Three Cups of Tea & ECE



Three Cups of Tea & ECE

Cup One: In Afghanistan & Pakistan a guest is invited in for a cup of tea as a cultural formality. As an early childhood educator:

• What are your first steps to welcome children and families into your program?

• How do you get to know “guests” even before they come in for the “first cup of tea”?

• How can we conduct initial encounters in a way that invites our “guests” to want to come back for a second cup of tea?

• How do you begin to build trust from your first encounters with staff, families and children?

• What would be important elements in creating a welcoming physical and social environment?

The following are ideas generated from small group discussion in CDES 122:

Focus on Early Childhood Programs for this exercise, not Elementary/

Secondary Programs. Also, focus on developmentally appropriate practice.

• Introduce yourself

- invite parents and children – intro. Party

- letter

- goodie bags (healthy snacks)

- introduction

- ice breakers

• Ask other sources

- go to community programs and events (YMCA or After-school programs)

- go to other teachers

• Make a comfortable environment (friendly – welcoming)

- handshakes

- get more personal

- parent-teacher conference

- open invitation

• Getting more personal

- e-mail, contact

- compassionate

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• introducing yourself as a trustworthy educator

• within the 1st month, have conference (coffee, games, prizes)

- ice breakers with parent involvement

- park, picnic

• class website with instructions

• list parent needs

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• ice breaker – simple introduction

• play a game to get to know each other (scavenger hunts, game: people to people)

• presentable atmosphere (clean environment)

• informal event with welcome posters, events for parents to get involved, potluck, nametags,

school itinerary.

• insure the parents of professionalism, safety concerns, issues parents may have

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• invite parent for a play date so they can observe before they sign up to see if program is

suitable for them

• set up “meet ‘n greet” or open house

• send out personalized message to each parent

• make available additional meetings (ie. One-on-one with teacher)

• building trust through communication

• show that child’s individual needs are being met

• art should be displayed

• books should be made available in a welcome reading environment

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• Have each child draw a picture of their family and if they want to talk about it they can

This is to mainly make a child more comfortable/ have them feel like their family is with them.

• Have the parents/guardians go to school with the child and each family shares ideas, stories,

backgrounds to give everyone on idea where that child is coming from.

• Segregate parents and children. This way parents can get to know each other more and the

same goes with the children.

• Start the day with an activity that can display each child’s creativity.

• Parents and children explore the campus (in a tour) and are given a day to try out the school to

see if they like it or not.

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• Give the families the curriculum plan before school starts.

• Be approachable and ask questions about families.

• Include child in interactions with the family so he/she knows their family trusts you and in turn

he/she will trust you.

• Have an open house before school starts so children and parents become familiar with you and

the environment.

• Implement suggestions made by parents so they see their opinions are respected and taken into

consideration

• Involve staff, family and children in your curriculum planning.

• Open up to parents and be interested in their past experiences and goals for their children.

• Have child bring an item from home that helps them become comfortable with their

environment.

• Encourage and create opportunities for children to help each other learn.

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• Introduction: greeting, welcoming and learning each others names, sharing background as an educator such as their experience in the field. Also telling the students the gains and positives of the programs. But yet still be honest and tell students the extra effort they have to put in.

• To encourage guests to return: the educator must provide an interactive, fun, and friendly environment that will spring an interest for the guests to return.

• To build trust with families, staff and children, try to make them feel comfortable and safe to leave the child in your professional care. Educators should be honest and open with all the program. Be open to comments and questions anyone may have.

• Important elements in creating a welcoming environment is being friendly, learning names by providing nametags. A bright and colorful room, show examples of work.

• Introducing who we are, saying a little bit of our background information.

• Communicating

• warmth, comfortable

• informed with what the child is doing

• Introduction to the classroom environment

• friendly

• positive attitude (smiling)

• examples of the kids projects, classwork

• having the child share what they have learned/enjoyed

• snacks

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• Meet and greet/open house for the new perspective students and families to meet the teacher

and check out the facilities

• Welcoming classroom – Inviting environment for both parents and children

- bright colors, home décor to bring a comfortable feeling – transition for children

- natural elements – plants, wooden toys/blocks

• If parents are calling, have a knowledgeable person answering the calls and have phone

etiquette – engage with the adult regarding any questions or concerns.

- set-up walk through appointments, etc.

- always have a bright engaging smile when first meeting parents and children.

• Create a communication log for additional encounters – open communication – text messages

or class e-mails.

• make sure the teacher knows her plans for the year and explain her approach to parents

beforehand. Newsletters to notify parents of accomplishments and weekly lesson plans.

• open classroom to welcome parents to come in and help or observe classroom

procedures.

• Open house to welcome family – introducing teacher (potluck) – bring dishes from different

cultural backgrounds

• Exchange picture postcards between children and families so they get to know each other and

see the class environment

• Follow-up with letters, phone calls, surveys

• Open dialogue and friendly environment

• Music, food, plants, things to make people feel welcome. Open spaces and toys for the kids to

play with.

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