DO

Parents--make it a point to get to know your child's caregiver.  After all, we're with your child for the majority of their waking hours.  All you have to do is acknowledge us when dropping off or picking up your child each day. Like anyone else, we would like a smile, a "Good morning", or a"Have a nice weekend."  You only need to spend a couple of minutes visiting with us.  We know that you've got to get to work and we need to stay focused on the children in our class.
As a teacher I can tell you that if you treat us with kindness and respect we will bend over backwards when it comes to your child.  Even if your child is the one that we have the most problems with, we will look at them differently just because of the way you act toward us.  You have no idea how your attitude  towards us has an effect on our attitude toward you as well as your child.  If you constantly complain and find it hard to say anything nice, we get to where we don't look forward to seeing you come in in the morning.  How do you think that effects your child?  Don't get me wrong, we're certainly not going to treat your child any different.  We will still love them and treat them the same as all the other children.  But imagine the tension you've created for your child first thing in the morning based on your attitude.  And it's not easy for us to just blow off how you have treated us.  We are only human after all. We may feel upset the majority of the day. Don't you think that can have an effect on your child's day?  Children pick up on the tension that their teachers are experiencing.
One year we had a child with learning and social issues.  The very first day of class the mom showed up with gifts for all the teachers. We could call her about anything and she was always willing to work with us in solving any problems we might be having at the time.  She sent gifts for every special occasion. (I'm certainly not hinting that you do the same. We know money is tight.  Just a kind word goes a long way). But, she knew that there were times we had problems with her child and this was her way of letting us know that she appreciated all we did.  And because of this family's attitude we were determined to make this work and the child had a fantastic school year.  And it all started with the kindness and genuine appreciation the parents showed the staff.
I always tell our young teachers about this family.  Then I remind them that when they have their own  children and send them off to school that THAT'S the way you treat the teachers.