Originally Posted by CoachingForQualityImprovement:
I understand other providers' feelings and stance regarding not wanting parents walking around their home, and the need for a trusting relationship.
That said, I have never considered parents to be mistrusting simply because they wish to see the space their child plays in on a daily basis. I look at it as the parent taking an interest in their child's life. My families always entered my home and came in to spend a few moments with their children and their provider in the environment in which their child plays, grows and develops. I think that being welcoming to them in such a way DID build trust, and I always had very close relationships with the children and families in my program. Of course, parents were never alone with the children, but they did spend time here daily, when time allowed, of course.
I also consider all of the cases of abuse at child care programs that parents hear about in the news......most of the parents who have had a child abused, or god forbid, die in the care of a child care provider trusted their provider as well, probably so much so that they didn't feel the need to "inspect" the environment. I wonder if some of those parents feel as though there may have been a different outcome had they regularly spent a few moments in those environments. I wonder if parents who have children in care feel as though it is pertinent that they do so, in an effort to prevent something awful happening. No matter how much one trusts a provider, you can never 100%, without a doubt, trust anyone, especially someone who is basically a stranger to you and your child. I know I didn't fully trust anyone with my children when they were young, hence my reason for becoming a provider in the first place.
I used to be exactly this way. I have nothing to hide and all of my parents used to be welcome in my daycare rooms at any time. HOWEVER in the last few years, I have seen a huge change in parenting which has resulted a huge change in how children behave today.
Today, I find that about 99.9 % of my kids can't follow the rules when their parent is here and 99.9% of the parents do nothing about it. So I have no desire to invite this in.
NOW if you can manage your child while you are here and follow the rules, then I would have no problem if you came in and finished coloring a picture with your child, but just know that you must be under staff supervision, as there are other children around.
sadly, this is not the case.
when I allowed parents to come in, they used it as a social time with other parents while their child ran like crazy destroying my house. The parents today don't mind their children like in years past.
So for me and most, it is only fair that everyone has the same rule of pick up and go.
Every question or concern a parent has about their child or my program isVERY important to me and I am sure that just about all of us can say the same. so I hope that at anytime they every needed something addressed they are comfortable enough to ask. If they are not comfortable with being able to ask, then they are not in the right program.
Yes, we need to address licensing rules and regs and follow them to the T, but we also must set up a successful program that doesn't allow for chaos and destruction to take place.
I really think this is why so many places are resorting to this type of no parent in the classroom, becuase sadly it's not the child, it's the parent not parenting the child. and as they say, it only takes one to ruin if for everybody else.