Building Positive Relationships with Parents of Young Children: A guide to effective communication

Positive relationships between practitioners and parents are essential for young children’s wellbeing, but achieving this can be difficult if there is not enough understanding about how relationships work when one person (the practitioner or teacher) has to play the professional role. Strong communication skills are fundamental to this relationship and to building a sense of community between home and nursery or school.

This new book explores how practitioners can build warm, friendly and caring relationships with parents. It clearly explains the dynamics of a conversation, the theory behind how relationships are formed or destroyed and provides practical strategies to put this knowledge into practice.

Grounded in the theories of attachment, transactional analysis and solution focused therapy this book will help you to:

• Increase your level of self awareness
• Improve your listening skills
• Understand ‘how’ to communicate with different parent ‘types‘
• Learn how to conduct an individual parent interview
• Develop professional care giving skills

Full of practical examples and strategies, this text will be welcomed by early years practitioners and students who wish to develop the skills and confidence they need to effectively communicate with the parents of the children they care for.

Anita M. Hughes is a Chartered Educational Psychologist, who has worked with families for over thirty years both for social services (in Early Years) and then in education services before becoming an Independent Consultant and Therapist. She is a mother of two grown-up children.

Veronica Read

is a Group Analyst and Independent Educational Consultant. She writes and delivers workshops on attachment for Early Years practitioners and works as a Specialist Teacher for an LEA. She has extensive experience of working with children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Veronica is also a mother of two grown-up children.