Parent-Caregiver Communication: Making it Work

Child care providers and parents want to make sure that they understand each other. There are steps providers can take to encourage good communication and to minimize problems. It’s also a good idea to encourage parents to find out about the program’s policies and procedures.

Promote Good Communication
The following are steps providers can take to maintain positive communication:

• Have parents/families prepare an “All About My Child” sheet to learn about the child and the family. This includes who is in the child’s family; how birthdays and holidays are celebrated; skills the family can share; what’s happening at home that might affect a child’s behavior (e.g., a new sibling, visits from relatives, illnesses, changes in the family)
• Make sure that families know the procedures for signing their child in and out each day.
• Encourage parents to keep contact information up to date, including all those who are allowed to pick up the child.
• Encourage parents to read information from the program.
• Set up regular parent-provider conferences and encourage all parents/families to attend.
• Have parents volunteer to help out when they can.
• Encourage parents to occasionally visit during the day.

Handle Problems Positively
Some common issues you might face are children’s behavior, health and safety, concerns about a child’s development, following procedures, and fees. The following strategies will help you keep the situation positive:

• Remember that both the provider and parents have the same goal - you want the best for the child/children.
• Ask for a time to talk when the provider and the parent won’t be rushed.
• Ask for clarification of the problem.
• Restate the problem until you both agree on the description of the problem.
• Think about the possible solutions and decide on a plan to solve the problem.
• Ask about what steps to follow if the plan doesn’t work.
• Check the success of the plan regularly.
• If you are wrong, apologize.

The Program’s Policy and Procedures
There are many things that may cause conflict between parents and providers if they are not understood. Make sure the following information is in your parent handbook or contract:

1. Hours - What are your hours, days closed, inclement weather policy?
2. Fees - What is the tuition? Additional fees? Charges for a child’s absence or vacation time? Time notice for leaving the program?
3. Arrival and Departure - What are the procedures for dropping off and picking up the child? Who is authorized to pick up the child?
4. Health - How are parents notified if their child is sick or injured? How will parents be notified of a communicable disease? Will your program give medication?
5. Emergencies - Are there regular tornado or fire drills? How will the parents be notified in case of an emergency?
6. The child’s day - Who is the primary caregiver for your child? How will my child spend their day? How will discipline be handled?
7. Special Events - How are birthdays and holidays handled? What is the transportation policy for field trips?
8. Transitions - How is a child moved from one room to another? How does the child move to a new school?
9. Communication - Are there regular conferences scheduled? How is information shared with parents?
10. Confidentiality policies - How do you protect a family’s right to confidentiality?

Additional Issues to Consider
Cultural and language differences can sometimes get in the way of communication. Think about having another person join the conversations. If parents are divorced or separated, work with both of the parents.

Need any help writing Parent/Family Handbooks? Call our office at (573)445-5437 or (800)243-9685.

Portions of this article taken from The Daily Parent (Issue No. 67) a publication by NACCRRA.

Advocacy: Let Your Voice Be Heard!

Do you ever wish you could tell your Representative or Senator just how you feel about a change in funding or a new law? Do you ever wish that you could talk with one of the legislators about an idea you have?


Well you can! Don’t be afraid to contact your legislator to tell them what is on your mind. Tell them about that funding change that is going to hurt your child care facility, or about pending law that will benefit children.

Parents could write their legislators to tell them about their child care provider and how much additional funding would help them to succeed. Tell them about programs that you would like to see your child care provider be able to offer, if only the funding was there.

If you have been looking for infant care or know of families who are looking for infant care, you know about the shortage for this necessary care. Tell your legislators about the issue. How about parents who work second or third shifts? It is almost impossible to find licensed child care that will care for a child overnight. Child care providers need incentives and funding in order to be able to offer these types of services to families.

Tell your legislators that, next to their families, child care providers are the most important people in a child’s life. Let them know that you are a voter, and you would really like your concerns addressed. If we do not have quality child care available for our children, what is going to happen to our families? How will parents work and provide for their children if they cannot find someone to care for them?

To find names and contact information for your local representatives and senators, go to http://www.house.mo.gov/ or http://www.senate.mo.gov/llookup/leg_lookup.aspx or call Joanne Nelson,  Director at 660-385-1378 or 800-201-7745.

Making Meaning: How Infants and Young Children Make Meaning of Themselves in the World

Child Care Aware^® of Missouri is proud to be a Collaborative Partner, supporting the Psychoanalytic Institute’s presentation of this lecture by Edward Z. Tronick, PhD at the Ethical Society Auditorium in St. Louis, MO on October 27, 2011.

Dr. Tronick is a world-class researcher and teacher, recognized internationally for his work on the social emotional development of infants and young children.  This lecture will focus on the ways infants "make meaning" of the world using non-verbal processes, including emotions and actions, through social play, culture and relationships.

Here is a video of Dr. Tronick's Still-face paradigm in action:


View or print the full flyer and registration form.
View or print a short biography of Dr. Tronick. 

New Training Information

We are pleased to announce that Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri will be able to offer an increasing variety of quality professional development opportunities to help you earn your required clock hours and improve your child care programs.

A Place for All Children: Learning about Inclusion is a new curriculum designed to help providers meet the needs of each child, including those who have special needs. If you liked Child Care Plus, this new curriculum will help you continue to build those skills.

The Social Emotional Child Care Orientation Training has been updated, and it now includes four modules with a total of 12 clock hours available.

The Basic Knowledge Curriculum--Early Childhood will help establish a foundation for anyone new to child care, and it provides a great refresher to experts in the field. This training has replaced the CCOT and PACE trainings we used to offer.

The Basic Knowledge Curriculum--Youth Development is replacing our School Age Care Orientation Training (SACOT).  We’re excited to be able to offer more clock hours specifically designed for staff who work with older children.

During the 2011-2012 fiscal year, we will be offering a few of these trainings online. Many of you have been asking for opportunities to earn clock hours online, so stay tuned for more information!

Due to some changes in how our trainings are funded, we have a new fee schedule. All trainings will now cost $6 per hour per participant. For example, a three hour workshop will now cost each person $18. This standard fee should simplify the registration process.

We’re scheduling all these trainings now, and registration information will be sent to those on our mailing list when details are available. All clock hour workshops, including online trainings, will also be posted on the Missouri Workshop Calendar, which can be found at http://www.moworkshopcalendar.org/.

Simple Changes to Improve Children's Behavior

Dealing with challenging behaviors is difficult! However, more often than not, we can make changes that will positively affect children’s behavior.


Consider the following excerpt:

“If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to swim, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to drive, we teach.

If a child doesn’t know how to behave, we….. …..teach? …..punish?


Why can’t we finish the last sentence as automatically as we do with the others?”

Below are some tips that can assist you in making challenging behavior manageable:

• Develop a list of classroom rules. Because everyone is expected to follow the rules, everyone should be involved in setting the rules, including children. Limit the number of rules to three or less. State the rules positively telling children what to do as opposed to what not to do.

• Limit your use of the word “no.” The word “no” quickly loses its effectiveness over time and should be reserved for emergency situations when safety is at stake. Instead focus on redirection and setting up a safe, child friendly environment where the word “no” will rarely need to be used.

• Provide children with a consistent schedule and routine. When children know what to expect, their anxiety is decreased. Plan for transitions by giving children verbal countdowns and providing picture schedules for visual learners. When changes to your routine are necessary, inform children ahead of time.

• Model, model, model! Read books and scripted stories promoting social/emotional development. Involve children in coming up with solutions to problems. Role-play problem solving with another staff member or even a puppet to engage children.

There are lots of great resources for social/emotional development from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) curriculum for you to utilize at: http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/index.html

Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri also has Early Childhood Specialists available for technical assistance and on-site consultation. You can contact Trinette Brewer by e-mail at trinette@mo.childcareaware.org, Barb Vigil at barb@mo.childcareaware.org, or Lori Meisner at lorim@mo.childcareaware.org, or call us at (573) 445-5437 or (800) 243-9685.

Did You Know?

The U.S. Department of Labor has established law that applies to the time a child care staff member spends attending workshops/classes and whether/how they are paid for that time.


Workshop attendance that any state requires for staff, so that a facility can maintain child care licensing, must be counted as work time and compensated. In Missouri, the Section for Child Care Regulation requires that everyone counted in the child-to-staff ratio earns 12 hours of approved workshops or classes each year. The time that a staff member spends earning those required 12 clock hours is considered work time and she or he must be paid.

If the time of the workshop/class is included in a standard full-time work week as defined by the employer’s personnel policies, staff should be compensated at their usual salaries. If the time of the workshop/class is overtime beyond the standard work week, staff should be paid at the overtime rate consistent with the U.S. Department of Labor guidelines and established in the personnel policies.

Are there any exceptions?

There is only one exception to this requirement. If ALL four of the following items are true, then the training is not counted as work time:

The workshop/class occurs outside the normal scheduled hours of work AND

The individual’s attendance is completely voluntary AND

The workshop/class is not job-related AND

No other work is performed during the workshop/class period
For more information, contact the U.S. Department of Labor at 1-866-4-USWAGE or visit the Wage and Hour Division Website: http://www.wagehour.dol.gov.

Taking a Bite out of Biting

Biting is a frustrating and painful behavior for parents and caregivers to manage. Between the ages of one and two (and sometimes longer), children use their mouths to explore and learn about the environment. They also have very limited verbal skills during this stage. As a result, biting may occur for several reasons: exploration, expressing emotions, and/or attention seeking. Some children may not bite at all, and others may be frequent and persistent biters.

Here are some suggestions for ways to minimize biting:

Look at your program's environment, schedule, routines, and expectations of children and staff. Try to minimize: congestion, confusion and disorder, children waiting, frustration, boredom, commotion, competition for toys and materials, and competition for adult attention.

Avoid large groups, and break the children up into smaller groups. Try to spread out activities to avoid children “bunching” up.

Look for ways to increase the promotion of the children’s sense of security and stability:

- Maintain a predictable schedule and ensure that children understand and anticipate the progression of the day.

- Ensure prime times with the child’s primary caregiver.

- Ensure warm, cozy, semi-secluded “safe places to be.”

- Avoid staffing changes. Develop and maintain individual and group rituals.

Look for ways to engage children more effectively in the environment:

- Analyze the developmental appropriateness of children’s choices.

- Provide duplicates of popular toys and multiple options for activities.

- Consider whether to increase the motor and sensory choices available.

Look for ways to calm children after periods of excitement, such as relaxed transitions, calming music, and calming physical contact with caregivers.

Analyze grouping of children to avoid combinations that might lead to conflict or biting. Avoid grouping “biters” and “victims” together. Also avoid grouping children who will compete for toys.

If you would like more information about biting or any other behavior issue, please contact one of the Inclusion Specialists at Child Care Aware® of Central Missouri at 800-243-9685.

Information obtained from: ExchangeEveryDay a free service of Exchange Magazine, January 6, 2006