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Authentically Engaging with Families
August 8, 2016
Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.
-Catherine M. Wallace and Diane Leonard, authors
-Catherine M. Wallace and Diane Leonard, authors
In programs where families and staff are respectfully and authentically engaged in meaningful relationships, everyone learns how to appropriately share power. As Jim Greenman explains in Art of Leadership: Engaging Families in Early Childhood Programs, positive interactions with families come from the agreement that parents have the power to:
Know
Be Upset
Question Why
Decide Together
When families are invited to understand program goals, philosophy and expectations, feel safe expressing all feelings (even "upset"), ask the questions most important to them, and share in decision-making, then true partnership is enjoyed by all. Greenman writes:
"In practice, partnership with families requires a continual exchange of communication. In the process, parents learn a lot about child development and curriculum, and the center learns about what parents feel is important for their child to grow up to be the kind of people they expect them to be."
Contributed by Nancy Rosenow
Engaging Families in Early Childhood Organizations |
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As a support to you, Engaging Families
is only $19 for a limited time. Use code ENGAGING when prompted.
Offer valid through October 25, 2018 at 11:59 pm Pacific Time. |
High-quality early childhood programs are highly effective in engaging and supporting the families they serve. 
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