As the newness of the year wears off it is important that we keep our families engaged and involved in the school community. When families are involved with the school community it helps children develop healthy behaviors and promotes healthy families. Research shows that children who have parents that are involved are more likely to...
But the big question is how do we keep them connected and engaged in the school community when families have such busy schedules. With different and busy schedules you might not always get to see your families at drop off or pick up times to connect face to face. So it is important to have different forms of communication available so that you can meet the needs of all your families. Here are 5 Tips to help you build relationships with families. 1. Be AccessibleHave an Open Door policy. When you establish your open door policy make sure to set boundaries, give parents set times that they can visit the classroom. Explain to them the importance of keeping children in a routine during the instructional time of the day. When routines get interrupted it can cause chaos. An open door policy can also mean phone calls. I want parents to know that they can contact me about anything, questions, concerns, upsets, or even worries. If they leave me a message I will return calls each day. 2. Set Up a Parent Classroom Web SiteA parent classroom web site can take the place of a school to home communication folder. We all know that those folders end up in the black hole of the children's backpack, or under the seat of the car never to be seen again. The web site can house all of the weekly newsletters and fliers in one easy to find place. Parents will always know where to go to find the information they are looking for. 3. Facebook Group PageAnother way to get your families involved and engaged is to set up a Facebook Group Page. Parents can connect with you and other families in the classroom. Need help with an upcoming classroom party. Post the event on your group page for parents to sign up and help out. They will be able to see right there who is bring what and what still needs to be done. They can plan with one another right their, no phone calls needed. Make sure that you establish ground rules with a parent agreement for the page.
4. Information Boards5. AcknowledgementWhen we say thank you we want the other person to know we value what they've done for us. Everybody likes to be acknowledged with a simple thank you. Even our parents like to hear it. So When our families volunteer or bring items to the classroom for projects it is always nice to give them appreciation for what they have done. You can do this with a simple "thank you" in person, but if you really want those parents to feel appropriated that they have made an impact on your classroom and the learning going on in it, than giving them a Thank-You card is the way to go. It tells them that they are a valued member of the classroom community and their involvement has helped to form a healthy and happy community of little learners.
Grab your free set of Thank-You post cards and start Thanking your parents tomorrow. The more you acknowledge your families engagement the more involved they will become.
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All About Me Week 2Our All About Me week was packed full with fun hands on learning activities. Group TimeWe read the book My Digestive System and the children loved it. It had great pictures along with simple descriptions that the children could really understand. Group DiscussionAfter recalling the book from the day before we had a group discussion about what happens to the food we eat. I just love how little mind work. Group Science ExperimentAt work time children cut up fruit, vegetables and bread. We talked about what might be in our stomach to help digest our food. The children came up with Water and Juice. We used water, lemon and lime juice and vinegar in three different jars for the experiment. We added baking soda to the lemon and vinegar jars, to give it the affect of our stomachs digesting the food. Work Time (Learning Centers)Our little ones are really getting the hang of work time and moving around the classroom to all the learning centers. The art studio in full action. Creating and collaborating together, from humpty dumpty to self portraits. We pulled out the beauty shop prop box for our all about me unit. Which lead to our director saying that she need a hair cut. We used mirrors to help with our clay sculptures of our selves. Our second year students have mastered the art of clay. Small Group Activities
Small group reading and DRDP assessment. All About Me Week Two PlansHere's what we worked on... All About Me Social Emotional - How to listen and learn Letter M and B Science - How Our Digestive System Works Name Recognition Color Blue Shape Oval Sizes My Plans Monday Changing CentersDownload Plans
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Welcome!I'm Tami Sanders creator of Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers, a blog to help teachers create magical moments for the young. Follow MeArchives
May 2024
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