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(Unit 4) Topic 3: Family and Community Partnerships

3 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

Positive Relationships with Families

Topic 3 Page 2

Communication is one of the critical elements of a successful early childhood program.
As an educator, your abilities to use written and verbal communication are part of your daily job responsibilities. From welcoming parents and children in the morning to saying good-bye at pick-up time, your day will be filled with verbal interactions and conversations with families. Writing notes to parents, completing lesson plans, and completing documentation are just a few of the ways that you will communicate with families.

Family engagement starts by meeting families where they are and engaging them in interactions and experiences they choose and that feel most comfortable to them. When families have trusting, consistent, and responsive relationships with others (such as community members, service providers, caregivers, teachers), they are more likely to have positive relationships with their children. In essence, if you think of yourself in partnership with families, you will be attuned with family-centered practice.

Every Family is Unique

Every family is different and it is important to keep an open mind about what makes up a family. Each person defines family in his or her own way. For some, family may represent those individuals living in the same home (under one roof). For others, family may be the child’s parents and all of the important adults who help care for the young child, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, or best friends. Family is consistent in the child’s life and it is the most important source of information about the child.

As a professional working with young children, it is important to acknowledge that your own experiences influence your views about families and working with families. You will encounter individuals who define family differently than you do and who may share values, customs, or codes of behavior that are different from yours.

When teachers understand families as a system and the impact of parenting in early childhood, they are better able to develop partnerships with families and to help create an environment that meets the needs of each child.