Newswise — Valentines Day is a day to tell those around us how much we love, and care about them. It is also a day to recognize those who mean so much to us through their everyday actions. Simple expressions of gratitude or recognition, in fact, may be more appreciated than a syrupy Valentines Day card. One group particularly in need of recognition from parents is child care providers. Here are some tips to help parents say "Thank you, you mean a lot to me and my child:"
1. Offer to volunteer for a few hours in the classroom or child care home. Parents will learn a lot about their child's day in care, and the extra pair of hands and eyes is helpful to the provider.
2. Connect with other parents in the caregiver's home or the child's center classroom. Pool a few dollars each to buy a nice, personalized gift for the provider. Being recognized by the whole group of children and families is especially rewarding.
3. If the provider belongs to a local professional association (usually a chapter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, for center teachers, or the National Family Child Care Association), parents may nominate the provider for an award.
4. Offer to apply your talents to the benefit of the child care program. Parents can paint, build equipment, design marketing materials, organize fund-raisers and other services that can benefit the child care provider and her business.
5. Parents who are often late picking up their children at the end of the day can try very hard to get there on time. Traffic and work demands can make this difficult, to be sure. But parents can try to find new driving routes, reorganize work assignments, negotiate with other parents, or other options so child care providers can end their own work day and get to their families when they want to, too.
6. Finally, just remember to balance complaints with compliments. As with other relationships, parents can show value for their child care providers as individuals by recognizing their strengths, not just pointing out their failures. Parents may view child care as another service they pay for. But unlike other service providers, those in child care are partners in raising, loving and teaching their children.
URL with full article and tips at:http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/culture/release.cfm?ArticleID=1023
Expert Information:
Susan Walker - assistant professor and state family life specialist, Maryland Cooperative Extension.
Expertise - child care professional development, child care policy, parenting education, at-risk families.
Credentials - an expert in family and community supports for children, Susan Walker coordinates child care training for Maryland Cooperative Extension and conducts research on family child care professional development, and rural low income families' use of child care. Walker is the co-director and evaluator of Building Strong Communities in Maryland, a 5 year grant from the US Department of Agriculture. She is a member of the Montgomery County, Maryland Child Care Commission and co-chair of the public policy committee . She is the co author of: Parenting the First Year Implementation Manual, and developer of the school readiness community assessment, both from the University of Wisconsin-Extension. She is co-author with Moncrieff Cochran of the chapter, Parenting and Personal Social Networks, in Parenting: An Ecological Approach , 2nd Ed. (Luster & Okagaki, in press).
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