What's it about?

Parents are the first and on-going educators of their own children and should receive information and support to help develop learning at home and in the community.

We often speak about working in partnership with parents; however, this cannot be achieved without first involving parents.

This course aims to give childminders the support needed to:

• Explore practical solutions to parental involvement whilst identifying potential barriers.
• Explore meaningful ways of involving parents in a childminding service.

During this course you will learn how to:

1. Demonstrate your understanding on the importance of working effectively with parents.
2. Describe the importance of liaising with families about their expectations of their child.
3. Explain how you communicate with parents in a way which promotes inclusion, recognising and valuing diversity.
4. Demonstrate how you work with families to help them value the importance of play and their child’s learning.
5. Demonstrate how you ensure the child’s voice is heard and valued.
6. Describe three barriers to parental involvement and outline practical solutions to overcome these.
7. Demonstrate how you provide opportunities for families to participate in their child’s play, learning and development.
8. Explain how you involve families in reviewing their child’s learning and development.
9. Describe how you use the information from reviews to forward plan for children in partnership with their parents/carers.
10. Outline the records and evidence that you should keep in relation to involving parents in their child’s development.
11. Describe what you do if/when a child’s development plan changes.

Course outcomes:

When you have completed this course, you will have core knowledge and understanding of:

1. The transitions that children and young people may go through.
2. How families’ expectations for children might vary according to the child’s gender, religion, culture and ethnicity, background, needs and abilities.
3. How you might demonstrate that you recognise and value diverse family structures.
4. How families can access information on child development.
5. The link between parental/family expectations for their children, their own childhood experiences and knowledge of child development.
6. How you can positively reinforce parents’ efforts and involvement.