Dear Families,

We realize that raising a young child can provide you with many challenges. It is our hope to support you by providing regularly scheduled “Parent Chats” giving us all the opportunity to share successes and challenges we are experiencing at home.

My role as an Early Childhood Specialist and Parent Educator is to facilitate and support you in developing strategies to help you and your child at home. We will provide you with lots of resources and ideas that are easily used at home.

Come listen to other parents who are dealing with many of the same challenges and find ways to make life easier at home!

Topics can include, but are not limited to:

*Why doesn't my child listen to me?

*How should I respond when my child does not listen to me?

*Why won’t my child go to bed?

*Why will my child only eat chicken nuggets and fries?

*How can I get my children to stop fighting?

*Why can’t we seem to get out of the house in the morning?

*How can I support my child’s learning at home?

*How can I help my child learn to calm down when they are feeling big emotions?

Each chat will be an hour long and include a specific topic based on input from all of you with 20 minutes at the end to tackle other challenges you bring to us that day.

Please let me know if you would like a translator to be available.

A google meet link can be set up if you would like to join remotely. Please email me to let me know.

I have spent years trying to find a great resource for families. There is so much "parenting advice" out there that it can often become overwhelming when you are trying to find a solution to a specific challenge.

The National Center For Pyramid Model Innovations is a great place to start! Simply open the attached link and click on Parent Resources. My favorite is the Backpack Connection Series.

These resources are provided in multiple languages too.

Click Here for link to website

The Family Routine Guide includes strategies for the common routines and activities that occur during the family’s week.

https://challengingbehavior.org/docs/Positive-Solutions_Family-Routine_Guide.pdf

The Connecticut Early Learning Standards helps to guide our planning for all of our students. They also provide support for families including Strategies for Learning at Home.

Click on the link below to see this great resource:

https://www.ctoec.org/ct-elds-strategies-for-learning-at-home/

This is a good reminder on how we can talk to our children especially when you are giving them a direction. Think about how often a child is given a direction each day and imagine how hard it must be for them as the day progresses. Look at the suggestions below for a respectful way to tell your child what you need them to do. This allows you to save "no" for the big things.

Children thrive in an environment with routines and predictability. One way to establish those routines in your home is with a Visual Schedule.

Visual Schedules will support your child's ability to follow directions and transitions during the day. They also help your child to understand:

What should I be doing?

How do I know if I am making progress towards a more preferred activity?

How do I know when I am done?

What will happen next?

Please see the link below to help you create a visual schedule for your child. The article even includes pictures you can print.

Use this Train Analogy to help your child manage difficult situations.

https://www.pickanytwo.net/the-train-analogy-that-will-change-how-you-see-your-crying-child/

Preschool Instructional Coach/Parent Educator

Beth_forger@greenwich.k12.ct.us