Quote Originally Posted by kangaroomama View Post
Do you all think it is our place to tell parents if we see that their child is not progressing like other kids their age? I grapple with whether or not this is a good idea or not. Parents can get very defensive adn then also I wouldn't want to make them worry for nothing if the child is fine. On the other hand, if there is a problem, I may notice it earlier because I see the child next to others his/her age. Thoughts??
I think it really depends on your comfort level and experience and trusting you can do it in a way that parents do not become 'defensive' .... so for me using a standardized checklist like Nippising for example and having them complete one for what they observe and home and one for what I observe in the program and than having a 'discussion' around areas where our observations differ and discussing ways to help the child be 'consistent' across the board ~ this way if we BOTH see red flag skills not developing that we can brainstorm is it time to 'get professional help' beyond either the parental role or provider role for the child?

I have no issue sharing 'advice' to parents about how to help their child get the best for forward in the early years because for me I could not live with the guilt of NOT trying if I truly felt there was something the child 'needed' in order to thrive .... from the interview, contract signing and parent handbook this is clear that monitoring development and setting goals for development and so forth is my 'role' as an Early Childhood Educator and the program is designed to help push them to next level of mastery.

However we can only lead the horse to water ~we cannot make them drink I only make an observation 'once' that a child might need additional support beyond what the program has to offer and if the parent is not receptive to hearing it I have done my due diligence and just sit back and wait for them to 'be ready' and take the next step ... it is not my job to nag and push and so forth.

For example I had a child who at 2 had no language ~ just grunting' and more than 6 'nos' on the Nippising for the previous 18 month age group let alone reaching anything on the 24 month one ... I shared this observation with the parents who initially took the child to the DR and the Dr dismissed it as 'normal' all children develop differently and that was what they wanted to HEAR so they grasped onto that with vigor he was 'normal' ... well over a year passed with me trying at program to support the child with sign language and other forms of communication to support him and discussing with the parents about 'expanding' his language by not calling all food 'nummies' and so forth but actually 'labeling' things and encouraging him to parrot back ~ he was 3.5 and still had very little language and what he did have sounded like he was 'underwater' and anyone who was not 'familiar' with him had a hard time understanding him ... so now he is getting ready to start school and finally the parents were ready to revisit that the poor dude had some sort of language barrier to his ability to hear and communicate ... so yeah finally they are ready to 'accept' but now add to it they have to wait 9 months to get into a 'specialist' to look at his ears and by that time the poor dude was struggling in JK and getting labelled with 'behaviour problems' because he cannot communicate with the other kids so acts out ~ something that could have been avoided had at 2 the Dr just took the time to have his hearing properly tested verses basing an assessment on a 5 minute visit one on one in an office or had the parent continued to 'advocate' that their child was not only not at the same level as others his age but about a full YEAR or so behind

So yes it is fine line to want to advocate for the child and overstepping the parents right to 'do what they think is best' and than having to watch them learn such a horrible lesson and live with that guilt for the rest of their lives!