Many early childhood educators enter the field because they love working with children — only to find that they must also engage parents and families! When caring for children, you are in a unique position to educate and encourage the whole family, and, most of all, to listen to the family and understand the dynamics that are positive, productive relationships with families is a very important part of your job.

In the past 25 years, attitudes have changed about the role of the family — they are now treasured as children’s first teachers and as full partners in the education process. Your role is to coordinate with these partners to continue at home with the healthy development that you are carefully creating in your class. No matter how much you may encourage children to learn, if education is not valued by the family, the children’s chances of success are reduced.

You can no longer assume that each child will go home to a mother and father. There are many configurations of families in today’s world, and your definition of a family must go way beyond simply parents to now include grandparents, older and younger siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins, step families, family friends, and significant others. Neighborhoods and religious and cultural communities will also influence them in many ways. Even learning about family pets provides useful information about the children you teach.

Engaging with family members as partners in education is extremely important. To give children a healthy start in life, early childhood educators should consider themselves to be working for the healthy development of two generations: children and their parents or caregivers. Here are five ways early education programs can do a better job of encouraging families to stay engaged with what their children are learning:

1. Include families in decision-making about their child’s experience.
2. Engage families in consistent, two-way, and flexible communication.
3. Embrace families’ knowledge, skills, and backgrounds, and use them in their child’s learning experience.
4. Help families develop a home environment that enhances learning.
5. Make sure that all staff members can develop meaningful relationships with diverse families.

References:

• “Building Effective Partnerships with Families,” Chapter 7, in S. Bredekamp, Effective Practices in Early Childhood Education: Building a Foundation. Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
• “Family Engagement,” Chapter 17, in V. Washington and JD Andrews, eds. Children of 2020: Creating a Better Tomorrow. Council for Professional Recognition, Washington, DC.
• “Keys to establish productive relationships with families,” Unit 6, in Essentials for Child Development Associates Working with Young Children. Council for Professional Recognition, Washington, DC.
• Early Ed Watch Blog by the New America Foundation

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