How to help your caregiver with this topic

• Be open and up front when interviewing.



• Use language that is not full of medical terms or abbreviations.



• Describe what kind of training the caregiver would need and how s/he would get it.


• As your child settles into the program, remember to check back frequently on concerns and questions that the caregiver may have but doesn’t voice.



• Remember that your child is in group care – and that other children have needs that require your caregiver’s attention too.



• Try to schedule planning sessions that require your caregiver’s participation at the child care facility, during nap time.



• Finding a substitute so that a caregiver can leave work and attend a meeting is a challenge for most programs. Paying for a substitute is an “undue financial burden” for many programs.



• Requests that caregivers attend evening and weekend training sessions should be kept to a minimum – caregivers are family members, too.



• Consider additional compensation for extra work required (cash or possibly services in–kind such as lawn mowing, automotive care, concert or movie tickets, restaurant certificates, something that helps your caregiver and that they would enjoy).



• Communicate clearly and briefly.



• Avoid long chats while the caregiver is working with other children and parents.



• A notebook that’s passed back and forth in the diaper bag is a good tool for this.



• State what you’d like to have changed and how the caregiver might make that happen.