I love the Daily Explorations. I will look at them with my daughter and ask her questions about her day. She can look at the pictures and tell me what she did or what the other children did. It’s a great bonding moment that recaps her day for me.
—Parent Comment
Abstract
This article describes the implementation and benefits of a photo-based family communication method called Daily Explorations. Daily Explorations are one- to two-page photo collages that are annotated with meaningful explanations of children’s play and e-mailed to parents every day. The process, described in more detail in this article, is a relatively simple way to help families gain a deeper understanding of not only what their children do every day, but also why these activities are important. Results of a parent survey indicate that families receive many benefits from these photo communications including: increased knowledge of child development, increased understanding of how children learn through play, increased parent/child communication about school activities, and increased family understanding of the program and activities.
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Acknowledgments
This article would not have been possible without the inspiration and dedication of the teachers who create the Daily Explorations and the generous feedback of the parents with whom they work.
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The interview and survey procedures used to gather information presented in this article were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the SSU IRB and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from the parents of all children who are shown in the photographs in the example.
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Bacigalupa, C. Partnering with Families Through Photo Collages. Early Childhood Educ J 44, 317–323 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-015-0724-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-015-0724-3