Parent Participation is invited and encouraged on many levels, these are via:
CURRICULUM – Development/Evaluation
We invite parent’s cultural input, to contribute to curriculum development. Montessori has its programme foundation in Geographical topics from which language, craft etc. is developed. Examples of input:
- Come into the classroom and cook traditional meals e.g. making pasta from flour
- Bring in artefacts/books etc. for the children to see/experience
- Show children their traditional costume e.g. kimono
- Show children a traditional dance
- Bring in traditional foods which may celebrate a festival or cultural high light e.g. moon cakes to celebrate Chinese New Year
- Ways they may celebrate Easter or Christmas etc in other countries
- Any other items of interest for the children
Many activities invited to the centre are based on the enhancement of our curriculum via the focus of a particular country (i.e. Geographical topic) e.g. ‘The Spanish Dancers’ when we are looking at Spain or South America.
DAY TO DAY
Parents are asked to assist with very important areas which assist the overall smooth running of the centre. This includes:
- Washing (on a weekly roster)
- Sewing
- Colouring
- Gardening
- Cutting
- Ironing
- Children’s book club organiser
- Adult library co-ordinator
- Many other requests are made throughout the year as needed e.g. Accreditation committee.
POLICY FORMATION
We value the input of Parents on every level within the centre. We especially value policy formation feedback. We are aware that families of Long Day Care centres are very busy, so easy communication is made available through notes sent to us via the fees/suggestion boxes. Frequently we put notices in parent pockets inviting feedback on policies which we may be reviewing, or are formulating. Parents are asked to respond by dropping a note in the fees box. We also have a ‘suggestion box’ within which parents are invited to make suggestions at any time.
ACTIVITIES/SHOWS
Parents are invited and encouraged to attend any of the activities/shows that we have at the centre, with their child. We enjoy their participation and feedback, as all activities are tied into the programme and its development, especially its cultural perspective.
SUGGESTION BOX
Parents are invited to make any suggestions and send them to us via the suggestion box
GROUP GATHERINGS
For Easter and Christmas we encourage whole family participation, as families are invited to attend both a service, and a picnic to celebrate these special occasions. This provides opportunities for families to come together informally to get to know one another and communicate on a different level.
INFORMALLY
Parents are encouraged to speak to staff every day, as staff are always available to speak with them. In this way the centre is aware of any changes/allowances that may need to be made for an individual child. The curriculum is designed to be flexible enough to enable immediate changes to accommodate family needs as are appropriate.
PARENT INFORMATION EVENINGS
We have a number of parent information evenings to assist parents with learning various aspects of Montessori, child development, positive parenting, etc. Afterwards is a wonderful time to communicate informally with staff and other parent, look at the materials on the shelves and ask questions on their purpose etc. If the meeting gives you specific questions that you would like to ask about your child, we ask that you note it down, make appointment with your child’s teacher and discuss it privately as there could be many underlining issues to discuss. Light refreshments provided.
We have informal discussions which provide an opportunity to ‘get together’ and communicate informally about their children, which we can use to further develop the overall programme for individual children or the whole group.
CLASS OBSERVATIONS
To gain a better understanding of the Montessori philosophy and what your child and the whole class is doing during the Montessori programme, we invite and encourage all parents to make a booking to observe the classroom during class time. Take notes and if necessary make an appointment to discuss these with the teacher at a time suitable to both.
PARENT TEACHER MEETINGS
Twice a year we give parents a developmental check of their child/ren. Parents are then invite to come in and discuss their child’s development with their teacher and, with the teacher develop strategies and ideas that can be used at school and at home, to further enhance their development.
