Partnering With Families
Partnering with families is a core principle of The Creative Curriculum® for Family Child Care. Family child care providers are in a unique position to build strong and positive relationships with families. They work with a small number of families at any one time, they get to see family members every day, and they can build a relationship over many years. Children benefit when their families and providers have a positive relationship--one built on good communication, mutual respect, trust, and a commitment to providing the best for the child.
As one of the five organizational components of the curriculum, our "Building Partnerships With Families" chapter explores the benefits of working with families as partners in the care of their children. It offers practical ideas for working with families to develop partnerships based on mutual respect.
The curriculum
- explores getting to know families from the very first contact
- describes the influence of culture on child-rearing practices
- suggests formal and informal ways of communicating with families
- explains how to conduct conferences with families
- recommends a variety of ways families can participate in family child care
- addresses how to respond to challenging situations and offers a partnership approach to resolving differences with families
- provides strategies for supporting families of children with disabilities and children who are English-language learners