Home, school partnerships in family child care: providers’ relationships within their communities

Abstract

Professional family child care providers’ work with children from birth through age five can be exemplary, particularly with regard to building stable and substantive relational ties. Such long‐term engagements with client children and their families offer potential for strong partnership with families and local contexts over time. This paper explores providers’ stories that illustrate such a favourable connection: how continuity between providers, parents and neighbourhood schools becomes a mutually beneficial relationship.

Keywords:

• family child care
• early childhood
• home
• school partnerships
• educare

Notes

1. Referred to throughout as ‘providers’.