Open House or Meet the Teacher?
Posted by Sharon M. Tresino on 27 Aug 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Routines, Teachers and Teaching
As I drove to work one day last week, I passed an elementary school with a sign out front signaling that open house was scheduled for that afternoon. It caught me by surprise because school has not yet started here. I always thought of open house taking place a few weeks into the school year. It was a time for parents to visit the classroom, ask questions, and learn about routines and the curriculum for that grade. So I figured that the open house I saw advertised was probably what I would have thought of as Meet the Teacher Day—a chance for the kids to meet their teachers before school starts. I brought this up to a few of my coworkers and we all seemed to have had different experiences. That’s why I’ve decided to ask you: do you have both events at your school? And what do you call them? I’m curious!
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57 Responses to “Open House or Meet the Teacher?”
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More Comments Pages: « 1 2 3 4 [5] Show All Comments
In my preschool center, we call it open house. We coordinate it with the elementary school, so sometimes it is before classes begin and sometimes after. This year, our open house will take place the week before our students arrive. It gives parents, the students and even other family members the opportunity to check out the school and the classroom and to meet the preschool teachers.
At our school the day before school starts is “Open House”. This in my mind is “Meet the Teacher”, because that is what we do.
At the other school, “Open House” came after Spring Break and had as many of the students projects displayed as possible.
We have parent orientation in the evening before school starts for parents to meet the teacher, hear about her curriculum see the classroom and go over some policies.
Then we have an Open House for the family to come in to meet the teacher and see the classroom. That way the kids are familiar with the classroom and the teacher. We do the meetings separately, because it would take too long to do them together.
We have Open House (ours is tonight in fact). Most schools in our district have it before school starts but our school waits until the second week of school. It is nice to not have to hurry to have my room looking great but…because I teacher kindergarten it is scary that first day of school for the kids and their parents never having met me or seen the class. I am not sure which way I would like better.
We did a ‘Parent Night’ meeting the Thursday before school starts basically to tell a few important things before that first day and to get the students’ supplies so that they could be put away. Then, the following Thursday we did an ‘Open House’.
I am a co-op preschool teacher. We have a open house in March that is a chance for people to see the school, talk to me and the board and sign up for next year.
We also do meet the teacher just prior to classes beginning. Meet the teacher is so the child can meet me once again before school starts.
Co-op is very family oriented. We also do a ice cream social for the enrolled families in July.
But when I worked for Head Start we had home visits before classes began. Basically we went out met the child and did paperwork with the parent. We held a open house for parents to come in a few weeks after school began.
When we where kids that is the way open house was done - a few weeks into the school year. Now they do it before school even starts to allow the child and parents to meet the teacher and see the classroom before school even starts - I guess it helps get down to business once school starts. Parents already know the rules and expectations before they send their child off on the bus that first day!
Some schools in my area even do home visits - which allows the teacher to see “where” the child is coming from!!
As we learn things change.
As my kids went through school, Open House was a time a few weeks into the school year to go to the classroom, check out his/her curriculum and meet the teacher. As a preschool teacher, however, I have Open House prior to school starting as a way for the parents and children to meet me, see the classroom and get comfortable with coming to school. I also try to have a book for the children to take home and a paper for them to complete at home and bring back the first day of school. This is usually a drawing of a face that they complete to look like themselves. They really love this!
I work in a preschool and we call it open house.
Seems even when I was a kid we only had “open house”. Maybe a regional thing?