ECE107 Assignment One (xiao mai yu)

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ECE 107 Assignment One: 1 Reciprocal Relationships and Parent/Family Engagement Xiao Mai Yu Continuing Education Effective Relationships in ECE Professor Michael Leong-Machielse October 26, 2021 1

ECE 107 Assignment One: 2 Part 1 Building Relationships 1. List the six ways to develop relationships with families. For each of the six ways, explain how you apply it to Dustin and his family in the scenario below. The six ways to develop relationships with families are:  Taking time to develop lasting relationships with parents.  Be available.  Be yourself.  Share while staying within your own personal boundaries.  Be trustworthy.  Remember that the relationship is in service to the child, not your needs. a) Taking time to develop lasting relationships with parents. Building lasting and positive relationships with parents takes both time and ongoing effort. It requires the continuous support and communication from both parties in order for the relationship to remain in agreement. In this scenario, after a briefly orientation, we understand that, at three-years-old, Dustin is able to use and communicate in both Cree and English. His first caregiver was his mom, Treena, as well as his Kokum, Alice. This is the first time he is going to a daycare. During our first meeting, we got to know him as a quiet child who always wore a curious smile. The following week will be a big change for Dustin and his family – Dustin will be away from his parents and left in the care of somebody else. In order to ensure that both the guardian figure as well as the child feels comfortable and welcomed in our center, I will do the following: i. Learn the names of both the parent(s) and the child before they arrive and do my best to understand the correct pronunciation. ii. Read through the Child Profile to obtain more specific details regarding the child in question; learn what they do or do not enjoy. iii. Provide a locker with the picture of Dustin that was taken on orientation day. iv. Place a welcome sign on the classroom door. v. Plan a small welcoming party and invite his family to join. vi. Introduce Dustin to the other children and vise versa, the group to Dustin. vii. Give Dustin a tour: show him the different areas that he will be using and share a few of the rules and guidelines in a positive and non-demanding manner. 2

ECE 107 Assignment One: 3 viii. Children are phenomenal at welcoming new faces and can do a wonderful job at helping the new child. Knowing this, I will pair Dustin with a buddy who can help him become acquainted with the rest of the class as well as the new environment. ix. Plan a proper time for the parents to take their leave. x. Design games in order to help Dustin engage and adapt to the new location. b) Be available. The first few days in a new place can be rough for a child, and their first with new people can be frightening. Yet, we cannot eliminate the possibility of the adaptation process to be seamless, calm, and fun. Childcare teachers play a huge role in how the experience of each child and their family will turn out. So, as we progress throughout the first week, I will call or text Dustin’s parents to provide them with the reassurance that their child is faring alright, and that they are welcome to call and check up with us whenever they feel the need to. Small gestures such as an image of Dustin enjoying an activity or playing with other children can be relieving to see. c) Be yourself. Being yourself does not mean that you are selfish, and it does not imply that you do not care about others. Instead, being yourself means that you respect both yourself and others. “Nobody’s perfect!” the god says. Sometimes, we have a hard time when faced with what we fear, however, through being your most true and authentic self, we are able to determine and confront the root of our stress and worries. In the scenario, Dustin’s mom is working towards becoming a teacher. In the near future, her and I may begin to have diverging perspectives on handling children, specifically her own: Dustin. What we can do in the moment to avoid conflicts such as this is to share our worries with each other, and rather than voice our opposing views in a negative manner, we can work as a team to understand one another’s point of. d) Share while staying within your own personal boundaries. We understand that “boundaries” is something similar to a property line or a “brick wall” used to keep people out. Boundaries are a method of taking care of ourselves as well as others. It demonstrates that we can avoid the feelings of resent, disappointment and anger while building positive relationships with others. As a childcare educator, I share personal information appropriately. I always work with parents in order to understand their needs/wants and the proper approach to communication with them. I would not 3

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ECE 107 Assignment One: 4 simply say “no” to refuse others’ opinions, however, I would always accept when they tell me no. In such scenarios, the best approach is to face the issue and seek the solution. This applies to both the educator, as well as the guardians (Dustin’s parents). e) Be trustworthy. Having the ability to be trustworthy is one of the most important qualities in life. It is the quality on which all relationships are built. We are designed to be in relationships with others, thus, being able to confide in one another indicates that we are able to do more together as a team. For me, in order to build positive relationships with both the parent and child, I always strive to: i. Tell the truth and be as honest as I am able to. ii. Do the right thing. iii. Keep secrets and confidential information private. iv. Be compassionate, kind and considerate. v. Be reliable. f) Remember that the relationship is in service to the child, not your needs. As a childcare provider, I know that developing positive relationships with parents is critical to providing the best care possible to their children. It is important for parents and educators to be on the same page, since parents are a first caregiver in the child’s life. They understand their children better than outside caregivers because they are the ones responsible in providing children with their first learning experiences, for example, eating, sitting, walking, coloring, etc. A positive relationship between educators and parents will help children be more successful in life. Due to this reason, I will not shy away from any conversation, and will seek individuals who are able to provide me with aid outside of the classroom. 2. Explain specifically how you would apply each of the five tips. There are several practical tips outlined below that we can utilize effectively in our daily practices in order to improve communications with families:  Let parents lead the conversation.  Be proactive with information.  Focus on the parent’s perspective.  Plan for addressing problems.  Take time to respond thoughtfully to parents’ comments and requests.  Actively listen and use respectful communication. 4

ECE 107 Assignment One: 5  Give parents the benefit of the doubt. a) Let parents lead the conversation. Having meaningful conversations with parents, whether about shared fears, family values or simply empathizing with whatever they may be struggling with, has a wide range of benefits. Those conversations help parents and educators feel more closely connected to one another. In the scenario, I am approached by Dustin’s mother, Treena, after her son has been attending the center for about a month. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that she appeared not only exhausted, but visibly upset as well. In order to deal with angry parents, I am aware that gentle attentiveness is effective in relieving their troubles. We cannot make any judgement at surface value, instead, we are to listen to better understand what they are going through. I do exactly this, as follows:  First, I listen carefully to Treena’s complaints regarding her son’s napping issues at the center as it had led to a series of bad behavior at home.  To let Treena know that her issue is of importance and raises great concern in me, I voice my understanding in a tentative manner, bearing in mind her emotional fluctuations. I tell her that I understand her feelings as well as the reason for her distress and why she feels the way she does. In this way, I am extending my compassion without relating her problems to my own. I realize that saying “I experience the same issue with my own children” is not an appropriate approach and instead focus on her worries only. We may understand very little of the true nature of the situation, thus we are to listen rather than offer advice that often suggests shared blame.  After listening to her explain the issue thoroughly, I apologize sincerely and let her know that I am taking responsibility. I tell her that the issue will be resolved to the best of my ability and that I am willing to put in the necessary effort to ease her worries. Again, in a gentle manner, as to not provoke the upset parent further.  Finally, I let Treena know as soon as the issue has been addressed, thanking her for coming. Furthermore, I extend the offering for her to contact me should she have any other concerns. In this way, I am allowing her to place her trust in me as well as ease any remaining doubts. b) Focus on the parent’s perspective. From the conversation with Treena, I understand that Treena wished for Dustin to take naps at the center. Dustin, however, is not willing to comply due to the sadness he feels when he lays down alone. I realize that this is an issue that I can address with Treena’s mom, offering the opportunity to resolve the issue as a team. I let her know that I share her concerns and ask for her advice rather than providing my own. 5

ECE 107 Assignment One: 6 “What would you suggest I do to make Dustin comfortable, as well as willing to nap? Is there a particular thing you do at home? Or does Dustin need something to with him while he sleeps, such as a stuffed animal?” The parent should always know their own child better than anyone else, thus it would be an appropriate approach in cases regarding their children’s typical behavior. c) Take time to respond thoughtfully to parents’ comments and requests. In the scenario, Dustin’s mom, Treena, voices her concerns regarding her son’s behavior. By coming to me, she is placing her trust in me and hoping that I would be of help to the situation. I have asked for her advice and opinion. I understand that nobody knows a child like their parents do, thus, I let Treena know that I will do my best to accommodate her suggestions. Should her initial advice fail in trial the following day during naptime, I will offer collaboration with Treena to resolve the issue in another way. By listening to her, I too am extending my trust in her opinions, and furthermore, by inviting her to find other solutions with me, I relay to her the message that I do not doubt her abilities as a parent, and instead value her input as much as anyone else’s. d) Actively listen and use respectful communication. Active listening is where we make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, the complete message being communicated. Similarly, in this scenario, I ensure that I am attentive to what Treena is saying. Not only that, but I am also understanding the meaning behind her words, as well as the exact actions she is asking me to take regarding her issue. When she is speaking, I do not attack her or put her down for bad parenting, instead, I encourage her to tell me more in order to gain more information. I am learning from her perspective rather than placing the blame on her, and by doing so, she would be more willing to come to me to voice any other worries she may have in the future. e) Give parents the benefit of the doubt. Giving the benefit of the doubt means that we don’t always assume that the motivation behind someone’s behavior is a negative one. We can try to assume that others’ intentions were positive and look for the good in their behavior. In this scenario, Dustin’s mother Treena may have been upset, however, regardless of her mood and attitude towards the person she voices her concerns to, her intentions were undeniably good. She did not mean ill-intent towards the workers as she only wished the best for her son, thus providing her the benefit of the doubt is essentially allowing the second thought that perhaps there may be another reason for her bad mood. 6

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ECE 107 Assignment One: 7 Part 2: Parent Engagement 1. Defining parent engagement. a) Interview two separate parents/families whose child(ren) attend an early learning program. I have been working in the ECE field for few years now and the parents who have children at my center are all from different countries. Due to the fact that many of them only understand a bit of English, my interviews are as follows: Parent One Me: What does “parent engagement” mean to you? Parent one: To work with teachers, to communicate with teachers, and to participate in activities with kids. Me: Do you think “Parent Engagement” helps you and your children? Parent one: Yes. I have gotten lots of information about my children’s daycare life. I always do what teachers ask me to do with my kid. I play with my kids; I ask for help if I have any question about my children. Me: In our daycare, there are some methods can help improve parent engagement. Which do you prefer? (Documentation, bulletin boards, parent corners, communication books). Parent one: I like communication books most. I know how my children does at school, and I can write any questions or request and get feedback as soon as the next day. Parent two Me: What does “Parent Engagement” mean to you? Parent two: Do everything with children. Like taking the time to play and communicate with your kids. Me: Do you think “Parent Engagement” help you and your children? Parent two: Yes. My kids like me, trust me and want to share everything with me. Me: Do you think communication with your children’s teacher is necessary? Parent two: Yes, but I don’t know how, and my English is not good enough. Me: In our daycare, there are some methods can help improve parent engagement. Which do you prefer? (Documentation, bulletin boards, parent corners, communication books.). Parent two: I like parent corners. I can get information to help my children. 7

ECE 107 Assignment One: 8 b) Develop your own personal definition of parent/family engagement and record your thoughts. In my perspective, parent/family engagement implies the parents’ active and meaningful participation in their child’s education as well as daily development. This includes ongoing effort in every aspect of the child’s life, not simply by learning at home, at early learning centers, schools, or within communities. Instead, this includes discussions and proper communication between both the parents as well as the educators regarding how they can work together to improve the child’s learning and provide a supportive home learning environment. c) Compare each of the parents’ definitions with your own definition of parent/family engagement. Parent one: she knows that as parents, we need to pay attention to our children, and should we feel the need, we should reach out to communicate with early childhood educators. In my opinion, however, that is not enough of an involvement in our children’s lives. Children need parents to become involved as well; to participate in their daily lives and education as well. In this way, they can become successful in more varying fields. Parent two: she is a single mom, and she has only been in Canada for two years. Through daily conversation with her, I have learned about her home situation. She told me, “I have three kids, the oldest is 7-years-old. I am both a mom and a “dad” to them, so I spend most of my time playing with them”. However, she not only skips the function of teachers, but also skips the involvement in her children’s education. These two missing elements in her guidance could lead to a less successful outcome in her children. 2. State 6 specific items you would place on your bulletin board. How would you set the bulletin board up to be engaging as possible? Explain your choices. Bulletin boards share information relevant to a specific community and can increase group participation, motivation, and individual engagement in community-based activities. Preschool bulletin boards are a great way to communicate with parents about the occurrences within the preschool as well as in the community. I like using bulletin boards to provide fun updates, kids crafts, activity photos, as well as any important policy changes to parents. In order to attracts parents’ attention, my ideas for bulletin boards are: a) Provide a bright, colorful background. For my preschool bulletin boards, I use different materials to create various fun and colorful bulletin board backgrounds. I also like to add different borders to represent different themes such as 8

ECE 107 Assignment One: 9 Thanksgiving, with bright yellow backgrounds and blue accents to celebrate the harvest, and Halloween, which hosts colors such as orange, yellow and black to impress kids and parents, alerting them that the holiday is just around the corner. b) Avoid visual clutter. When we say visual clutter, that indicates the instances when we place far too many items on the bulletin board than the capacity allows. This means there are multiple image sizes, colors, labels as well as label styles, etc. and can make the space feel messy and hard to look at. In order to avoid visual clutter, I always strive to design only one theme per board, as well as utilize a coordinating color scheme. This way, the focus isn’t diverted from the important information posted on the board alongside of the decorations. Typically, there is a bulletin board to display the kids’ crafts and another for the parental community that includes helpful and pertinent information. c) Provide information regarding upcoming family events within the community. A bulletin board can be an important tool used to guide parents towards the questions they may be able to ask their children, especially those that involve activities the child may have done that day. It’s a great way for parents to connect and bond with their children, as well as a great source of info for parents who wish to understand the nature of the activities being done each day at the center. On the parent bulletin board, which is updated weekly, I always display the project that we are currently working on with the children. Alongside of that, there is always a status update, such as the weekly menus that we provide, the activity particular to that week, community new that is essential to the parents’ knowledge, etc. It’s both a great way to inform as well as involve the parents in what the children are engaging in each day. d) Provide some humor in the use of pictures, cartoons, special messages etc. Personally, this is my favorite part about decorating the bulletin boards. I always use high quality images of the children (which we have permission to from their parents/guardians) that displays the activities they’ve done, such as cooking classes to various specialized days. These special days can include anything from pajamas days to birthday parties to costume days, etc. I especially enjoy adding various cartoons, stickers, and quotes to each photo that I have selected for posting. It is always the most enjoyable portion in creating these boards because I want to share the same type of joy that I receive from watching children play with the parents. 9

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ECE 107 Assignment One: 10 e) Change information on a frequent and regular basis. Changing information frequently or on a regular basis is crucial. Parents tend to look more often should be different every day or every week. Not only that, but the bulletin boards tend to convey warmth and a sense of partnership with the parents, and it’s our way of providing a sense of trustworthiness in that the parents can safely rely on us with their children. From the bulletin boards, parents are also able to become more and more involved in what their child is doing. f) Choose a spot where parents will see the board every day. Picking an optimal location for the bulletin boards is just as important as updating them. The updates can only be seen if the parents are aware of the bulletin board locations. At my center, we tend to put the bulletin boards, especially the one directed at parents, in a highly visible location, such as the door where they come in to drop off their children. These bulletin boards often act as conversation starters between the parents, the child, and the childcare worker, and it conveys the messages that we want parents to know. At my preschool, we utilize the hallway walls that is outside of our classroom to set up out bulletin boards, and even within our classroom, we put up different bulletin boards in different activity areas to show the achievements of the children 3. Parents/families who’d like to volunteer their time in their child’s early learning program. How can you make them feel comfortable and engaged when they visit? How could they participate and meaningfully engage in the program? Give one specific way and explain. I am supportive of parents/families who are willing to volunteer in their children’s early learning program because it means that their heart is in the right place. They are wanting to put in effort to make a different in their children’s lives, though I wish for them to help not just for their own child, but for the many others within the classroom as well. All children are different; they all have varying needs. So, in order to help the parents adjust, as well as help them become comfortable in engaging in meaningful program activities, I always:  Prepare ahead: provide the volunteers with necessary information regarding the center’s daily routine before they arrive.  Welcome the parents and thank them for coming.  Give them direction and what I expect them to do, etc.  Provide immediate feedback in order to let them know how they are doing.  Let them know how else they can be of help to you and the children in the class.  Ask them if they have any suggestions for improvement.  Show our appreciation for their help. 10

ECE 107 Assignment One: 11 Parent volunteers benefit from early childhood education in several important ways, including improving school-community relations and parents-teachers relationship. On the other hand, volunteering makes a difference in their children’s lives; those kids are better behaved, have better attendance, and are more likely to become successful. 11

ECE 107 Assignment One: 12 Assignment 1: Marking Page Your instructor determines marks earned for each section of the marking sheet. If each bullet under the description for each section of the marking sheet is fully addressed, you’ll earn maximum marks for that section. Marks are adjusted accordingly if you address only a portion of the tasks for the section, or you don’t fully, completely and correctly address all tasks for the section. Consider the following example of a section worth eight (8) marks; 1. If you address all bullets completely and fully, except for one bulleted task in the section, you’ll be awarded 6, 7, or 8 marks for that section. 2. If you do a satisfactory job of addressing the tasks identified in the bullets for that section, a mark of 4, 5, or 6 will be assigned. 3. If you don't address all the bullets or offer thoughtful, specific, and accurate detail within the tasks for that section, a mark of 1, 2, or 3 will be assigned. Reciprocal Relationships and Parent/Family Engagement Developing Relationships  Identifies and describes six (6) practical ways to start developing a relationship with Dustin and his family. /12 mark s Improving Communication  Identifies and describes at least five (5) out of seven (7) practical tips you can use in your daily practice to improve communications with Dustin and his family. /10 mark s Defining Parent Engagement  Ensures confidentiality of the parents interviewed.  Summarizes two separate parent/family interviews, defining parent/family engagement. (8 marks) 94 marks) (4 marks)  Develops a thoughtful and thorough personal definition of parent/family engagement based on course learnings. (8 marks) 94 marks) (4 marks)  Compares and thoughtfully reflects on both the parents’ and personal definitions of parent/family engagement. (8 marks) 94 marks) (4 marks) /16 mark s Parent Engagement, Bulletin Board  Lists engaging materials and resources to include on the parent/family bulletin board if your purpose is to engage parents/families.  Justifies choice of materials. /18 mark s 12

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ECE 107 Assignment One: 13 Parent Engagement, Volunteers  Explains how to create a comfortable and inviting environment for the parents/families.  Explains how to offer activities that promote meaningful participation and engagement. /4 marks Written Work  Correct spelling, grammar, sentence structure.  Organizes work in a logical format.  Neat and computer generated work. /5 marks Total Mark /65 marks = % 13

ECE107 Assignment One (xiao mai yu)

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