Nursery World - Working with parents

Parents are essential partners in the process of developing children as citizens. It can be a challenging, and at times exhausting, task to support and encourage children to become independent, self-reliant and self-assured, and to play an active role in society. In the setting you will have encouraged them to ask questions, seek explanations and negotiate with adults as well as children. They will have opinions and preferences which they will want to express, things which they want to do independently, and ideas which they want to investigate.

In the setting you will have encouraged them to ask questions, seek explanations and negotiate with adults as well as children. They will have opinions and preferences which they will want to express, things which they want to do independently, and ideas which they want to investigate.

Parents need to understand how your setting approaches the development of young citizens to ensure that all the children receive consistent messages and positive reinforcement of their behaviour.

Create opportunities to pass on the following main messages to parents and carers.

Listening and talking

Conversations with children are very important. Listen carefully to what they have to say and remember to give them enough time to reply. Children need time to think about things; at times we are too quick to ask another question without giving them enough time to play their part in the conversation.

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