Understanding Your Preschool
Welcome back to the ParentTalk Podcast. We’re very excited to be continuing our focus on young children attending preschool and daycare, and continuing our series on early childhood education. Once again, we’re joined by Kathy Pomer and Sarah Koffler, co-founders of GatherRound Consulting, an advocacy and consulting firm supporting child education professionals and communities.
While the intended topic this week was how to effectively communicate with your child’s preschool teachers, the discussion quickly turned to something more foundational— the aspirations, ideals, and obstacles faced by educators and directors of early childhood programs, and how these intersect with the hopes and needs of the families they serve. An eye-opening peak behind the curtain of these dynamics should help parents not only better understand their preschool environments, but build firmer, more informed expectations of their preschool’s practices, and clearer lines of communication between themselves and their children’s educators.
For more information on these topics, you can visit our two previous episodes on preschool considerations: Choosing a Preschool and 5 Things Every Preschool Teacher Wants Parent to Know. And for those still wanting more (you know who you are), stay tuned for our follow-up episode with Sarah and Kathy in mid-November.
“When we’re thinking about building these relationships and really connecting with one another, yes, it is the obligation and responsibility of the school to be facilitating a lot of that communication. It’s also so important for the parent and the family members to play an active role in that partnership. It’s important for them to talk about who that child is and what their hopes and dreams are, and what we, together, as a full community, can do to help that child thrive and succeed.”
– Sarah Koffler, GatherRound Consulting
Episode Highlights:
– Understanding Your Preschool: Establishing Healthy Lines of Communication with Teachers.
– New understanding of early childcare: Early Care and Education.
– Building coalitions with families to create support communities for their children.
– The importance of remembering that while teachers should be experts in their field, it is parents who are experts in their children.
– Defining care in preschool settings.
– Understanding Your Preschool: Does Your Preschool Consider Your Child as an Individual? What to look for and key signs your child is receiving individual care.
– Understanding Your Preschool: What Parents Should Know About Their Preschool’s Schedule and Practices