Podcast

Cindy Croft and Priscilla Weigel use this podcast to help equip parents searching for child care options when they have a child with unique needs. They discuss the Americans with Disabilities Act and supports related to that law as well as ways that parents can begin the relationship with a potential child care provider using open ended questions to gather the necessary information to set their child up for success.

In this podcast, Cindy and Priscilla encourage listeners to have confidence in your skills and abilities to provide an environment that gives children what they need based on developmentally appropriate practice rather than whatever the 'prevailing winds" may be. When it comes to the push for academics, we need to trust our early childhood education and training in what children need most to be successful learners in our environments. We also need to learn to articulate why our practices are part of 'readiness' for children along all their developmental domains.

In the final session in this series, Priscilla Weigel and Cindy Croft will offer insights into some of the responses that may come from a family when they are told there are red flags in their child’s development. As parents grapple with developmental information, they will need ongoing support and understanding from the early educator and program staff. We can be an important partner in a journey that is just beginning.

In part 3 of our series on Sharing Concerns with Families, Priscilla Weigel and Cindy Croft discuss the sensitive topic of talking to a family about their child’s development. This is often one of the hardest jobs an early educator will undertake but it is critically important for the child for whom early intervention can make a world of difference. We will talk about ways to share developmental information and continue building the important relationship between parent and caregiver.

Once we have gathered our information to share about a developmental concern, we need to set the stage for our conversation with the family. The ongoing partnership between the early educator, family, and child will rely on trust, confidentiality, and compassion. In this podcast, we will share some fundamental tips that will help us as we prepare to talk with the family, including when and how to hold the meeting.

In this podcast, we will begin a series on the sensitive topic of how to share developmental concerns with families. The first steps in talking to families about a developmental red flag is to have objective, nonjudgmental observations and recordings that can give them an accurate developmental picture. This is foundational to a successful conversation and will help allay some of your anxiousness as you approach families with your concerns.