Being a parent comes with many joys but also many questions. Sometimes when questions arise, parents might not know where to turn to for support and reliable advice. South Washington County Schools Early Learning offers free ECFE Parent Consultations to families with children birth to age 8. Keep reading to learn more about our different types of Parent Consultations and meet our licensed parent educators who provide consultations.
What are ECFE Parent Consultations?
We offer two types of consultations, early childhood and new baby visits. Each consultation is uniquely designed to meet your family's goals and concerns. The parent educator has the opportunity to visit with the parent(s) and possibly meet the child too. The consultation can take place at the family's home, virtually or at school. The number of visits is determined by your family and the parent educator. There may be only one visit if the parents have a single question or feel confident that the behavior they care concerned about is a typical stage in a child's development.
What can I expect during an ECFE Parent Consultation?
Once you have requested a parent consultation or new baby visit, one of our parent educators will contact you via phone to set up an appointment. During your first visit, a plan of action is developed by your family and the parent educator. The parent educator supports your family by offering researched strategies that are developmentally appropriate, guidance in navigating resources, and sharing community resources. Parent educators may also provide resources like visual schedules, make-and-take activities, helpful book titles for parents and children, and much more.
Why might you want to schedule an ECFE Parent Consultation?
New Baby visits are a great option for families who have welcomed a new baby. These visits are designed to help families adjust to life with a new baby. Some common topics that are covered include baby development, sleep, infant feeding, and nutrition. Miss Kathy, our Parent/Infant specialist asked some families who participated in new baby visits why they opted to do one. Parents of older children might reach out to request an early childhood parent consultation for similar reasons as well. Here are some of their answers:
“We had been home from the hospital for a little while - long enough for the realization to set in that whether or not we knew what we were doing, here we were taking care of this baby! In the hospital there is always someone coming to check in, help you, make sure you know what to do. Then there is the first doctor appointment, and we had a home visit from a nurse as well in those first couple days. And then after that…. Nothing until the 1-month appointment. We were so nervous about waiting a whole month before anybody saw him, or we could ask questions. It helped us to settle in and to know that we were indeed doing ok when we met with you.” Being a parent IS overwhelming and difficult. Understanding typical developing behavior as well as learning to trust what we know about our babies and children is a part of the process…Receiving information on all that can support learning as parents.
“Comfort, peace of mind, expert knowledge, friendly community resource.” Knowing you are not alone can be a benefit and finding out resources and information that can help make your journey easier.
Early childhood consultations are often requested by parents who have questions about toilet training, effective discipline strategies, routines, sleep, developmental questions, school readiness and so much more.
What are the benefits of ECFE Parent Consultations?
Parents report many benefits following parent consultations:
- Feeling supported in their role as a parent
- Identifying family strengths
- Increased awareness of their child's development
- New "tools" to use in daily parenting
- Activities to support development and school readiness
- Feeling more connected to the school.
