Richard Knight, early years development manager at the ÎÞÂëÌìÌÃ, shares ideas for inspiring families and support learning at home
Parents and families must be valued, supported and empowered to be engaged in their children’s lifelong learning journey. Using a broad range of approaches to supporting parents at your early years provision can help improve outcome for children and young people.
All families and parents are just as unique as the children we support. The complex differences between each parent and each family means that the pathways to achieving positive relationships should always be seen as a work in progress, rather than a race to the finish line.
How can we differentiate our approach, considering the ways we communicate and create opportunities for all families to be welcomed and listened to?
Reflecting on and evaluating our work can help ensure that our provision is as inclusive as possible and that our work continues to make a difference to the children in our care.
What does ‘empowering families’ mean?
Empowering parents and carers is about improving and strengthening the methods by which educators engage with them. It’s about ensuring that they are at the centre of decision-making processes in their child’s education.
Early years providers should create a culture in which ongoing collaboration with parents is the norm and not the exception. This is crucial to building a system in which parents and carers feel valued, respected and truly empowered.
Parents as partners
Acknowledging and supporting parents and the family in their key role as the primary educators of their children is enshrined in the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
The framework tells us that key persons must look for ways to engage with and support families and carers in guiding children’s development at home. We know that families and influential adults make a huge difference to children’s outcomes. It is important that educators give priority to working with parents and seek to understand the family’s commitment to their children’s learning and early education.
Working together gives everyone the best understanding of a child’s needs, interests, likes and dislikes. This partnership will lead to better provision within a setting and maximise the potential we as early educators have to influence learning at home.
Parents as educators
Most families arrive at early childhood setting with a bank of observations about their children. They will often know the best ways to support them.
As early years providers, we should be effective at capturing parents’ voices, giving utmost appreciation and respect to the rich knowledge that families have about their children. We should work to weave that into the flow of practice and teaching.
Remember...
- Parents, carers and families make a vital difference to children’s learning and development.
- Parents/carers are a child’s first and most enduring educators.
- Each family is unique.
- Consider the best engagement methods to work with families.
- Thinking about partnership with parents is a good starting point.
- Educators have a responsibility to work with all families.