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Building a strong, healthy relationship with caregivers is one of the most powerful things you can do to support your students’ learning. In fact, research shows that parental participation may lead to higher grades, regular schooling and regular attendance, thus raising more motivation for students.
Whether it’s a quick conversation, thoughtful comments in a student’s report card, or a scheduled parent meeting, each check-in is another obstacle to building a strong bridge between home and school. To make this connection easier, we will have a simple list of ways to connect with caregivers and keep these communication open.
Checklist for check-in
Made of the TPT team
Results: Any
This interactive, step-by-step checklist of TPT can help you communicate with your parents and caregivers from day one.
1. Try to contact each caregiver
Consistent efforts go a long way in the road to building trust. Make sure you try to communicate with all caregivers to make sure that no students’ families feel forgotten. Keep a contact log with updated addresses, emails and phone numbers to track your outreach.
2. Send a survey home
Start the year and ask your family what you should know about their children. You can use Google Sheets or provide alternative ways for families without the Internet to respond, such as snail mail, text, or phone calls. These responses should give you some valuable insights into their strengths, areas of growth and interests.
3. Keep communication simple
Caregivers are usually as busy as teachers! Keep communication as simple, organized as possible, and conduct it regularly.
4. Let family contact
Let the family know in advance that you are willing to accept feedback and talk to them. If English is not their native language, try to make sure they receive translation instructions.
5. Set office hours
You can’t be available 24/7 – nor should you try – so it’s important to set the health boundaries of when health responds and when it won’t. When you have “office hours”, parents make it clear that it can chat.
6. Share yourself
Help parents put faces with this name by creating a short “about me” video or by sending letters to family or caregivers. Whichever you choose, keep it short and sweet.
7. Get creative
Once the basic communication foundation is solved, you can get some creativity through your outreach. Maybe you can create a monthly newsletter for a topic or “Meet the Teacher” call online. The goal throughout the year should be to enrich and engage your parents and teachers’ communication content.
Find more ideas to be a partner in learning
All other things you have on the plate while communicating with your parents can feel tough, but these relationships are valuable to parents, teachers and students. Discover more parent-teacher communication resources on TPT.
