Parent Teacher Communication

Communicating with parents is extremely important. The more you communicate with your students’ parents, the more support you are likely to have from them. We discuss a variety of formats for communicating with parents.

Considerations

• Keep parents up-to-date on school and classroom policies.
• Inform parents regularly about what is happening in the classroom.
• Communicate with parents often about their own child.

Welcome Letter

Sending a simple welcome letter home with students on the first day of school gets the school year off to a good start.

Considerations

• Introduce yourself to the parents.
• Outline basic procedures and expectations.
• Ask other teachers who send out a welcome letter to share their ideas with you.
• Obtain office approval for the welcome letter before sending it home.
• Information in a welcome letter could include the following:
  • Information about yourself as the teacher
  • Classroom information, such as schedules and procedures
  • School information, such as policies
  • Reminders for parents, including ways they can assist—both at home and at school

Parent Newsletter

A newsletter keeps parents informed and creates a sense of community.

Considerations

• Send a newsletter home to parents on the first day of school, or at least within the first week of school.
• Establish a newsletter schedule, such as once a week, and stick to it. A parent newsletter is an excellent way of communicating with parents on a regular basis.
• Use the parent newsletter to demonstrate that your classroom is well organized and is functioning well.
• Get approval from the school office before sending out a newsletter.
• Try a monthly or quarterly newsletter if it is too overwhelming to prepare one more frequently.
• Create a template, and then simply change the content for each newsletter. It’s important to make the parent newsletter simple to produce.
• Make the parent newsletter exciting and informative. You want parents to look forward to reading each issue—not disregard it.
• Use the parent newsletter to keep parents informed about your curriculum and your goals for the year.
• Share your focus for the classroom in the parent newsletter, and it will be easier for parents to support you at home.
• Design the parent newsletter with a layout that includes the following elements:
  • Five to eight ideas
  • Two to three columns, or four to six sections
  • School logo
• The content of a parent newsletter could include the following:
  • Teacher contact information
  • Expectations
  • Classroom rules and boundaries; a classroom Bill of Rights
  • Homework protocol
  • Weekly spelling list (10 words for grades K–2, 20 words for grades 3–6)
  • Recommended reading
  • List of books for independent reading
  • Appropriate book report titles
  • List of school-approved recess and lunch snacks
  • Notices for upcoming curriculum nights (such as Literacy Night, Science Night, and Math Night).
  • Upcoming field trips
  • Technology websites relevant to current learning
  • Current children-friendly movies in theaters or on DVD
  • Wish list for materials needed in the classroom

Weekly Homework Sheet and Weekly Lesson Overview

Keep parents informed about their child’s weekly academic work with a weekly homework sheet or a weekly lesson overview that shows assigned homework for each day of the week.

Considerations

• Use a template to customize weekly communications with parents.
• Add a motivational quote.
• Include a signature area where a parent signs off when the homework is completed.
• Be flexible. Plans can—and often do—change. Just have students make a note of any changes on their weekly homework sheet.

Weekly Assessment

A weekly assessment that includes the week’s spelling test and a report on behavior for the week can be sent home on Fridays for parents to review and sign.

Considerations

• Use a template to customize weekly communications with parents.
• Explain weekly assessment procedures to parents before referring to them in a first parent newsletter or at Back to School Night.
• Be consistent.