Being a parent or caregiver is a wonderful thing; however, it’s not always easy. Positive parenting is a responsibility for each family however how they tackle it may look different to what educators perseve it should. This is because each of us are influenced by our personal backgrounds, culture, traditions and unique experiences. This is why it is so very important for educators to begin to build those strong relationships with parents and families so that they can begin to understand the direction the parents may becoming from. This enables educators to be able to respectfully support parents and families and will often become a resource without judgement.
Parents and families may open up to educators on challenges they are facing in the home. During these conversations it may be an opportunity for the educator to advocate for family support and draw their knowledge on how to access different resources within the community. Having available different community services such as parenting groups, allied health support and creating community posts on different topics and sharing tips can be just a small way educators and services can support and help families parent the children in your care. This could be shared through flyers on display, one section within your newsletter dedicated to sharing one service available or just having a list handy for those times when you are having a conversation and it becomes relevant.
Creating community posts around different topics advocates for a healthy family unit and positive parenting is another way educators and services can advocate for a healthy, strong and positive family unit. Such topics around managing the stress of balancing the family life, different ways of getting extended support like parenting groups, programs that may be available to them and some positive skills and tips that will also enhance and impact family. Sharing some of the simple behaviour mangagment strategies you are currently using can be a great start. Not only is this creating a continuity of care and ensuring children have consistancy in the techniques, but it can help support the parents and carers.
I feel that what we, as teachers and educators, must remember is that here is no simple recipe or one way to parent and it may look different from how we either do or would parent our own children. However, we must remember that the parents and/or carers are the first parent to the children in our care, and that it we must provide guidence and advocate for the child when necessary, but also build that strong and respectful parentership with them and support them when necessary.