Parents often ask the question, “What can I do at home to prepare my child for school?” The truth is simple. We need children to come to school feeling safe and connected. Parents can build their child’s self-esteem and sense of security by spending a few quality minutes each day connecting and interacting with their child.
To help share this vital message with our parents, families, and communities, Emily Lembeck Early Learning Center and Marietta City School District partnered with Brownieland Pictures, Cobb Collaborative, Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students (GEEARS), and Resilient Georgia to create the video Parenting – Take Time to Connect.
This video encourages high quality and responsive caregiver/child interactions and highlights how these interactions are possible in many small moments every day. As educators, advocates for children and mental and behavioral health, and community members, we know how important the relationship is between children and their caregivers.
Watching this video with our parents/caregivers can lead to great discussions and opportunities to share ideas and suggestions for quick and easy interactions. This video can be shared in pediatrician’s offices, hospitals and urgent cares, and health departments with families as they wait for services. It can also be a great tool for home visitors and faith communities.
Early Childhood Center Directors, teachers, and other community members can share this video at back to school nights, parent teacher conferences, open houses, sneak-a-peeks, onboarding for new families, and parent trainings.
Showing the video before long breaks from school, such as Winter Holidays or Summer Vacation, is a great reminder for parents to devote a few minutes of everyday to giving their child loving and connecting attention.
Sending the video link in newsletters and family communication apps with a few suggestions attached is another great way to share this message. Here’s an example:
Happy Holiday season to all my “Sunshine Class” family. I know everyone is ready for a fun and exciting break. This can be a busy time of work, shopping, get togethers, and more. Remember it only takes a few minutes a day to make sure your children are feeling loved and connected. Please watch the video below as a reminder to make some special time for your kiddos during the break.
Here are a few suggestions for some fun and connecting activities while we are away from school:
- Create a secret handshake for your family as a great way to say hello or goodbye. It will be fun to try it out during drop off and pick up.
- Make a family playlist with your favorite songs. You can make one for getting ready in the morning and one for going to bed at night.
- Share your “best thing” and “worst thing” about your day as you eat dinner together. Everyone participates – even the adults! This is a great time to talk about feelings – both good and bad. Dinner time looks different for every family. It can be around the table, on the go in the car, or outside at the park.
- Set up a simple check list for bedtime and follow the same routine every night: Put on PJ’s, brush teeth, sing a song, lights out.
We hope that you consider sharing this video with the families that you interact with in your organization and community. A link to the video on your website, social media pages, or in your newsletter can help share the message that connecting and interacting with your child in the little moments every day will help them prepare for school as well as build their skills to work through life’s challenges.
Author Bio:
Sally Miller is the Emily Lembeck Center’s Language and Literacy Liaison. She is also the wife of Erik, the mother of Emily, Maggie, and Sammi, and the Grandmama to Lydia, Elijah, Marley, Isla, and Malachi. She has taught PreK for many years and loves working with young children and their families. She has a Master’s in Special Education and is grateful for the ways it ties to early learning and best practices for young children. For the last seven years she has been working for Marietta City Schools at the Emily Lembeck Early Learning Center. As the Language and Literacy Liaison, she is privileged to work beside community learning centers, their directors and teachers, and the parents and caregivers of young children in Marietta.
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