Child Development

[Lizziey Watkins]

The most straight forward and thorough way to communicate information about a child's development to his parents is to schedule a meeting or parent-teacher conference to sit down and discuss how the child is developing. This is ideal because it affords the caregiver time to talk with the parents when they are focused and not in a hurry to leave. Another way to inform parents about their child's developments is to talk with them at the end of each day, when they come to pick up their child. These short, consistent conversations are ideal for allowing a caregiver to communicate small but important changes, daily, in small doses that parents will remember because they are only receiving a small amount of information. Lastly, if face time with parent is difficult to achieve, a caregiver may resort to written communication. This method is easy for all types of parents because they can read the detailed information whenever they have the time at home, rather than worrying about needing to be in a particular place at a particular time. Any of these options are effective ways to professionally communicate information about a child's development to his parents. 

[Gale Coleman]

When teachers/care providers are busy, communicating effectively can be challenging, but being available to the parent creates trust between parents and caregivers which involves using an open communication system that benefits the children, parents and caregivers. And so, caregivers are better able to help children learn when they make themselves available to communicate with the parents about the child, they can learn from the parents about the child's family, culture, home life, and language.