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In a rush? Here’s a quick breakdown:
*In this article, parent is used to reference any primary caregiver, guardian or family member in a child’s life.
It gets me every time.
I send my dad a text, “Morning! I’ll call you around 5:30pm.”
His response: “Ok.”
My thoughts: “He’s mad, he’s annoyed, I’ve done something - but what? If it was me, I would have said ‘Sounds good!’ or ‘Looking forward to it!’
Reality: “Ok.” is a perfectly ok answer to my text. And everything was totally great when we talked on the phone later.
This is just one example of how a single word—without tone, context, or expression—can be completely misread. He probably sent it with a smile on his face that I couldn’t see.
Now imagine that same thing happening between a preschool teacher and a parent—two people who don’t know each other as well as a father and daughter do. That’s why clear, thoughtful communication in early childhood education (ECE) isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s essential.
Let’s dive into the importance of clear communication in ECE, and tips to make sure you’re not misinterpreted!
For many families, childcare is the very first time they’re trusting other adults with the most important thing in their life—their child. So in addition to looking for a childcare provider that is a nurturing, supportive and safe place for their child to grow, they are also looking to feel involved in that development journey - even when they’re not physically there.
Since families aren’t there to see what’s happening throughout the day, communication becomes everything. It’s the bridge that connects home to childcare.
Communication reassures, informs, and builds trust.
Suddenly, your notes, your messages, your reminders, your updates are way more than just simple words, but are the foundation of fostering that relationship.
Merriam-Webster defines partner as “one associated with another especially in an action,” and a partnership as "a relationship…usually involving close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities.”
The action and the joint responsibilities? Supporting the children in their growth and development. The specified responsibilities? A parent and a teacher represent different types of role models and adults in a child’s life, and often exist in different environments. Still, even when separate, they are working towards the same goal.
Digital communication is definitely more efficient and accessible for early childhood staff, compared to the traditional phone call or sending a letter home with the children at the end of the day.
Parents are spending the majority of their day on some sort of device, with constant access to emails and texts - even in the middle of a meeting, or out to lunch. They can always quickly check and see if it’s something worth attending to immediately, or if it can wait until a more convenient time. Answering a phone call? Not so much. And waiting until the end of the day to update them is sometimes too late.
However, digital communications does add a layer of complexity to clear, direct, and honest communication.
How? Well there’s room for typos and grammatical errors, an absence of expressions and body language for context, and larger room for interpretation.
Before jumping off, I want to tell you that we do get it.
You’re an early childhood educator juggling individualized lesson plans, snacks, diaper changes, incident reports, observations, and safety in a classroom full of toddlers—and now you’re also expected to be a flawless communicator?
You can’t do it all, and you shouldn’t be expected to.
But, let’s take a look at some of the more common communication “mishaps” we hear from ECE leaders. (And I was going to wait until later, but I’m pretty excited to show you how Famly has built tools to specifically help you become a top communicator.)
A parent messages you that they are running 5 minutes late to pick up their child today. You see the message and want to reply to acknowledge that you’ve seen it. But you’re also in the middle of getting everyone ready for snack time, and Danny just sneezed and snot went everywhere. So you quickly respond “Ok.”
From your side, you’re doing great - you’re acknowledging the message and responding in a timely manner.
But, on the other end - that parent is probably stressed, and feeling bad for running late to pick up their child. So seeing an “Ok.” may spiral into “the teacher’s judging me for being late, and thinks I’m a bad parent.”
You didn’t mean any of that. But digital communication doesn’t come with tone or facial expressions, and that means parents will often fill in the blanks with their own fears and feelings (like I did with my dad’s “Ok.” text).
Here’s another scenario we have heard from real directors. It’s the afternoon, and the teacher is so excited that they’ve made it past lunch time with no real accidents - just some food stained clothes. Then, the teacher remembers that she needs to send Emily’s dad a reminder, and sends “Can u plz remember to brig Emily’s rainboos tomorrow to keep in his cubby?”
The teacher was doing their best. They probably typed it with one thumb while helping a child zip up their coat, or just as children began waking up from nap time. The intention was nothing but helpful - just a friendly reminder to bring rain boots.
But here’s the challenge: while the teacher knew it was written in a rush with the best of intentions, the parent on the receiving end may not. Especially if they’re newer to your program, or already feeling a little uncertain about what happens during the day.
What a teacher may see as a harmless typo—or a shorthand text in a moment of multitasking—a parent might interpret as careless, or even unprofessional. And it’s not about being picky. It’s about perception. For families, these tiny moments of communication add up to a bigger picture about the quality of care.
In a survey that Famly recently conducted, 38% of respondees consider parents overbearing and too demanding. And striking the balance of satisfying the parents desire to be informed, while also not interrupting teachers, is hard.
We know how frustrating, distracting, and honestly, irritating, it can be when a parent is consistently calling and emailing. And when you’re already being stretched thin, and working overtime, every bone in your body is trying to send a friendly response, rather than telling (dare I say, shouting at?) them to give you space.
At Famly, our team hears these concerns around communication from ECE directors and leaders a lot. Directors feel like they have to double-check all messages before they go out to families to ensure professional and friendly tones. But, with an already never-ending to-do list, this just feels, well, less than efficient.
Plus, staff want to feel empowered and comfortable to communicate directly with parents without constant oversight.
Famly’s feature, Sidekick Writing Assistant, helps ECE staff feel confident in their writing and communication skills. And directors can get some time back in their day knowing their staff have the right tools in their hands.
How does Sidekick empower staff to communicate?
“[Sidekick has] reduced my workload massively and saved me so much time - I’ve got back at least half a day. All the staff have used it and they’re so happy with it. It’s just made their lives easier. The feedback was amazing - they’re so impressed with it. They can see the changes so they think, ‘Next time, I’m going to write it this way. It’s having a knock-on effect as it’s teaching them how they could word it.”
- James Goodeve, Manager, Ladybird Nursery
It’s one thing to work to improve messages to be clearer and friendlier, but what happens when you add language differences to the mix? With the number of dual language learners and multilingual families continuing to grow, we often hear that directors and educators struggle to communicate effectively with every member of their community.
Too often, this results in confusing, fragmented communication—or worse, no communication at all. And it can deeply impact a child’s development, sense of security, and connection between home and care.
But here’s the good news: this is where digital communication becomes a powerful opportunity, not an added complexity. With the right tools, technology can reduce misunderstandings and, more importantly, can ensure every family feels genuinely included in their child’s care—no matter what language they speak at home.
In fact, for multilingual communication, tech is doing something remarkable: it’s building bridges and fostering partnerships that might not have been possible before.
At Famly, we believe language should never be a roadblock to connection. That’s why we’ve built Live Translation tools directly into our platform, so you don’t have to open a new browser tab or copy-paste messages into Google Translate.
Here’s how it works:
No workarounds. No delay. Just clear, consistent, and compassionate communication—made simple for every family, in every language.
"We love having the ability to communicate in a way that’s accessible to all parents, through a smartphone or a laptop or a computer. Being able to translate it into different languages means you can make sure that every multilingual child is able to have that voice. That parent has a voice.”
- Mat Stephens, Deputy Manager Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead, Acorns Preschool
Whether we realize it or not, trust is built—or broken—one interaction at a time. Every message, every check-in, every shared photo or quick reminder is part of what we might call a trust bank.
With each positive interaction, we make a deposit:
On the other hand, withdrawals happen too. And as explained above, they’re often unintentional:
But, just like a bank, this is fluid. As deposits build up over time, you are cultivating that partnership, and building a foundation of trust and understanding.
But just like a real bank account, when there are consistent deposits, a trust bank can handle the occasional withdrawal. In other words, when families feel consistently valued and in-the-loop, they’re more likely to extend grace when something isn’t worded quite right or a miscommunication occurs.
Communication mistakes will happen. That’s just being human. But when you’re intentionally building strong relationships—when you’re continuously investing in connection—those bumps in the road feel like just that: small hiccups, not major setbacks.
With tools like Sidekick and Live Translation to help you show up clearly, kindly, and confidently in your daily messages, you’re not just communicating. You’re building trust—and that’s the foundation of everything we do in early childhood education.
Please note: here at Famly we love sharing creative activities for you to try with the children at your setting, but you know them best. Take the time to consider adaptions you might need to make so these activities are accessible and developmentally appropriate for the children you work with. Just as you ordinarily would, conduct risk assessments for your children and your setting before undertaking new activities, and ensure you and your staff are following your own health and safety guidelines.
Take an interactive tour of our easy-to-use early childhood platform, and see how Famly takes your center to the next level.
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