An Educator's Reflection on Parent Involvement in Early Intervention and Resources for Parents and Providers

By: Chelsea Emery, EC-SEAT Scholar

Parent involvement in early intervention is very important. I love that I get to meet the parents of every child I work with. This allows me to understand the child better and better support them. As an educator I am trained and experienced in understanding the aspects of development. Parents are specialists of their child. Both of these aspects working together can create great success for the child. Working in early intervention we have the privilege in working in the child’s home with a parent. Working in a home environment is important to support the child with everyday tasks and achieve developmental milestones. Although we are there to work with the child it is important for the parent and educator to be mutually involved to understand how to support their child’s development and learning at home. Many times there are miscommunications between programs and parents. It is important for programs and schools to make sure goals and objectives are clear so that the team is working together to achieve the same tasks. In my past, I have worked with parents who ask a lot of questions or are curious about their child’s needs and others are more reserved. As a professional in early education we need to be prepared to support both kinds of parents. Having resources and easily accessible information is important to support families. Below are some great websites and resources that are helpful to use with parents in early intervention and early childhood education! Enjoy!
  • Meddybemps.com - Great for books, games, fine motor activities, social/emotional ideas, colors, matching, and sorting activities 
  • Do2learn.com - Fun crafts, ideas for social skill teaching, and behavioral management activities 
  • Happyhooligans.com - A creative blog with ideas and crafts organized by fine motor, sensory, or craft 
  • Ableplay.org - A website design to review toys effectiveness, quality and usage. This includes toy reviews, reviews on adaptive toys, and special education toys. 
  • Handsonaswegrow.com - A fun blog organized by age for ideas on crafts and sensory ideas, all cool and different. 
  • Pluk.org - Educational resources for special education parents. 
  • Eparent.com - Educational resource for special education parents. 
  • Letsplay.buffalo.edu - Universal design activities and toys for specific needs.

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