Including Parents Essay Example

Including Parents Essay Example Including Parents Essay Including Parents Essay Including Parents Some parents do not know how they can get involved in their toddler’s life. This is especially the case for parents who choose to take their babies to child and day care facilities because they have to work. Parents give several reasons for their lack of involvement. Some parents have tight work schedules and they do not have the time to participate in other activities. Others do not know the type of activities that they can do with their toddlers. Some parents think that it does not matter, since their children are still babies and they do not think that it will affect them in any way. Some day care institutions do not make an effort to make the parents feel welcome. Parents therefore avoid these facilities because they do not know how they can participate. In some cases, parents have a lot of stress to deal with, either coming from work or from home. They are therefore not able to participate fully in the activities introduced. Others see it as a burden and they do not know how to get well with their toddlers (Better Kid Care, n. d.). Several steps can be taken to make sure that parents participate in different activities. Some of these include creating a welcoming atmosphere for the parents by asking for their involvement, reading to the toddler and introducing them to learning materials and physical activities such as play and dance Caregivers can encourage parent involvement by providing a welcoming atmosphere. They should make the parents feel they are welcome, by listening to their concerns and making sure that they ask for their participation. Giving parents an active role will make sure that they are fully engaged in the different activities. Some parents do not know how to interact well with their children. Most caregivers on the other hand, are experienced since they have done this for a long time. Caregivers should take the initiative to educate the parents concerning different issues (Children’s Corner Learning Center, 2010). When parents learn how to interact well with their children and have a good time with them, they will want to be involved in the different activities that are introduced. Caregivers can be culturally sensitive by observing the preferences of different cultures. For instance, they can restrain what is not accepted in the different culture. This will make the parents feel that they are important and valued. Toddlers are interested in learning and they enjoy looking at colorful picture books and learning new things. Caregivers can involve the parents by giving them some of the learning materials they use at the day facilities or they can advice them on the learning materials to buy (Oesterreich, 2001). Parents can choose books, which relate more to their particular culture. For instance, some animals are more common in some cultures and children can enjoy this, as it is something common to them. Parents should not only buy the books, but they should make sure that they read them together with their toddlers. They can enhance their child’s learning by telling them the different names of the pictures in the book. By the time the infant becomes a toddler, he or she has already learnt how to speak a few sentences. Toddlers can become a handful at this stage, as they usually try to explore everything they can. One of the favorite things they like to do is move around. This includes walking everywhere and dancing to the sound of music, or sometimes any sound at all. Parents can be encouraged to engage in their child’s playtime. They can use different toys to play with their children. Getting involved also means that they get the chance to monitor their toddler’s development. They can use the music the child likes listening to and they can dance with them. These activities can be made culturally sensitive by using the music that is most recognized in the particular culture or the toys that are more familiar in that culture. For instance, parents from an English background will appreciate games such as soccer, while many American parents will prefer sports such as baseball or basketba ll. References Better Kid Care (n. d.). Secrets of how to get parents involved. Retrieved from betterkidcare.psu.edu/†¦/GetParentsInvolved/GetParentsInvolvedWkBk.pdf Children’s Corner Learning Center. (2010). Infant program handbook. Retrieved from childrenscornernursery.com/infant_program.html# Oesterreich, L. (2001). Ages and stages. Iowa State University. Retrieved from extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1530A.pdf