Post by Bailey Campbell on Dec 29, 2016 19:20:34 GMT -8
Communicating effectively with families is a major step in creating a healthy and positive learning environment for children in your care center / program. In order to truly have effective communication with a family you must be able to first approach the conversation with their perspective in mind (what is of priority to them). It is important to acknowledge the strengths of the child when communicating with the family, because being positive and specific with information allows you to work with the family to build on the strengths of the child to problem solve more effectively. The problem or situation should be approached with important, descriptive language of what is occurring, without judgment. Acknowledge the differences between observations of the staff and of the family if they are not the same. You should also support the competence of the parent (or family) of the child, make sure to point out where some of the child's strengths may come from due to their help. And most importantly, validate the emotions of the families' when discussing their child, this allows the potential to build a much stronger foundation of mutual respect and friendship in the team work of educating children.