The Importance of Written Communication for Early Childhood Educators

Communication is a key attribute to success in the workplace and in daily life. This is especially true for individuals who are in the education field, particularly when it comes to working with children. The educator must consider a variety of techniques to communicate effectively with others. Teachers must be able to communicate well with children, the children's parents, and is/her own colleagues and self. To help achieve affective communication within this field, written communication is used to its advantage.

When the educator is to communicate with the child, a number of strategies should be used. To help children learn to read and write, teachers will often provide them with materials to assist them. This includes books, notes, journals, etcetera. Children can then become engaged with learning as they read about their interests, and write about themselves. Once children have learned to read, ECE's may have a list of activities for them as part of communicating how they should be spending their time as students. Additionally, the educators may have written instructions of tasks for children to complete to ensure they obtain independence.

It is also very critical that the teacher is able to communicate with the child's parents. This can be done through sending them documents of policies and procedures so that the parents know what is expected of their children. Another form of written communication is newsletters or agendas that the children can bring home to their parents to keep them up to date with events, important dates, field trips, and class activities (which may also require permission or safety forms). Report cards are one of the most essential forms of written communication towards parents because it ensures that they are aware of their child's strengths, and where they can see improvement. This helps parents to create goals regarding their children's' learning.

Lastly, the educators should be able to communicate amongst themselves. They should take notes not only for their own reference, but also for their colleagues to refer to if ever needed. It is important to have a record of health and safety information, and mentionable risks of the students. This will ensure that if a dangerous event were to happen, the ECE (or its colleagues) will resolve the issue properly. Teachers will often create lesson plans for children in advance. This is beneficial as the ECE can refer back to what the children needs to be learning at that time. If a substitute is needed, they will also understand what the children should be doing. Additionally, personal scheduling and organization is a way ECE's can communicate with one's self to stay on track with planning, units, assignments, and marking. Sharing this technique with colleagues will in-turn will help to keep the entire system up to date.

As a conclusion, it is shown that written communication is essential to ensure success for childhood learning. It is needed to communicate with children, their parents, and for self reference and referral to peers. There are an infinite amount of ways that 'one can communicate with others through written information in Early Childhood Education.

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