I love delivering great news and boy, oh boy, TODAY I have some GREAT news to share! For one week only (that’s today through Sunday, October 3) any idea, tip, or activity you leave as a comment on this week’s blog posts could appear in a publication from The Mailbox!
Here’s the scoop: Each morning I’ll post a new idea request. At the end of the week, our editors will review and select ideas, tips, and activities that y’all have shared. If one of your ideas is chosen for publication, you’ll be contacted via the email address you provided for us.
Remember: each idea, tip, or activity accepted for publication earns a $20 gift certificate that spends like cash at TheMailbox.com! And that means your next purchase from The Mailbox is only an idea away!
With a big, big smile,
Diane
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Monday’s Idea Request Today’s topic is parents. What are your best strategies for maintaining a positive working relationship with your students’ parents? What tips do you have for working with parents who question your judgment or who seem difficult to please? What are your suggestions for working with absentee parents or those who are overly involved in their children’s schoolwork? How do you earn the support of your students’ parents? |
We want your ideas for other topics too! See Tuesday’s request, Wednesday’s request, Thursday’s request, and Friday’s request.
One of the things I do is put together a parent handbook that goes home with each child the first day of school. I outline our special class times, show and tell schedule, my classroom and homework expectations, and ask parents how they’d like to help in our classroom. I ask them to contact me whenever they have a concern or just would like to check in. I send weekly letters home telling parents what we’re doing in the classroom. I also send postcards home to my students for things such as getting a 100% on a test, turning in neat work, being a great helper or friend. I have smaller cards that I hand directly to the kids to let them know how proud I am of their behavior. It is a lot easier to get a parent to help with a problem when the communication has been started on a positive note.
The over homework involved parents can be a struggle. I handled this by making sure that I train my students first how to do a certain project or homework assignment. When a child knows how to do something they are more willing to want to do it independently.
My favorite example of putting this into practice is as follows:
I really wanted my first grade students to be able to complete a famous person report. However I didn’t want it to become the parent’s report. I solved this problem by teaching/training my students how to do a report by doing an animal report first. I took my students hand and step by step we created animal reports. Then I turned around and assigned them a homework assignment to complete a report about a famous person. With the assignment requirements I sent home a letter explaining to parent that they could read the information to their child but then they needed to leave the rest up to their child. The highest compliment I received was a mother telling me that her first grader wouldn’t let her help even when she offered.
I stay in close contact with Parents by making sure I post a lesson plan weekly outside my room, through the school newsletter and my webpage. I give each family a packet of information at the beginning of the year and repeat the information as needed.
I stand outside my classroom at dismissal so that I can make small talk with the Families as they leave. The difficult families become easier as you get to know each other. I am a great believer in it takes a village to raise a child. We do not know each family’s circumstances but we can be there to reach out with a friendly hand and a pleasant comment. I have found after years of teaching that by mid year I have fostered a good relationship with each family.
I work with two year olds so many of my parents are new to parenting and our program. The first thing I try to do is remember what it was like for me as a young mom and try to put myself in their place. When they come in with a concern I try to calmly explain to them why it is done that certain way. I assure them that it’s okay to ask questions. Most of their questions I have tried to answer early on by putting the topics in a handbook they receive at open house. Often, if it is a new concern, I will ask them what their ideas are for a solution. This makes them part of the process and they seem to feel appreciated and involved.
I’m always in the hallway in the morning and at dismissal in case anyone wants to talk to me. The parents have also learned I am quick to respond to their emails. We send home newsletters and little notes throughout the month. I also post the curriculum for the day on the bulletin board for those who are curious about everything we do. At dismissal we try to tell each parent something the child did, or show them something they made. The parents seem to appreciate having a clue of something to talk to their child about on the way home.
I do many of the things already listed, but here are a couple of other things that work well for me. I put together a packet of information that explains all those things that new parents want to know, from how to send in lunch money to discipline procedures to skills to work on at home. It is my Kindergarten ABC Handbook. I hand it out in the spring at round-up and then again at registration in August. It is a great reference for my parents.
I also try to make a positive contact with each family at the beginning of the year, whether in person at pick-up or a phone call in the afternoon or early evening. This helps me get off on the right foot with my parents. Then, if and when I do need to call about a problem, the parents are more open to what I have to share and are willing to work with me to come up with a solution.
The key to a good rapport with any parents is good communication and a respect for their needs/concerns regarding their child. In my kindergarten classroom, I maintain daily contact with parents/families through the “Weekly Reflection” sheet which remains in each child’s home/school folder the entire week. My classroom behavior plan has three levels…the Lily Pad, the Thinking Pad, and the Sad Pad. At the end of each day, in each child’s folder, I circle the level (picture of the frog) that the child has settled on by day’s end, along with small notes to inform parents of anything they may need to know. On Fridays, I fill in the bottom of the “Weekly Reflection” sheet, culminating each child’s behavior for the week using O=outstanding; S=Satisfactory; NI=Needs Improvement in 6 different areas of expectations. Parents sign and return this sheet on Monday morning, when I put them in each child’s classroom folder.
I also maintain a blog which I update on a regular basis. The blog includes pics and videos of children doing activities in school/classroom, as well as video clips I share with the class pertaining to our areas of study. My blog also contains all information parents need to know, including our weekly newsletter, monthly snack calendar, dates to remember and interesting links for kindergarteners.
Inviting parents in to assist with special projects or to share information regarding cultural traditions is also a fantastic way to develop and maintain positive relationships with parents.
I think communication is the key to keeping parents informed and happy. I write a K/1 weekly newsletter with a few details about what we have been learning, reminders, requests, and tips for approaching homework. I send a copy home but also email parents.
We get a lot of questions about multi-aging. For parents who question everything I welcome them in to conference. I also offer to let them volunteer in the classroom as a reading helper. It is much easier to understand our work flow if they can see it in progress. They also see how we are able to level students by ability. For the parents who hover too much, keeping them involved and busy with all students helps keep them from hovering.
Talking to parents, making personal contact with them as often as possible is the key to keeping them involved. If they feel comfortable approaching you, they will not make silly assumptions or avoid calling you if they have questions.
I just started teaching 18-36 months this past May in a Montessori school. I have found that parents love hearing a small tidbit about a child’s day. Parents love hearing something as small as, your child always makes my day when she runs up to me in the morning and welcomes me with a bright smile and hello. If I have to talk to a parent about a behavior problem, I always ask the parent is there anything they do at home when the child shows this behavior. It helps if things are consistent between home and school. Sometimes parents have great ideas and other times parents ask for my suggestions. It really helps open up the conversation and shows the parent that you value their opinion. In addition I have to talk to a parent about a child’s behavior one day. I make sure to tell them the next day if the behavior has improved.
I each First Grade and I use what we call a “Learning Journal” to communicate with parents. It is a daily planner where each night the students are to tell their parents one thing that they learned in school that day. We also put the spelling words in it for the week and parents can write any question or concerns in the book. It is a good way for parents to see what we are doing in school and a good way for me to see what information the students are picking up on. It also helps the students learn to be responsible for bringing the book to school each day and writing in it each night.
I like using the sandwich method when discussing some negative behavior in which their child has exhibited. Positive–negative–positive. This gives parents some positive feedback when talking to them about their child.
My favorite way to build a positive relationship with families is staying positive. For every negative note or phone call home, I send 3 positive messages home. This makes most of my personal contact positive and creates a much more effective working relationship with families!
My favorite thing to do with the children is make clay magnets. We take clay and roll it out. Then we use rubber stamps to make cool designs on it. Then we take cookie cutters and make cool shapes. Then I bake them and either make them into magnets or during Christmas we make them into tree decorations. It’s a great craft for any age! My son has made them since he was a year old. Plus you can make it for any theme or holiday!
Sorry I miss read ignore my last post. We do a sticker calendar. For each day that the children are mostly good they get a sticker for that day. In the past I gave a Dollar Tree prize when they got 10 stickers. Now I just give the calendars to the parents and they handle it. This way the children get a reward for being good. When they aren’t they just don’t get a sticker for the day. They try really hard to get it!
I send home pictures of children working through the day. This works great in my preschool because this is the first time spending the day away from Mom and Dad for many of my families. All of my parents love to see the fun things their child is doing and the friends their child is making. I also publish these pictures in the monthly newsletter and hang them on our bulletin board “The Preschool Corner”.
I like to keep the lines of communication open. My parents know that they can send me an email, call me or send in a note if they need to speak to me. I also maintain an open door policy so they can stop by to visit when they need to. In addition I try to send home “caught be good” notes at least once a week. I make a big deal out of whoever receives the note so that it is something all kids strive for.
For years, our school has made home visits before school begins. We spend 20-30 minutes with each family sharing with them information about our classroom and establishing a positive relationship before school even begins! Throughout the year, I keep a contact log for myself making sure that every week I contact at least 2 families with a positive message or observation.
Pencils had a way of “walking” off in my room with my fifth graders before I came up with this fun way to remedy the situation.
I have a sign in my room next to a container of sharpened pencils which reads, “Need a pencil? Leave a shoe!” If the student does not have a pencil with them, they leave their shoe by the container, take a pencil and use it for the class period. Before they can get their shoe back, they must return my pencil. They LOVE it and my pencil supply is never depleted!
I remind my daycare parents that I’ve been in their shoes. My older children were in daycare while I worked outside of the home.
I also keep things positive by letting my parents know that we’re learning together. Just because I’m the mother of 5, doesn’t mean I know everything when it comes to raising children. I’m learning right along with them, and now that I’m a grandmother, the tips and ideas that I’m collecting improve my interactions that I have with my family and daycare family on a daily basis.
Being positive about the student is oh, so important! I always communicate with my families that I will work with during the first week of school-phone call, email or a note. It seems easier to discuss a problem if I have talked to them about something positive their child has done instead of the first time I talk with them is because their child is having difficulty with something in the classroom. I look at it like this all parents want to see their child be successful so I want to do all that I can to create a positive experience when communicating with them and hopefully allow them to see I only want to help their child.
Communication. Just develop a an excellent relationship and talk to them constantly about the development of their wards in school. As you talk to them you make conscious efforts to change certain negative mindsets that they have.