During our webinar, Child Development for the Family Child Care Provider, there were many providers offering excellent suggestions and strategies for helping to bridge the home and FCC experience and partnering with parents in this process. Here are a few of the highlights:
- “I find that the children in my child care home adapt to their environment with me better when I try to include things that maybe they do at home.”
- “There is a child who I cared for who used to throw very big tantrums and have huge melt downs when he did not get his way. I sat down with mom and she stated he did the same thing at home also. So we both agreed on a strategy and we both did it”.
- “Role modeling is very important. Children do what they see us do”.
- “I believe when we are supportive of families, and encourage love and give hope and encouragement and understanding, and show support for families, it helps the families to feel like someone is in their corner and they are not all alone in parenting”.
- “I offer hand-outs, give website links and short reads to my parents. I also host a parent meeting annually where just the parents are able to attend, we discuss topics, I share what I know, and we together look for answers”.
(These are quotes from FCC professionals who participated in the webinar and contributed their questions and ideas during the live webinar. We have made minor edits to some quotes to fit this format. To view the recording of the webinar, click on the Grow section and explore webinars).
Sharing ideas on how to use social media – specifically Facebook groups to communicate with families
Adapted from Janet Gonzalez-Mena and Navaz Bhavnagri these questions are helpful for providers to self reflect when struggling with a family’s practice, that is different than their own.
Did you ever think about the many opportunities to incorporate math into something like an outing to the park or meal time? This resource was designed to be shared with families, but has plenty of excellent ideas for how to incorporate math into everyday routines and outings in your family child care home. Each idea is connected to a math concept such as number, geometry, spatial sense, or measurement.
Family Note on Finding the Math
This tip sheet from Illinois Early Learning offers information and insights about why children express separation anxiety and how it is a typical developmental behavior. There are also helpful suggestions for how to ease anxiety during separations. This is a resource that is useful for both child care professionals and families. Illinois Early Learning is funded by the Illinois State Board of Education and offers many other tip sheets as well as a variety of resources for professionals and families.
