Kiddipedia
The moment when your Child’s Teacher asks to speak to you and to set up a meeting… freak out is usually you the first response!
It’s not a bad situation though, when your child’s teacher wants to speak to you, it’s a great thing in fact, this means they are aware, know your child, understand Early Childhood Development and care.
It’s easier to put ‘different’ behaviour in the too hard basket, than it is to approach it head on. To approach the behaviour with parents, other professionals and the child means a lot more paperwork and more mentally for them.
“What children learn in their first 5 years are the foundations for learning, health and behaviour being laid down”
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centers are amazing in being able to help set your child up for success. What children learn in their first 5 years are the foundations for learning, relationships and behaviour. It all stays with the child either consciously or subconsciously for life, so those habits, eagerness to learn and knowing (or not knowing) rules, approaches to new situations stick. The first five years of a child’s brain develops more and faster than any other time in their life.
Therefore, it is important to really get on top of your child’s learning. I am not talking about learning ABC and 123’s, that’s for primary school. I am talking about Skills such as communicating, self-help, thinking, solving problems, fundamental physical skills and being with other people and children. All these are the life skills and skills to set them up for being able to sit and listen to the teacher at school and listen to authority, being able to make strong friendships and be emotionally ok in the playground etc.
A child developing at the ‘normal’ pace, the above all sounds amazing and easy. Often children will be stronger in some areas than others, and we need to keep a close eye on their weaker abilities just in case further investigation is needed, because like stated above we need to get on top of it before they hit 5.
“I love the fact the ECEC were able to approach me about Jonathan, because they actually cared” -Jodie Stevens
When a child’s family and ECEC worked together, working on the same goals and strategies a child will more likely reach the goal quicker than if only one side focused on the goal. Therefore, it’s not scary when your Child’s educator wants to talk to you about your child’s development, it’s a great situation to be in. You can sit with them, hear them out and develop strong and effective goals and strategies that will work in the home environment and in the ECEC environment, win win right. You can then monitor the child’s progress with ease and not feel overwhelmed because you know
you and your child have the support of the educators. That slight delay in speech, can quickly turn into ‘normal’ range at times if you catch it early.
Here is where it does get tricky and many start to back away. When your child isn’t progressing and is finding it difficult to reach milestone, having a large gap between the normal range and his range. Think speech, if your child is not yet saying a word at 3, and even with working alongside the educators, he continues to not speak, it would be time to source a Speech Therapist or even have his ear’s checked as this is the first point of call. None the less that a very delayed and obvious situation to be referred to. But what some don’t realise there are other areas, educator may see that parents are unaware of, such as self-regulating or how they interact with other children in loud environments, react in conflict and just willingness to learn.
Situations they may not face in front of you as the parent. These are situation where you potentially would look into an Occupational Therapist (OT).
“Early Intervention promotes children’s development and meaningful participation in all aspects of their life”
Any specialist you see, will conduct an assessment to identify where the child is developmentally and if they are at risk. The report can come back your child is developmentally progressing well, may need some support or need further exploring into the raised concerns, but it’s not always worst case. Early Intervention promotes children’s development and meaningful participation in all aspects of their life. It works and will set your child up for success now and for the rest of their life.
If your child does come back with a diagnosis, it can be hard to take in, but what is amazing you took the step and now you and your child will receive amazing Support to close the gap in your child’s development. When your child does receive a diagnosis, you will be surrounded by further support networks and teams to help your child, and potentially receive additional funding via NDIS. Having access to a team of professionals who will work together and share roles on planning and implementing services for you and your child is calming and reassuring.
Remember, you are never alone in the journey with your child when attending ECEC. The team in your Early Learning Centre only want the best outcomes for your child. In the words of a mother who had that meeting and talk “I love the fact the ECEC were able to approach me about Jonathan, because they actually cared” – Jodie Stevens
Written by Cassandra Button Sprouts Consultancy
July 2022
For more information:
Occupational Therapy https://otaus.com.au/about/about-ot Speech therapy https://www.healthline.com/health/speech-therapy Finding Childcare near you https://www.careforkids.com.au/ Cassandra www.sproutsconsultancy.com
Cassandra Button is the founder of Sprouts Consultancy and has extensive experience in Early Childhood Education and care settings, by means of working within Early Childhood centres, Being a Mentor and Consultant for the Early Childhood Sector. She is a big advocate for all children having access to the highest quality of education and care and Parents being their child’s first and most important teacher.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Leadership and Management Certificate IV
