Friday, September 11, 2009

Parents As Partners

Leadership...

"Leadership is not magnetic personality, that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not "making friends and influencing people", that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations."
— Peter F. Drucker

Very young children are much like water. They have a tendency to go toward the path of least resistance. They have an amazing ability to sense exactly who is in charge...and who isn't. I have two sisters. We used to triple team the any babysitter that would come to the house. They were putty in our little hands. Then there was this one babysitter that was different. My older sister tried something and our parents were called, immediately.
All three of us stood there in a row with our mouths hanging open-looking like we just got a shot of novocaine.
Our Mom and Dad showed up within minutes.....
Have you ever had that twisted feeling in your gut when you know your in trouble? We could hear the sound of the car pull up and the car doors slam.
The "babysitter-lady" told them everything we did...My parents were nodding and looking at us, they looked upset and disappointed. They made us apologize. We were in big trouble that night.
My parents had a long talk with us the next day and let us know how disappointed they were in all of us. They said they expected us to behave the same way with all grow ups as if they were there.
My parents took a strong leadership roll early in my life. And that 'babysitter-lady' clearly made an impact on me, as well. I saw both her and my parents worked together, supported and upheld one another-they worked as a team.
In the field on early childhood education it is such a blessing to have parents, teachers working together for the education and success of the child-Our preschool curriculum must give opportunities to reflect communication between families or guardians. I strive for it, because I know when a young child sees and experiences it in action-it will forever change their life.

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