What To Say To New Parents At Day Care
Following on from my last post about reassuring parents at day care I received the following comment:
'You might consider posting what you say to the parents. That might help parents who aren't lucky enough to have you for a daycare provider.'
Great comment and a slap on the wrist for yours truly for assuming that y'all are mind readers! Meeting a new parent for the first time is like approaching a new born foal..they're jumpy, nervous, unsure and have you pegged as a potential threat. You want to gain their trust so you need to make yourself a known entity and I do that by talking about myself, my family, my experience in day care. I let them know that I understand their fears and what they are feeling by talking about each one.
I explain that this is perfectly natural and that every new parent feels the same way hence the settling in period which is designed to ease the separation anxiety experienced by both parent and child. I launch into a detailed account of our settling in process spelling it out so they understand what they may be feeling at each stage, how their child is likely to react and what we do in each instance to alleviate the situation.
It is also very important that parents understand what their child's day will consist of (remember, they drop off and pick up but have no idea what goes on in between) so I go through our daily schedule inserting funny little anecdotes in an effort to personalise the account somewhat. I empasize to all parents that they are welcome to return at any time of the day and look through the windows (ensuring their child doesn't see them) just for that invaluable peace of mind gained from seeing exactly how their child is doing.
Finally, it is vital in my opinion to know when to make that personal call to a parent who may have had a traumatic drop off, maybe even leaving the day care in tears, just to reassure them that their child is absolutely fine (the tears and tantrums ceasing 5 seconds after the parent leaves!). That kind of thought and reassurance is priceless to a parent.
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Comments on What To Say To New Parents At Day Care
Also, one of the most important things is to paint an image for the parents of the education their child will be receiving. Talking about other children, other parents and their satisfaction, the class room, the curriculum, and child development, will ensure the parent that their child will come out with more skills than necessary once they are ready to go to kindergarten and 1st grade. The atmosphere and the presentation of the place usually accomplishes this in itself. However, most daycare centers are not the corporate style, not franchises, so this is very difficult to do if your center is out of the home, or not of the coporate/franchise type.