Play suggestions for home?

[Ruthierhyme]

What type of play suggestions do or would you like to consider providing parents/carers with for holiday and weekend times?

If leaflets for traditional games such as skipping, hopscotch, paper planes have been distributed what sort of response have they recieved?

[sarahnev707]

I used to include info about messy play such as making playdough or using soap flakes in my newsletters.

I then asked the children for feedback - did they get to do the things I was suggesting? The feedback was disappointing to say the least.

I then tried sending home small book / puppet combinations but parents were very worried about borrowing them in case of loss or damage and a few came back scribbled on by siblings or the children themselves despite our chats about respect etc.

Then I tried laminating song sheets for fave songs from my house and including a You Tube link so parents could learn the words / tunes etc. I asked parents for feedback and that didn't go down very well either. They are all busy people.

I then sent home a camera taking it in turns between the families so chidlren could make their own home photo albums. That went down slightly better - 3 families completed that one (out of a possible 7).

I have a new set of parents starting soon and thought I might try the recipes idea again... see if it is more successful second time round.

I hope that's what you are looking for

[Ruthierhyme]

lol to the core feedback can be good at finding out how things aren't used. Have you asked parents if they enjoy you sending out suggestions on things to do?

[sarahnev707]

They are happy for me to send out ideas... they are enthusiastic in principle because I have asked them!

I actually said a number of times - before I do this, do you want me to do it and they said yes.

However in practice I think they forget or are simply too busy.

I had a very upsetting time recently when a parent was quite off with me over her child's learning journey - she said she was fed up of it being sent home all the time, she was too busy to look through it and could I please stop putting it in his bag.

Have you had any successful sharing activity experiences?

[Heidi]

Originally Posted by sarahnev707

They are happy for me to send out ideas... they are enthusiastic in principle because I have asked them!

I actually said a number of times - before I do this, do you want me to do it and they said yes.

However in practice I think they forget or are simply too busy.

I had a very upsetting time recently when a parent was quite off with me over her child's learning journey - she said she was fed up of it being sent home all the time, she was too busy to look through it and could I please stop putting it in his bag.

Have you had any successful sharing activity experiences?

I think everyone in the sector will have been had your experience.
I suppose from their point of view, a number of years ago children just attended Pre-school/childminders etc and then went home perhaps with something they'd made/painted or drawn. Now everyone seems to have homework - us, them and now their children.

I put (and talk about) in my induction letter that I will send a child's learning journey home every half term, but if they would like to look through it, add to it or take it home at any time - just ask.
A very few are keen, more like looking through and some of those also bring in pictures/drawings and written or observational notes. Most are happy to see it when it is sent out. I also add the options of involvement in our regular newsletters so everyone knows, but I'm not (hopefully) pestering them. Sometimes when I can see they are not rushing (day off) I ask them if they'd like to look through their child's profile.

One thing that has been sucessful for us is inviting parents/children to bring in photographs or drawings the children have done to tie in with our topic or for no reason, other than just wanting to. It seems that our parents view this as an easier option and not quite so much as homework when they get home from work. Some email the photograph with their child dictating the email or their child can draw 'the topic' whilst Mum/Dad is frantically cooking/ironing or having a flop on the sofa!

One of my parents told me she had planned to help on rota to share her child's day, but on a rare day off, she feels she needs to straighten the house, catch up on the ironing, make a decent meal. She confessed she'd banned paint and playdough as she just couldn't cope with the mess as she had been able to with her first two children when she was at home.
It seems that the world is getting busier and some parents tell me they aren't what they seem as they drop their children off in their smart suits.

I hope you are feeling 'up' now, as I know how much you put into your work (I've read your website) and I'm sure your mother didn't mean to intentionally hurt you.

[Ruthierhyme]

Sarah much the same experiences as yourself as a receiving parent and in the job. It took a really long time for me to understand why I reject many of the suggestions & bits of paper that are sent home aiming only to help my own children's learning and equally as long to try and learn how not take it to heart when professional efforts appear unsuccessful. I shifted benchmarks to measure how pleasing efforts are rather than how materials are or aren't actually used - it's one way that's helped develop practice & adapt objectives. Your success definitely looks to be the response you get from parents enjoying you reaching them, for me it's in knowing how the site's visitor numbers are growing. The occasional feedback on a resource gives a total lift & sometimes opens a new route xx

Successful shares, possibly moving away from a need to evidence or proove children's learning at home to a more flexible approach of sharing experiences. What do mums & dads do? Would they provide a defintion of a 'work' word that you could use with the children?

xx

[sarahnev707]

Thank you for your comments Heidi you are right, we are challenging parents more and more aren't we?

I will follow up on asking parents to bring in photos or works of art from home and push the email option a little more. I think that might be a way forward.

I like the way you focus on positives Ruth! It can be hard, particularly as we work on our own, for childminders to see past the negative at times.

But yes you are right, for every family who reject there is another who welcome feedback or maybe offers information about their child.

I am generally very positive and upbeat - I love my work so much!! I think it's just having that blooming LJ sat completed on the shelf and knowing it will never carry a parent comment. I must add a carefully worded note from mum and then file it over the weekend so I'm not looking at it any more and move on.

Thank you guys