I am currently in the midst of my block placement and slowly getting accustomed to the new expectations. one of those is documented in my placement booklet as follows:
"Implement a parent communication strategy during block placement."
It says so much and yet ...it doesn't. Many of my units, my assignments and my readings have discussed different ways of involving parents and the many benefits of a early childhood service who does.
Taking what I knew, that parents usually love photos and something specific to their child, I came up with the following template...
Taking what I knew, that parents usually love photos and something specific to their child, I came up with the following template...
Each day, I document 5-6 things that their child did or engaged with and hand-write it onto the left side. On the address lines I write the children's name, the room they are currently in and the date of the observation. My current placement's logo, which I have placed under the address lines, features puzzle pieces on which I place pictures of their child and how they spent their day at kinder.
The children in the kinder room absolutely love writing their names at the moment so I have been asking them if they would like to write their names instead of me doing it. For the uninterested children, I usually just write their name myself.
Just like the learning stories, I try to choose easily identifiable photos of the children and their friends. I also try to include pictures from group time, outside and scheduled sessions, like Hey Dee Ho.
These postcards have proved to be a success! They give the parents a quick slice of what happened that day and something to stick on the fridge. Since they are dated and often approved and requested by the children, they are also something which can be included in their portfolios.
The only problems I have had so far is the timeline. I try to complete one per night with a different child each time but taking and downloading the photos, putting it together, printing, writing and photocopying, it can be really difficult to produce the amount that I would like to send home. I have also been having some issues with whether or not it reaches parents; they seem to be staying in some children's bags and not being read until a few days later.
These aren't massive problems but it means I may have to tweak my approach further down the track. I'm going to stick with this communication method until the end of placement (next week).
Would really appreciate some ideas on what you think all think and whether this is something you would consider implementing!
Miss Tracy xx
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