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The Importance of Communication

积极的沟通可能是员工可以与家庭一起使用的最强大的工具。良好的沟通有助于告知，安慰和聘请家庭。单一对话，积极或消极，可以为家族对课堂工作人员的看法设定基调，因此必须强调有效沟通的重要性。

Positive communication and relationships with families help to build trust. Trust is an important part of helping to make sure that you (a) maintain partnership with families and (b) work as a team with families to help children meet their goals. Trust between families and staff makes parents feel good about the program and its ability to meet their child’s needs. In your role, you should prioritize creating and maintaining trust with全部families.

在你的程序中,应该有一个特定的plan as to how to engage families throughout the year. Though families’ participation is voluntary, it is your job to make them feel welcome by actively encouraging involvement. Program activities should reflect families’ interests and motivate them to participate. Additionally, your program may have a family involvement committee. This committee is composed of family members who encourage communication and involvement with the goal of strengthening and supporting the well-being of children and families. This committee is a resource and asset to your program and the staff as families may discuss issues or concerns and suggest changes to improve family satisfaction and involvement. Refer to your program’s policies to determine your role in creating a plan to increase family involvement.

员工和家庭之间的强大伙伴关系建立在积极的沟通之上。积极的沟通技巧有助于确保（a）共享（a）准确的信息，（b）共享期望，并建立信任。作为培训师或教练，您需要帮助员工开发沟通技巧，当出现疑虑时尤为重要。帮助员工和家庭解决问题时有两个重要的事情需要考虑：关注的紧迫性和人们所涉及沟通的能力。即使问题似乎很小，如果家庭和员工无法有效沟通，问题可能很难解决。

When issues come to your attention, you will need to gather as much information about the concern as possible so you understand what the true problems are and how to support communication between those involved. You may need to meet with families, staff members, and administrators. A meeting with the family and staff members can allow everyone to share their feelings and agree on a plan for resolution.

当家庭成员语音不容易解决的问题时，必须完成必要的文书工作。您需要帮助员工了解如何完成本文档并在出现疑虑时提醒他们此责任。课堂工作人员可能需要行政援助。一些工作人员比其他工作人员更有可能寻求帮助，对您来说沟通适当的时期是重要的。您处于一个重要地位，不仅有助于解决家庭和工作人员之间的疑虑，而且还可以帮助教师利益将来使用技能。When you have the opportunity to talk with staff members about a concern, help the staff member (a) process his or her emotions, (b) think about the family’s position on the matter, (c) think about the causes of any misunderstandings, and (d) to empathize with the child and family.

Finding the “Right” Time to Communicate with Families

Although communication with families should be ongoing throughout the year, you should help staff members understand the appropriate times for certain conversations with families. For example, imagine staff members are having discipline problems with a child. The staff members might feel it is appropriate to discuss this at pick-up time. This approach, however, does not allow the parents to prepare themselves for the conversation. Talk with staff members about planning ahead for difficult conversations: how will these conversations be planned? Where and when are they best to occur? Who will be involved? When staff members need to discuss serious issues with families, a formal discussion should be scheduled. This will maximize the likelihood that all parties will be satisfied with the outcome. Parent will feel respected and able to prepare in an environment that focuses on outcomes and collaboration. This kind of outcome cannot occur at the end of the day during pick up.

进行个人会议

有时有理由工作人员与家庭成员有个人会议。这可能是讨论孩子的开发或行为问题，或者只是作为例行办理登机手续。无论是什么原因，剩余积极和尊重对工作人员进行会议至关重要。您的职责是在会议之前准备工作人员并在整个方面提供支持，在某些情况下，您将参与会议和其他案件，您将不会出席。您应该通过以下方式帮助工作人员：

家庭会议是加强家庭伙伴关系的好方法。它为家庭成员个人关注并允许他们自由地讨论孩子的发展，进步，困难或成功。积极的家庭会议将在工作人员和家庭成员之间建立债券，这可能使家庭在未来讨论其孩子的舒适。

Model

You are a role model for staff. Your communication skills can make a difference in your program. Some things you can do to promote good communication include:

1. Provide specific and factual information (example: I saw Pedro sitting quietly during circle time today!)
2. Ask questions (example: Are you concerned about something?)
3. Paraphrase (example: If I heard you correctly, you are worried that the other children aren’t treating Mia nicely.)
4. Encourage the person to continue talking (example: Tell me more about what makes you think Ms. Jones doesn’t like Anthony.)
5. Think about the person’s point of view (example: Think “This mother wants the best for her son even though I disagree with what she’s saying.”)
6. Respect cultural and family communication differences (example: Ask a parent how, what, and with whom he or she wishes to communicate.)

It is important that you also model fair behavior when talking about families when they are not around. It is easy to become defensive or critical of others. It is also natural for staff members to want to “vent” about families to someone who will understand. But staff members should hear you speak positively about families to demonstrate your respect for families. Even though you may not agree with a family member’s behavior or you may be frustrated with a family situation, speaking negatively about family does not help the situation. Instead, you can model empathy by talking about what the concerns are and what you are able to do to help.

家庭成员可以成为情感因素related to a child’s experience, especially when families don’t trust staff or there is a problem with communication. Staff members may have a difficult time responding to a family member’s emotions. A situation like this might be an ideal time for you to model good interaction skills. When responding to emotions, there are two important things you should do: identify the person’s feelings and acknowledge the feelings. This validates the person’s feelings. When dealing with others’ emotions, avoid an emotional response. It can be easy to get defensive or feel offended, but thinking carefully about your response will reduce the chance of the issue becoming more intense. For example, consider if a mother gets angry during a meeting. She begins yelling and accusing the staff of being incompetent. After gathering some information (using the tips above), you could say, “Ms. Adams, it seems like you’re upset that Kamaya isn’t making the progress that you hoped she would. I understand why you feel this way, and we’re going to talk about what we can do as a team to help.”

Observe

Families want to be engaged and involved in your program. This video has a two part structure: you will hear from families and then you will hear from a Training & Curriculum Specialist about how you can engage families in your role. The Training & Curriculum Specialist in the first video refers to a program that they use in their center to engage families. (“WIN - Why I’m Needed”). Does your program have any programs that help families understand how valued they are in your program?

Engaging Families: Training and Curriculum Specialist's Role

Engaging Families: When Concerns Arise