Making the most of your child’s daycare experience is about more than getting to the car rider line on time or ensuring they have fun with their Montessori daycare curriculum. It’s also about building relationships with teachers and administrators by checking in regularly and finding ways to support them.
Though it can be challenging in today’s fast-paced world to find the time for this, remember that your involvement in your child’s daycare does not have to be extensive. If every parent contributes a little of their time, it can make a big difference. If you need ideas, here are five simple yet effective ways to show support for your children’s daycare.
Provide Classroom Materials
Montessori programs are built on the premise of having a prepared environment. This means that teachers prepare the classroom each day in a way that facilitates hands-on learning. This requires using learning materials, including hand-washing tables, cylinder blocks, green boards, bead cabinets, and more.
Consider donating or helping with the purchase of these materials. You can also help the daycare coordinate material donations from local organizations or community members. Each time you do, you’re helping your child and others learn and develop important skills.
Volunteer Your Assistance
Daycare programs have many moving parts, including snack time, lunch service, parent newsletters, and administrative tasks such as answering the phone or calling community partners. It’s likely your child’s teachers and administrators could use some help with getting it all done.
Even one day of your assistance can make all the difference, so consider volunteering to help ensure things are running smoothly and the focus can remain on learning, fun, and skill development.
Offer to Host an Event
In addition to ongoing volunteer opportunities, many daycares need parents to help coordinate and host fundraisers and other family-friendly events. These events might include learning showcases, class plays, local restaurant benefit nights, book sales, social events, and holiday service projects.
The administrative team at your child’s daycare has so much to keep up with daily as they ensure safety and learning for many children. Taking the responsibility of event hosting off their hands allows them to do more without stretching themselves too thin.
Also, when your child sees you being a great helper, they will likely want to imitate that helpful behavior.
Be the Marketing Team
Have you had a great experience with your child’s daycare? It’s time to share those details with other families in your neighborhood and town.
While daycares are constantly marketing their services, it creates trust when other parents share how those services have benefitted their children. Offer to share your testimonial as well as provide word-of-mouth marketing.
Help Create Onsite Experiences
While many daycares don’t take children offsite for various reasons, it’s still important for children to have exciting and unique real-world experiences and activities. This helps them apply what they have learned in their classrooms and take their understanding from abstract to concrete.
Consider setting up an onsite experience for your child’s school, such as a petting zoo, gardening station, or fire truck visit.
Parent Involvement Is Key to Daycare Success
Daycare is about more than just developing skills. Educating the whole child means understanding how families play a significant role in building a foundation for success. If you’re looking for a daycare program that promotes child-driven learning while welcoming parental support, we invite you to consider Mission Valley Montessori.
We are now enrolling for our toddler, preschool, and kindergarten programs for children ages 18 months to six years. Contact us to learn more about our Montessori daycare programs and apply for enrollment today.
