Positive Parent Communication {w/Tickled Pink in Primary}

Communicating with parents is one of the most important parts of teaching. Keeping parents up to date on how their child is doing academically and behaviorally makes it so much easier when you do have any issues with their child and have to confront the parents. It also makes parent-teacher conferences smoother and more enjoyable for both sides.

For daily parent communication, I provided each of my students with a folder that they took home each night. At the front of the folder was a pouch where myself and parents put notes, lunch money, book club forms, etc. They stay safe and their 5 year olds aren't reliable for having to hold onto the money on the bus. :)

 I used a clip chart in my classroom for behavior management. At the back of the folder was a sheet explaining to parents what each color of the chart meant and then a behavior recording sheet. Each day I filled in what color their child was on. I didn't put notes unless they had an awesome day that I wanted parents to know about or if there were any issues.

If there was a problem, I could put "see note" or "I'll call you later". Parents sign off on this each night and can write me a note back if they'd like. I print these front/back and then have a whole month's of behavior recorded that I can file for each student. You can find these forms along with a clip chart for many different classroom themes in my TPT Store here.

On Fridays, I would send home a newsletter telling parents what we learned that week, upcoming events, a new fun website to try, and any other information they may need. 

A favorite parent-communication tool of my parents was our class website. (I deleted almost everything off of it after my last year teaching, so this would normally have more information). I used a Shutterfly Share site which is free! I would update this every week or so with new photos, any forms/paper that I sent home, new websites the kids enjoyed playing, funny quotes the kids said, and upcoming events. It would send the parents a notice when I added to the website. They could also comment on my posts/photos and order photos themselves. I had many parents who made photo books at the end of the school year from the pictures I added on the website. I could also send out a mass e-mail to all parents if needed. I even had some grandparents that asked to join so they could see what their grandkids were up to!! 

As you can see, I had a variety of ways that I communicated with parents. I wanted them to see all the great things I was seeing in the classroom as well as keep them on top of how their child was doing. What's your favorite way to communicate with parents?

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