Parents and Child Care
Course Description
For all childcare providers who interact with parents.
Maintaining harmony with parents will benefit you, the child, and the parents. In this course you will learn ways to build a trusting relationship with families, empower parents to collaborate in their children’s learning, and create a sense of community. Learn communication strategies to interact effectively with parents who have different cultural backgrounds or communication styles. Understand how to anticipate and handle common difficult situations and how to conduct home visits, teacher-parent conferences, and group meetings. Parents and Child Care includes a variety of sample forms to assist you in your interactions with parents.
See the learning outcomes and topics below for more information on what is covered in this course.
Course formats
This course is offered in both our coursebook (with required online component/testing) and our fully online format. The online format of this course includes audio narration in most course sections. Click here to learn more about Care Courses' training formats.
Listen to this page read aloud in a format similar to the online course:
Acceptance information
This course is accepted for childcare professional development training requirements in most states and for the CDA credential and for CDA renewal training requirements.
- Kentucky: The Kentucky Division of Child Care and ECE-TRIS do not accept courses that are more than 15 clock hours in length for annual professional development hours. This 20 clock hour course may only be used for CDA and CDA renewal training in Kentucky.
NAC training
The NECPA Commission, Inc. has approved this educational program as meeting the criteria for continuing education for the National Administrator Credential. Click here for more approved NAC training.
Learning outcomes
After completing Parents and Child Care you will be able to explain the importance of parental involvement in childcare and its benefits for children; discuss the meaning of the teacher-parent relationship as a partnership; indicate the teacher’s role in establishing a partner relationship and empowering parents; and much more! Click to read all learning outcomes for this course.
Topics covered
- The importance of parents' involvement in supporting children’s development
- The role of the teacher in encouraging parent participation in the childcare program
- The meaning of a relationship of full partnership with parents
- How to encourage parents’ engagement and collaboration
- The value of empowering parents
- The importance of understanding each family’s cultural background
- How to support parents who have limited English
- How to support parents under stress
- The sources of teacher stress in parent interactions
- The importance of first impressions to prospective parents
- Ways to ensure that your childcare program makes a favorable first impression
- How to conduct a tour
- The importance of orientation of new families
- What to include in your written policy statement
- How to ease parents’ separation anxiety and support parents and children during their adjustment to your program
- The importance of effective two-way communication in establishing partnership with parents
- How to develop a trusting relationship and maintain harmony between teachers and parents
- How to understand the difference between assertive and aggressive behavior
- How to be assertive in your interactions with parents
- Communication strategies for effective communication in difficult situations common to childcare
- How to be prepared for common challenges that produce tension between parents and teachers
- Strategies for initiating family involvement and participation in their children’s learning
- How to create a parent participation plan with activities for parents to do with children at school or at home
- How to use information messages to maintain frequent contact with parents
- How to use a website to facilitate two-way communication and parent participation
- How to develop content for your website that is inclusive of different cultural backgrounds
- The value of home visits in strengthening the connection between home and school
- How to prepare for a teacher–parent conference
- How to conduct a teacher–parent conference
- How to discuss difficult topics such as developmental delays and children’s inappropriate behavior during a conference
- How to hold successful group meetings with parents and build a sense of community
Prerequisites
Must be able to fluently read and write English.
Instructional methodology
Read written material, view videos, listen to audio segments.
Assessment methods
Multiple choice quizzes and written assignments.
What our students say about Parents and Child Care
"I found this course to be very interesting, with lots of helpful information." – Mounds View, Minnesota
"This was a great, fast, easy experience. I talked to several people at Care Courses and everyone was helpful and kind. I could not believe the speed in which I got my grades back. Thank you very much." - Amarillo, Texas
"I enjoyed taking the course Parents and Child Care; I was able to get many new ideas that I would like to try out at the center." - Crownsville, Maryland
"I had a wonderful experience taking this course with you guys. I reached out to you guys via email and phone and received immediate assistance. I look forward to taking more courses with Care Courses!" - Randallstown, Maryland
Completion deadline
This training expires 12 months from the date of purchase. Courses must be successfully completed by their expiration date in order for the student to receive a certificate.
Care Courses® information
Care Courses® has free unlimited assistance! Call us: 1-800-685-7610, Monday through Friday, nine to five Eastern Time for help with your training or for billing and technical support questions. Or email us days, evenings and weekends: info@CareCourses.com, billing@CareCourses.com, or techsupport@CareCourses.com. Our friendly support team is here to help!
Care Courses® currently offers over 50 professional development courses and one non-credit training tutorial on the CDA process. All courses offer clock hours and an official online certificate of completion. The free CDA tutorial does not offer clock hours or a certificate.
Care Courses'® course tuition entitles one person to receive the clock hours granted by a course upon successful completion. Bundle pricing covers tuition for all the courses included in a bundle.
To receive the CEUs and Clock Hours for a course, you must adhere to and sign our honor code, follow directions on written assignments and show comprehension of the course content. You must make 70% or better on all course quizzes. Less than 70% will result in trainer review and evaluation. If review indicates the need for discussion, you will be informed that you must speak with a trainer. If you fail to get a 70% on your second attempt, we will ask you to contact us at info@carecourses.com. We will review your course and be in touch.
Clock hours and CEUs are documented on official Care Courses® certificates of completion which are accessed in the My Courses area of your account.
Please note: All course and certificate dates and times are on Eastern Time.
More information on how Care Courses® works can be found on our training process page. For a video tutorial of our online course portal, please visit our course navigation video.
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