Children do not come to us in our settings on their own; they come with a whole network of family and support around them. We continue to learn that when we embrace and include families, children are more successful. Ideas for building relationships with ALL families and supporting the diversity that they bring can be as simple as notes home, to very involved opportunities such as parent advisory committees.

Assignment: What do you do? Read the letter below as if it was written to you, and respond in a letter what your suggestions would be to the questions that this colleague raised. Present your response as a polished, professional document.

Dear Colleague,

I work in an early childhood setting and we work with a diverse group of children and families. We have trouble connecting with parents/guardians, and I know it is an important best practice for the child to have strong home-school relationships. Prevalent issues we have to overcome include the following:

• Families have little time to be involved because they work a lot to support their family.
• We also have families who have very few resources (such as no transportation, no computer or Internet, or have limited English).

What suggestions can you share for connecting with them better and helping them be involved within our classroom community? I really want the children I work with to succeed in school and one way to do that is having families involved. Any help is appreciated.

Kindly,

Your Colleague