Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/empowering-parents/5013856/
Get real! I think parents are already too powerful! They want this and that for their kids, as if their child was the only child in the center. They will want to have a say on curriculum, on fees, on everything. If I ask what they think, or worse let them decide, all hell will break loose. (Director responding to an earlier article on parent partnerships, (Child Care Information Exchange, November, 1998)It's easy for those us who are not in the daily thick of things to talk and write about the value of full parent partnerships - empowering parents. We can be confident in our wisdom, generous in our knowledge, and charitable in our recognition that partnerships take work. But it's not us who are being asked to install a phonics curriculum in the two's group, lower tuition, promise that a baby will be held most of the time, use all organic products, serve more foods that children will eat like hot dogs, or keep their little boy out the high heels and chiffon dresses that he likes so much. But, as with empowering children or teachers, empowering parents is a vital part to creating a community of caring and learning.
So ...