Ways to Build a Strong School & Home Connection

We always hear the importance of building a strong school and home connection, but how do you do that when your students are five and six and passing information along feels like the telephone game?!

Your simple announcement of bring your stuffed animal to school tomorrow has turned into, we are going to the zoo tomorrow by the time they get home.

You frequently hear from your parents…I wish I knew more about the day. When I ask my son or daughter what they did, I get a shoulder shrug and the word, “Nothing”.

I wanted to share three ways I like to bridge the gap between school and home so that families feel more involved and get a glimpse into our daily world at school.

Now I’m taking it back old school, because I’m so cool…

If you started singing, “Whoomp there it is, Whoomp there it is” in your head as you read that line, you get me! 😉

All jokes and rap song aside, I can’t stress enough, reach out to your families.

At the beginning of the year I like to take the time to call each family and share a little about how their son or daughter is doing so far.

We are now spending more time with their child than they are during the week and families want to know…

Are they listening?!

Are they playing?!

Are they eating their lunch?!

Now I know with 24+ students in your class this can take awhile. I like to break my list down and I make it a point to call 3-4 students a day for that first week or two.

The years I reach out I notice such a difference with the relationships I have with my families. Especially if I need to call again for something negative.

Plus, I feel better knowing I’ve already reached out at least once in a positive way, so now when I have to call to get their help to talk to their son or daughter at home we have already started to build that relationship.

As you know five and six year olds are a vault when it comes to sharing information.

They share the bare minimum if anything.

It is a goal of mine to email my families at least once a week. I like to send home a weekly newsletter where I give information about the curriculum,

but

I also like to provide questions that families can ask their child to promote discussion at the dinner table.

It makes all the difference when families can ask a question that is tailored to our instruction.

Instead of asking “How was your day?” and getting the typical, “good” if families can ask, “What did you think when Penelope ate her class?!” (Question about the book Don’t Eat your Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins)

They are more than likely…

Going to get a shocked look on their son or daughter’s face because they are wondering, “how did they know we read that?!”
A much better response and odds are their son or daughter will open up about their day.

I love to use this Here’s the Scoop Newsletter Template with my families. It is easy to edit and you can either email or print it off to send home.

Before I move on to the next tip…one more thing.

Whenever we have a special event, field trip, all school spirit day, class party, classroom reward, etc. I always send home an email or paper announcement to let families know. I have found it to be the only way to translate the accurate message from school to home.

That way when it is stuffed animal day, families do not get the message that we are taking a field trip to the zoo to pet an elephant the next day. 🙂

The last way I LOVE to build a relationship with home is to connect them to our school learning.

Whenever I can I like to send information about what we are learning and activities they can do at home to extend their learning.

Families love to practice and always ask what they can do, so I try to give them as many opportunities as I can.

For example, during guided reading I like to send home a letter with our decoding tools so they can use the same language at home, or a word work activity they can practice.

If we did a science experiment in the classroom that is easy to replicate I send the information so they can do it at home.

One activity I just LOVE to send home to connect school and home is our Book Bingo Boards. Each month, families have the opportunity to complete a bingo board where they practice reading and writing activities similar to what we are doing in the classroom.

We started using these this year instead of traditional reading logs and I have gotten such amazing feedback from my parents as well as other teachers.

It’s a great way to get families to enjoy books together and practice word work and writing skills at home!

If you would like to try a sample Bingo Board you can click HERE to sign up for our newsletter and access it.

I hope you have enjoyed the tips I shared when it comes to connecting school and home. If you use any and find they are working well email me at mydayink@gmail.com.

I always love to hear and connect with you!