Getting involved in kindy

Video Transcript

0:14 Good morning Harry. Just sign for Harry there.

0:22 We’ve always had the bus run.

0:25 It gives us a lot of face to face contact to the parents. There might be other members of the family

0:29 around there, we have a little chat, have a yarn, and the kids love it. They jump on

0:34 the bus, they wave goodbye to their parents and stuff like that. So it plays a really

0:38 big part in our communication with parents and the community, and you know it’s fun.

0:45 All the kids get to see who lives where and what’s happening, and a staff member is always

0:49 standing out the front, saying ‘good morning’, you know, and bringing the kids in.

0:55 Pretty dress Annabelle.

1:05 The ways that I try to engage parents is to

1:08 have an open classroom. They often participate in the morning routine with us, whether it

1:13 be like putting the stickers in the folders or coming and sitting during the mat time.

1:20 We also like to invite parents to come and be involved maybe to present an activity.

1:25 So we often have visitors coming from community as well.

1:28 [SINGING]

1:49 And I often do sit down and have an informal conversation.

1:52 It’s not formal – nothing’s ever formal with our mob too. It’s always

1:57 sitting down, having that informal chit-chat around questions that they want to ask you.

2:02 But on family days, like I’ll put something in there to tell the parents ‘you know, if

2:07 you want to help us’, because this is what we’re doing at the moment. The kids are learning about

2:11 Grandpa Gramp, it’s a story about the sea, and they could help us create

2:16 some different sort of sizes of fish, and of course get them to help the children learn

2:22 those names, those words for size. Big, bigger, biggest. You know, because often parents are

2:29 the role models for their children, and if the children see the parents interested in

2:32 something, then it’s more likely that the children become interested in it as well.

2:38 Oh isn’t that a beautiful story. Do you like that story?

2:46 Talking to parents and having those conversations, and you know you have to have your – your

2:50 relationships with those parents and say, you know, ‘next time when you’re at home, instead of

2:54 saying to your child come on let’s set the table and put the cups out, let’s

2:58 use the pink cups today. Or pass mummy the green peas’.

3:06 Sitting down on the beach where – you know, this is our context. You know, we’re right

3:10 on the beach, so when you’re sitting there, get your kids to draw pictures in the sand

3:14 and say, ‘oh this is your name ‘ssssss’’. Everyone knows that, it’s just how are we

3:19 going to use it that’s going to help them in a school environment.

3:27 If you don’t establish those really good relationships with parents, why would parents send them

3:31 to us? You know, we wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for parents who obviously bring

3:36 them every day and trust us enough to ensure that their child is safe here every day.

3:44 It’s because of the relationships that we have with family and community that this place

3:47 is so successful.

Families are a child’s first teachers, and parents are role models for little ones. If parents get involved in the kindy community, kids are more excited to be involved as well.

Be a part of your little one’s learning by taking them to and from kindy and talking to them about what they did and what they learned. You can even talk to your local service about getting involved in arts and crafts, music or other activities.

Remember, after kids come home from kindy, they are still learning and there are fun ways for little ones to learn each day. If you are walking on the beach, talk to your child about the waves, or sound out letters you mark in the sand.

Check out some more ideas from kindies in the Torres Strait, about how families can be involved.

Video originally sourced from the DET Foundations For Success website, providing additional guidance to the Early Years Learning Framework for the delivery quality early learning programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.