Observing and interacting with families of the children.....

 There are not many families that are in the childcare part of the facility that I am interning at that actually come into the classroom to interact with the teachers and talk with them about their child's progress in the class. Most of the children are brought to the center by the van in the morning and leave on the van in the afternoon. These children actually have a notebook that is brought in by the child in a book bag and the parent's and teacher write back and forth to one another about the progress that their child is making as well as what has been happening in the classroom. I have been able to look into a few of these notebooks and some of the things that are written back into the facility from the parent are questions in regards to when the center is closed and letting them know that their child will be out and when. There are some notebooks that are written in everyday from some families. There is one family who is battling cancer so they give updates to the teacher on their progress and how their child reacts to it at home. The teacher states that this is very helpful to know because should the child begin to act out or just start to slide from their regular routines then she has at least an understanding of what it could be. If she did not get this information from the family then she would be at a loss in trying to understand why this child's demeanor had changed. The director also sent home a parental survey that asked the parent's various questions. One of the things that she has learned from this survey is that parent's feel as if they are not given information about different resources that are available to them based on what is coming home (communications) from the center. I asked her what if anything that she planned to do about this and she told me that she has begun to accumulate information about different opportunities that there are for the parents to learn about things dealing with their child's special need and groups that would also help them with any questions they may have in regards to these same situations. She has begun to send out a monthly letter from herself to the parents to let them know what is coming up in the center and what their child is doing or will do in their class.
 I feel like the parents and the teachers have a good way of communicating since their only means is through the notebook unless they are going to call daily. This keeps the lines of communication open and is handy for both of them to comment back and forth. Also it is in writing so there is nothing that can be said was said without written proof. I was not able to see anything about anyone referring to my topic at this time but I will continue to look and see if I find any.