Working in Partnership with Families

The children in your care will have the best child care experience possible if you and the parent or guardian work together to meet his or her needs. Sometimes this partnership evolves naturally simply because you and the parent “click.” Your personalities may be compatible and beliefs about child rearing may be similar. More typically, this relationship, like most human relationships takes conscious effort. Below are some things you can do to foster a good relationship with your parent.

Talk to the parent or guardian

• Try to greet each parent as they drop off and pick up their children
• Bring up concerns right away
• Ask when would be a good time to talk
• Share information about what you are seeing during the day
• Ask the parent or guardian to share information that will help you understand their child

Clearly communicate your policies

• Make sure parents know your drop off and pick up times
• Make sure your policy about early drop off and pick up times is discussed with the parents, provided in writing, and that the policy is consistently enforced
• Make sure parents understand when payment for care is due
• Ensure that parents understand when sick children may not be in care and enforce this policy consistently
• Make sure parents understand that your sick policy exists to safeguard the health of all children in care
• If you are a family child care provider, let parents know immediately if you will not be able to provide care for some reason, such as a family emergency. If possible, try to have backup care available
• If you work in a child care center, make sure parents know dates when the center will be closed for any reason, such as holidays or parent conferences

Help parents ensure that children are ready for care

• Talk with parents about how they can help children transition to care
• Ensure that parents know what supplies are needed during the day, like extra clothing in case of toileting accidents or spills

Recognize and acknowledge that balancing family responsibilities may be challenging

• Parents are often rushing as they drop children off and pick them up. This can make it hard to connect with parents and share information about their child. As much as possible, try to speak at least a few words with each parent each day
• Try to make an appointment to discuss critical issues
• Let parents know you appreciate their business and understand that it can be difficult to entrust someone else with the care of their precious children