Beyond the Book—The Partnership

Early Childhood Care

The partnership between the parent and teacher cannot be underestimated. When it is built on mutual trust and respect, everything else falls into place—everything!

This poem, by Ray Lingenfelter, says it all:

Unity

I dreamed I stood in a studio
and watched two sculptors there.
The clay they used was a young child’s mind
and they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher.
The tools she used were books and music and art;
One was a parent
with a guiding hand and a gentle, loving heart.

And when at last their work was done,
they were proud of what they had wrought;
for the things they had worked into the child
could never be sold or bought.

And each agreed she would have failed
If she had worked alone;
for behind the parent stood the school,
and behind the teacher stood the home.

In Beginning to End: The Life Cycle of a Child Care Center—A Director’s Story, available at Amazon.com, I offer very specific ways to work effectively and successfully with parents. What l learned during my long career in early childhood career as teacher, director, teacher of teachers, and consultant, I pass on to you. In this life, we don’t go it alone. When we learn how to connect with one another and appreciate what others bring into our lives (and into the lives of our children), how rich it all becomes!

This entry was posted in Early Childhood, Early Childhood Curriculum, Early Childhood Leadership, Early Childhood Teachers, For Early Childhood Directors, Managing Early Childhood Programs, Performance Management Skills, Quality Early Education and Care, Training for Early Childhood Directors, Training for Early Childhood Professionals. Bookmark the permalink.

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