Once your child has settled into an early childhood education and care service, you can continue to support their development by:
- Maintaining a good relationship with the service’s staff and the director (if there is one) to continue the two-way communication
- Talking to staff about your child’s interests to see how they can be included in their day
- Letting the service know if your child won’t be attending on a particular day because they are sick or you’re on holiday
- Asking about your child’s progress against developmental milestones and working with staff to strengthen learning and developmental opportunities both at the service and at home
- Reading newsletters and other information provided by the service
- Talking to staff about your child’s transition to different rooms at a centre as they develop. This can sometimes cause children to become anxious as they have a new educator or new friends
- Taking an interest in the service’s activities and volunteering to participate, if you can. It might be for a fete, a working bee or an excursion. You are part of the service’s community, not just your child
- If you have particular family or cultural values, let your service know how you would like these to be included and respected
- Getting to know your child’s friends and their parents and arranging play dates or other activities with them outside of the service
- Letting staff know about things that have happened at home that might have unsettled your child, e.g. the arrival of a new baby, your child had a late night, they are excited because their cousin is staying with you on holiday, there’s been a change in living arrangements etc.
Staff at your child’s service will support their development by:
- Documenting your child’s learning and development and identifying your child’s strengths and areas where they might need help or encouragement
- Investing time in your child’s interests and challenging them with new and exciting activities to extend their development
- Encouraging your child to explore and learn through play
- Developing a tailored program for your child based on learning outcomes from a framework like the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), which is a guide for all early childhood educators who work with children from birth to 5 years old
- Letting you know if your child is sick or has an accident at their service
- Ensuring your child is safe and happy
- Identifying if your child might benefit from specialist support e.g. speech therapy
