even use a notebook to communicate back and forth with the parent.
5. I feel that they should be given an activity that will help them calm down and not have a lot of excitement to it.
6. This reading gave me ideas to use to communicate with the families along with knowing how and why it is important to do so.
Hey Tiana, I love how you were able to connect your personal experience with this reading. Good Job :).
Hey Tiana, Great quote having respect for the child is so important.
your quote is right ! respecting the child is important when we talk about them we have to make sure we speak directly to them and if its inappropriate we have to make sure we save it for private chat.
Tiana — Thanks for your input! The quote you picked connects to the Kovack & Da Vos Roseles (2011) we read about communicating with babies! Talking to babies, instead of talking about babies is important — so having conversations with families “about” babies like they aren’t there. It’s disrespectful! Giving an activity that both Brett and Damien could enjoy together could help them to make the transition home!
Hi Tiana I certainly agree with your quote
1). The main idea of the article is the importance of communication between families and teachers. Communication between parents and teachers helps improve academic performance on the child. Also builds a relationship between the child and the teacher which is really important. When both parents and teachers share communication about the child with each other it helps the child tremendously because their needs are better met.
2). The quote that was most meaningful to me was “Phone calls, emails or texts, written notes, and interactive journals are all ways to communicate when face – to- face time is limited (Page 63)”. This quote stood out to me because it is really important to make ways for families and really consider that some parents don’t have a lot of time not that they don’t want to get to know more about their child and the way they are in a classroom and also to get involved and support their children’s education but work and other life situation get in the way. I believe programs who go an extra step to make sure every family has an opportunity to get involved in their child’s education really does care about their students and they make sure every family is satisfied with the place they leave their children in every day.
3). This reading connects to my personal experience in a way because growing up my mother was a busy hard working woman and always had to work and so her time was really limited. It was really important to me that she came to check up on me at school and my school always had mornings and afternoon meetings where parents can choose when it is convenient for them to go. This really helped my mother because she worked and also has the time to come to the meetings. The fact that she always came to my meeting and never missed any made a big impact in my performance in school. It motivates me to work harder in school and make her proud when she comes. The point that I am trying to get across is just like the reading explains the importance of families getting involved by communicating to teachers and also checking up on children because it makes a difference.
4). The reading mentions many ways to communicate with families, and I believe each of them work really well. However if I had to choose a couple I would choose 1) scheduling a flexible time when families are able to meet. 2) communicating via text,email and phone calls. 3) Daily notes and announcements. These are all some ways that are beneficial ways of communication when working with families of infants and toddlers because all of these three choices give opportunities to parents whose time is more limited.
5). It is not easy for small children when they have to transition from home to school and repeat it every day. So as educators it is really important that when children are at school we make them a place/ environment where they feel comfortable as if they were at home. We can create this environment by sometimes breaking the striked routine and making them feel more comfortable by choosing their activity of choice. A simple thing as that can change the child’s perspective and make them have a good time.
6). This reading helps me become a better infant- toddler professional because it explained to me the importance of working and communicating with families to better benefit the child’s education. As an infant and toddlers educator we would have to face parents many times, and also communication with families is very important when working with small children they are not able to communicate to parents everything so we have to work as a team with parents and communicate about each child to help the meet the child’s needs as best as possible.
Hey Edisa, I agree with the three communication ways that you chose
Edisa — Thanks for your thoughtful reply! Yes, families are overwhelmed and their time is limited! Finding ways to communicate with families that meet their needs, and share important info about their children is key! That is wonderful that your school had multiple ways to connect with families! Having an activity that Brett and Damian could engage in together to prepare for their transition home is a great suggestion!
Hi Edisa I agree with how your methods of communicating as well as how this reading can help you become a better infant-toddler professional.
1. Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the reading in 4-6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text.
— The main idea is to help children better their education through the roles of their own teachers and parents. Having better communication skills between the child’s parent and the teacher can allow the child to learn quicker and better than they usually do. its important to keep this communication skill regardless if its in person or over the phone speaking. That’s why its important to have family-teacher partnership.
2. What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why? –
— A quote that was meaningful to me was, ” It is used to talk to parents individually and as a group about the importance of daily check-ins and ways to make these work for busy families as well as for you.” (page 61). I found this quote meaningful because it shows that not only is it important for the parent to talk to the teacher about the child for communication purposes but it is also important to caught up and learn the progress of your child. Things that you can help them with at home and things that they are doing just fine.
3. How does this reading connect to your personal experience?
— This reading connects to my personal experience because as a child my grandma had to take the role of being a parent for educationally purposes. my mom and dad was busy most of the time, but my parents still found a way to stay connected which wad through my grandma and through phone calls with my teacher.
4. Of the many methods and ways to communicate with families described, which do you think are the 3 most important to use when working with families of infants and toddlers? Why?
— Three of the most important way to communicate when working with families of infants and toddlers is to chat with the family member over either pick up/drop off time. It can be better to communicate while the child is present. Another way is sending home notes with the child in their lunchbox or bookbag. This will help because it gives the child ( if they are cold enough) a chance to explain their selves personally about what happened that day. The third way is communicating through text email or phone calls. Communicating like this will be helpful because it allows both the teacher and the parent to make time especially if they don’t have time to meet with each other in person.
5. What else could have been done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home?
— I feel like because we all know kids can get wild and hyper at times going home time, or after lunch time. It would be the best option if they all the kids up to relax for maybe like 10- 20 mins with there heads down. Another option would be to have story time. I also feel like books can calm kids down especially if its a relaxing book and one that doesn’t get to wild.
6. How will this reading help you become a better infant-toddler professional?
— This reading will help me to become a better infant- toddler professional because it made me realize all of the different ways there is to communicate with the child’s parent which is some things that I would take into consideration.
i agree with the quote you chose that is so important
Isis– Thanks for sharing! Interesting how your grandmother was the “relay” between the school and your parents. What do you think the authors would say about that? What would you do if you were the teacher and the grandmother was the “relay”? Tell me more about relaxing in relation to Brett and Damien!
The text was about the importance of communication with parents and families. The importance of checking in all the time about their child and being a good support system.It also talks about respecting the baby in a sense of when you’re communicating with their parent and when you talk about them making sure you involve the baby in the conversation. Giving the families an open set of options to meet up is important because some parents are so busy and barely have any time to chat.
“Another significant part of the daily check in between educators and families is children’s role ‘(61). I chose this quote because even though we are talking about communication with parents we can’t forget about the babies because they are still getting used to home and school and separation.
My personal experience working with kids made me realize how important all these things are. Like while working in a daycare just that small check in can make a parent feel better.
Of the many methods and ways to communicate with families described, which do you think are the 3 most important to use when working with families of infants and toddlers? Why? I think the communication and working with the parents to set a time or even by text or phone because it makes it convenient for the parent because some parents really dont have the time to meet up so another option would be by phone or text.
As you can see Brett really just wanted to spend time with his son but calming down for a few minutes was all that was needed and I think listening to some calm music and talking with Damien would help to calm the rest of the day down.
This will help me become a better teacher because I’m understanding the importance of communication and have options open and to be ready for certain circumstances.
I agree Sarah, the article did mentioned that the parents were living separately. So I agree maybe slowing things down and spending more time with each other was needed. Great observation!
agree with your quote, we must treat babies like we would to another adult and not ignore their presence
Sarah — Thanks for your post! Yes, babies do have an important role in communicating with families! Tell me more about the “small check” and how that can make a family feel better!
Communications can be in many forms. It can also be verbal and non verbal. Teachers can communicate with parents via phone, email, or in person. Depending on what the parents are most comfortable with , may be the best way to keep in touch with families. Other ways of communicate can be notes that are sent home. Face to Face communication may be the most effective but sometimes may not be the most convenient and easiest. Often times parents have conflicting schedules. In those instances more efforts need to be made. Daily check ins should be encouraged to help build trust, relationships, team work, and support. Having enough staff ensures that check-ins run smoothly. Just as its important to check-in with parents it is also important to greet children as they are dropped off. This helps them feel welcomed and gives them are great start to their day. Interactive journals can be shared with families to show the progress of the child and how they day went. Notes are helpful to send reminders to families. Pick up is just important as drop off because when parents are synced with the child, and teachers before leaving at pick up, children seem to have an even better evening.
What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why? ” If they can get in sync before they leave the program they will have a much better evening” page 65 Ideally as a parent myself I’ve never took this into consideration. Some days I’m in a rush and will try to leave my son’s school as fast possible. I found this interesting and will put this to the test to see if it really makes a difference.
How does this reading connect to your personal experience? For the most part its just a reminder of the many ways I can communicate with others. What was new to me was learning about the interactive family journals. I’ve always seen them in my child’s classroom but never really asked about it. Its something I will inquire about it the future.
Of the many methods and ways to communicate with families described, which do you think are the 3 most important to use when working with families of infants and toddlers? Why? 1. Face to face: I think this is the most effective way and you can get a clear, direct, detailed answer to any question you may have. You can hear their tone, see their facial expression and can clarify anything on the spot. 2. Phone/Email: You can keep a record of any communication you want to be documented such as a quick recap of how the child’s day was. Refer back to text/messages. For quick answers to questions. Can be beneficial to parents who have conflicting schedules.
3. Handouts: Handout are cool for parents who like putting things on their fridge like myself. It can be a way to communicate events that are happening. The only downfall is that most of the time people lose papers and can be costly to print out so much handouts.
What else could have been done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home? I honestly think that was the best way to handle the situation. Maybe even asked the dad and child to look at what we did that day and possibly let the children take home their work so they can keep the conversation going.
How will this reading help you become a better infant-toddler professional? It will be a constant reminder to the many different forms of communication I can use to my advantage. Ultimately, I will be mindful to use the best form of communication that’s comfortable for the parents. I also would like to maybe have take home pieces for the children daily, so that when their being picked up I can use that as a conversation piece.
Deb — Thanks for your input! As a parent, which methods would you prefer the school use to communicate with you? Finding the mode/ form of communication that is best for each individual family is the key!
This article talks about how communication is important for parents and teachers. Since teachers spend most of the day with the child they know how the child is doing in their learning. what they are having trouble with and what the parents can do to help the child improve. It also talks about what ways a teacher and a parent can communicate. Keeping in mind what might work best for the parent.
“Most parents have time limitations during drop-off and pick up times. They may be in the rush to work or school or to drop off another child” page 2 This quote is meaningful because my mom she’s always rushing in the mornings because she has to get to work and she gets out of work late so the teachers call her to let her know how my sister is doing
This connects to me because depending on my schedule helps my mom by picking up my sister from school or by even dropping her off when she has to go in early. So the teachers tell me what she does in the class and what they need from us so she can improve in her learning.
I believe the best 3 ways to communicate with families would be through call, text and email because parents might be always on the run and leaving a text message would be good and for other parent who have a more flexible job a call during break would be okay or leave an email can be also good in any occasion since parents tend to always be on look out for important messages.
What else could have been done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home? Before doing any other activity take a minute to breath or even sing a song during any change of activity.
This reading will help me be a better caregiver because one important thing a teacher should do is communicate with the parents. Because even if it’s a small detail it should be told to parents.
i agree with your quote, for these type of parents it is good to find a way to be able to communicate with them without the parent needing to be present, face to face
Hey Marilyn, I agree with your quote, people sometimes forget that some parents are very busy and have work or come out really late. My mom was definitely one that got texts about my progress in school.
Marilyn — Thanks for your insights! Ways to communicate with busy families are important in today’s world! Yes, we should share small details with families on a consistent basis!
1. The main idea of the article Keyser (2017) is that it is important to have communication between parents and teachers. This includes that the teacher finds different ways that she/he is able to communicate with the parents. This can be done in person before or after class, by the phone, messages, emails, chatting with them, in blogs, writing a note that the child brings home with them. Also, the article states to find way to keep the parents informed of different events by messages, blogs, have noticed in the building before entering the classroom and so.
2. A quote that was meaningful to me is found on page 8 where it states, “daily communication provides different kinds of opportunities for strengthing the partnership and keeps teachers and families up-to-date with each other.” I feel like this quote summarizes what the article was about, how as teachers we can find many ways we can communicate with parents but also find things that can help us connect with them and have a closer bond with them.
3. This reading connects to my personal experience because my teachers actually tried to find ways she can communicate with my parents and be able to find ways to help me do better in school.
4. I think the 3 most important ways to communicate with families would be having the: 1 daily check-in because we can speak the parents directly about their child’s day and they are able to get that feed and be able to ask any concerns they have, 2 have phone calls, emails or texts to be able to be in contact with the families that you don’t see as often but are just as important as those families you see every day and lastly, sharing information about the child’s day, this way you can describe what the child did but also show that their child daily activities are important to the teacher.
5. What could be done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home would be supporting and being patience like the teacher and seeing what the parent and child could do together to bond before going home
6. This reading will help me become a better infant-toddler professional because it has helped me see the importance of having close bonds and actually getting to know every family member in the program, this not only helps me have a closer bond with the child but also with the parents.
Hey Daisy, I totally agree with the quote you chose. I honestly feel like it’s very important for families to be involved in their child’s learning process.
Daisy — Thanks for sharing! Communication with families fosters trust and builds relationships! We have to communicate with families in order to build relationships! What methods did your teachers use to communicate with your family? Doing an activity together could help Damien and Brett make the transition to go home!
Hey Daisy, Great Job. I agree with everything you said !
1. The main idea of this reading was the constant development of daily communications between families and their child care provider. Using multiple techniques this reading lists ways of different types of communication such as calls, texts, emails and face to face talks, etc. It aso continues to provide the effects of families being involved and interactive with their children, when it comes to their learning progress.
2. “Many families who haven’t seen their child all day will be eager for news. Some parents will be wondering if their children missed them….Many families have an underlying worry that their children will be ignored once they leave.”(P6)(P65) Because in the future I really want to be an involved parent with my children in everything they do, especially their learning process when they are young and just starting. So I plan on asking my kids how their day went and all that just to show them and so that they know that I care.
3. The reading doesn’t really connect to my personal experiences other than my parents never actually wanting to be/not caring enough to be involved in my learning growing up.
4. Calls,text and short talks sessions before and after preschool. Calls and text for families that don’t have enough time or that feel more comfortable talking through a phone, so even if they are distances apart they are still communicating with the families. Along with having short face to face talks to keep the families updated on their child’s progress.
5. Something else they could’ve done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home would be before starting class announce the day’s routine and what is going to happen in the order that it’s going to happen and crossing out the activities you’ve done as you go through the list of what the children will be doing so when it’s time to go home they already know that the day is over. Another thing is making going home fun, having something planned so when it’s time to go home they are excited.
6. This reading helped me understand the importance of constant communication between the professional and the families. It gave me new methods and ideas as to how I can communicate with my future student’s families.
Amairany — Thanks for your post! As a teacher, how will you share information with families about what happened to their children during the day? Having a predictable schedule helps children know what’s coming next — including when their family is coming/ when it’s time to go home. How would that look for children who go home or leave at different times?
Summarize the main idea, key details, and what you learned from the reading in 4-6 sentences in your own words. Use key terms and vocabulary from the text. The main idea of the reading Keyser (2017) talks about how important it is for family and teachers to communicate. This article also talks about ways that a family and teacher can communicate through phones and also through email,chats and text messages or even chat or text messages. Another thing this article talks about is how important it is for the teacher and parent to communicate because check ins about the child are so important and doing that will have the teacher and parent with a good relationship.
What quote(s) was most meaningful to you? (identify the page number) Why? The quote that was most meaningful to me was “Written communication also allows families and teachers who dont see each other or have enough time to talk”. This quote meant the most to me because I believe that if a parent doesnt have time to communicate with the teacher over the phone, The teacher can email the parent to touch base about the child rather than the parent being clueless.
How does this reading connect to your personal experience? This reading can connect back to my personal experience because when I was In PreK my mom could never make it to meetings because she was getting out of work too late but she always found time to communicate with my teachers over the phone.
Of the many methods and ways to communicate with families described, which do you think are the 3 most important to use when working with families of infants and toddlers? Why? Face to Face, Phone & Email. I say face to face because face to face can be beneficial to parents that have time. I also say phone/email because that can be beneficial for parents who does not have time.
What else could have been done to support Brett and help Damien transition to go home? I think something that could have been done to support Brett and help Damien Transition to go home is being more calmer.
How will this reading help you become a better infant-toddler professional? This reading helps me become a better infant-toddler professional because it gave me ideas on what to do if i cant meet with a family face to face .. Instead of just leaving the family clueless.
Question 1-The main idea of the article is the importance of communication between families and teachers. Communication between parents and teachers helps improve academic performance on the child. The main idea of the article is the importance of communication between families and teachers.
Question 2- The quote that was most meaningful to me was “Phone calls, emails or texts, written notes, and interactive journals are all ways to communicate when face – to- face time is limited (Page 63)”. This quote stood out to me because I feel it is really important to make provide passageways for families and consider the fact that some parents don’t have a lot of time whether it’d be from work or other conflict,not that they don’t want to get to know more about their child and how they are progressing in a classroom. This is the case with my little cousin and his parents.
Question 3- This reading connects to my personal experience in a way because growing up my mother was a busy hard working woman and always had to work and so her time was really limited. It was really important to me that she came to check up on me at school and my school always had mornings and afternoon meetings where parents can choose when it is convenient for them to go. This really helped my mother because she worked and also has the time to come to the meetings. The fact that she attended the meeting had a large impact in my performance in school. And this encourages me to want to do the best I can in school.
Question 4- If I had to choose a few methods I would choose 1.Communicating via text,email and phone calls. 2. Scheduling a flexible time when families are able to meet. 3. Written notes or a notebook to plan/communicate. It’s important for the parent to talk to the teacher about the child for communication purposes but it is also important to caught up and learn the progress of your child.
Question 5- One option would be to have story time or a calming activity. We can create calmness by making them feel more comfortable by choosing their activity of choice. Another would be having them rest with their heads down.
Question 6-This reading will help me to become a better infant- toddler professional because it made me realize all of the different ways there is to communicate with the child’s parent. This reading will help me to become a better infant- toddler professional because I’m now familiar with all of the different ways there are to communicate with the child’s parent. I also understand why it may be or is important.
I have reviewed this module
The article was on family/teacher communication. Check-ins and finding time to talk to parents help them feel engaged and involved in the child’s learning. The article mentioned both phone and in-person conversations, It was said that in person communication is easy to follow and helps the child and the parent. Phone communication is more beneficial, These two communication process helps both parents and the teacher to give feedback and parents kept in the loop. Parents and teachers work as a team to support and build a relationship for the development of the child. This relates to my personal life cause as a kid I used to get in trouble alot so the teachers used to call my mom or have meetings to make sure I got my work done
Module closed