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An open and clear line of communication between parents and teachers is vital for supporting children in their learning journey. When both these pillars of support – teachers, and parents come together, children tend to flourish in all areas of development.
Early childhood educators can grasp what is going on in a child’s home and how their families would like their behavior regulated while in their care if communication with parents is effective.
Why is efficient parent communication important?
Teachers can be open about their views and opinions by cultivating a positive relationship with parents. Here’s how.
- It helps parents get a clear idea of what their kid is being taught at the school, and how teachers are helping the kid in acquiring or improving different physiological, social, and cognitive skills.
- By understanding their learning journey, the parents will be able to provide extra support and help at home for the kid to grow and learn better.
- When what is taught at school is reinforced at home, children tend to learn faster.
- By communicating effectively with parents, teachers will get to know a child’s background and experiences closely.
- Clear communication would ensure that teachers are well aware of any developments at home with the child, which they could work on with them in their classes.
- Lastly, it helps parents gain a sense of trust both towards the concerned teacher and the school in general.
How to develop effective communication strategies?
Staff can explain to parents what transpired throughout the child’s day and how they are growing in their overall development when they make an effort to actively engage with families in their preferred communication channel.
1. Take initiative
Make contact and get yourself acquainted with a parent of every kid in the classroom. This would be the first step in the roadmap to building trust with them. It could be a phone call or a warm introductory message. This two-way communication could be used as an opportunity to establish your own and recognize their expectations as well.
2. Be prompt
Let parents know as soon as you identify a problem or see a kid struggling in a particular area. The sooner the problem is discussed, the earlier you can start working on helping the kid overcome it. If not acted upon in a timely manner, it could create new problems or end up being more difficult to be handled.
3. Be consistent
Keep interacting with parents on a regular basis. This frequent feedback and update will help them understand the everyday needs of their child better.
4. Follow up
Make sure to reach out and confirm if a set of suggested exercises is being done at home with the kid. This does not just help ensure the kid’s educational needs are being met properly, but also reflects sincerity and commitment towards the child’s better development.
5. Be sensitive
Remember you are talking to the parents of a child. It’s a matter that involves a lot of emotion. So make sure your language is considerate of their emotions, and that you’re sharing feedback in a manner that does not sound cold or scornful.
9 ways to communicate better with parents
Here are some ideas for improved teacher-parent communication.
- Monthly/ weekly newsletters
Some preschools publish a monthly or weekly newsletter that covers general school activities and announcements, while others rely on teachers to disseminate a classroom-only newsletter that includes the same material as well as classroom-specific information. In either case, a tool like Mailmodo can manage this procedure for you.
- Blogging
You may believe that you don’t need a blog because you already have a website. Wrong! A blog may keep your families informed about current developments in the early childhood education field, giving them a better understanding of what happens at preschool.
- Apps
There are numerous parent-teacher communication app available that aim to bring the early education industry into the twenty-first century. Illumine is childcare software that will assist you in managing your school and keeping in touch with parents. This app includes a secure, digital check-in/check-out mechanism as well as an automated paperless billing system. Parents can invite other members of their family to join their child’s community, allowing grandma to stay informed as well. This is a fantastic method to keep your loved ones informed about your everyday activities.
- Social media
- Parents entrust you with their children’s well-being, and the more information they have about their progress, the happier they will be. It should be obvious that using social media to stay in touch with parents is a no-brainer, and it will also serve as a terrific marketing tool to attract new families.
- Open houses
A prospective family is asked to visit your program on a given date and at a specific time at an open house. It’s a marketing event with the goal of increasing enrollment in your program.
- Curriculum nights
Parents can speak with teachers outside of the classroom (art, music, dance, advice) or visit other teachers.
- Regular phone calls
Make a point of introducing yourself and the child care center by name and offering to assist them. When thanking them for calling, use their name.
- Parent workshops
The highly experienced team’s parenting courses assist parents in guiding their children in the proper direction and in uncovering their child’s genuine potential. This distinguishes it from other groups that provide parenting workshops in schools.
- Field days
Effective teachers will introduce the school field trip in advance and conduct follow-ups in the days after the trip using suggested best practices.
- Volunteering invite for events
Volunteering is an excellent way to teach empathy and compassion to children.
- PTA meetings
A parent-teacher conference does not have to be tense. If childcare is an issue, inform parents that they are welcome to bring their children to the meeting.
- Activity updates
You can update your daycare daily reports at any time using the Illumine app.
Assessment Reports
Assessing a child’s learning, growth, and development is important as it lets teachers effectively communicate with a child’s family, using the evidence and observation they have recorded over time. Illumine collects and analyses rich, detailed data throughout the school year and saves time by organizing the data for you.
Read: A guide to write effective preschool assessment reports.
Daycare software helps you to communicate and collaborate with parents, generate and share insightful reports, and provide a meaningful learning experience to children. With features such as real-time messaging, photo and video sharing, and activity reports, Illumine makes communicating with parents a smooth process for you.
5 tips to communicate well
A strong relationship with the family of your students will go a long way toward keeping things operating smoothly. Here are some tips to communicate with them.
- Use every opportunity to talk to them face to face. Update them on any important detail whenever you could. Your window could be the time when they come to pick up or drop off a child from school.
- Send frequent newsletters, notes, and emails to keep them updated on any developments in the school – whether it is about their kid in particular or any upcoming event at the school they should know about.
- Make notes before every parent-teacher conference for every child individually. This way you’d know your talking points well and would cover every area that needs attention.
- Remember to talk about both – the areas of strength and weaknesses. This way a parent will know what their kid is good at and where he needs support to improve.
Teacher talk
“Marissa is showing great progress in learning the alphabet. Maybe tonight you guys can do a little exercise and see how many she recalls.”
“Jack is slightly struggling with catching up with the stories I’ve been reading to the class. It would probably help him remember better if you could take him through the stories and ask questions about the same later at home.“
5 suggestions you can make to parents
The suggestions to manage parent communication in the digital age are listed below.
- Talking to children while riding to and from school or other places, getting to know what’s on their minds. This could be a nice way to get to know whether they are excited or anxious about anything in particular.
- Label different things in the environment together. This exercise could help children pick up new things from their surroundings and learn about them.
- Read them stories. Apart from being a good bonding exercise, this can also help children better understand and implement sentence formations. This can also help ignite their imaginations.
- Visit libraries, museums, and parks together. These places are a hub of knowledge. Trips to these spots can help children get familiar with nature, history, and most importantly ideas.
- Engage in drawing, coloring, and art activities with children. Art is a great way to express minds – you could learn a lot about the functioning of your brain’s child using these tactics.
Teacher Talk
“You can help Nicole practice the letter “N” while writing her name. A fun way to do this could be coming up with different words that start with the letter.”
“Lisa showed quite an interest in this book today. It is about animals. Maybe you can help her discover more by getting her familiar with other books about animals. Observe how she responds to this and let me know.”
Wrap up
Positive parent-child relationships require effective communication. It fosters mutual understanding and trust. You’ll all be better able to work together to improve children’s wellness and development if you work in cooperation with parents. As a result, one of your goals in every interaction with your parents should be to enhance your relationship with them. Illumine is offering a free 11-day trial of their software so you can easily manage your leads. To improve your preschool marketing game, sign up for a free trial today.
FAQs about parent-teacher communication
Q 1. Why should parents and teachers work together?
Children have improved social skills, less behavioral issues, and a stronger capacity to adjust to different settings and get along with others when parents and teachers work together.
Q 2. How can parents and teachers work together?
Sending emails, chatting, volunteering in the classroom, or contributing remarks to a homework journal or student diary are all ways for parents and teachers to work together.
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