All Things CLASS

Hi everyone,

As we enter family engagement month, I wanted to see what you've found works for you when engaging families. Do you send out newsletters? How do you stay connected? How can families get involved in the work that you're doing in your classrooms? 

I can't wait to hear your responses!

Best,
Allison

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Allison Bloomfield
Silver Spring MD
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I strongly encourage family involvement. Unfortunately, parents are not allowed in the building at this point in time. However, in the past I've had them come in during our center time to help work with some kids and to have another body in the classroom. 
I send home a newsletter every Monday that gives weekly happenings, future events, future dates, etc. I also give suggestions. I used to do this all on paper, but have found Class Dojo and love it! I encourage communication and will usually end up with messages to and from almost all of my parents each week. I always mention that parents and teachers are a team and that the parents are the first and most important teacher in their kiddo's life.

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KatieHutt-SP
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I send out Newsletters with opportunities to volunteer for any activities that month or donate needed items for crafts, cooking activities, or classroom celebrations. Parents are always welcome! I love for parents to come and see what we are doing and how our day goes. It's the only way they understand what really goes on in a day of Pre-K! I also have Class DOJO so parents can stay connected and track their child's behavior throughout the day. We also have a green communication folder where we place any correspondence or any skill their child needs to work on. I encourage parents to come, to participate, to share their profession, and be involved when we have things going on at school or in our classroom. Building connections and establishing those relationships with parents early on will ensure greater success of your students and create that home-to-school connection!

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KristinaRoyer
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2022 11:25
From: Katie Hutt-SP
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

I strongly encourage family involvement. Unfortunately, parents are not allowed in the building at this point in time. However, in the past I've had them come in during our center time to help work with some kids and to have another body in the classroom. 
I send home a newsletter every Monday that gives weekly happenings, future events, future dates, etc. I also give suggestions. I used to do this all on paper, but have found Class Dojo and love it! I encourage communication and will usually end up with messages to and from almost all of my parents each week. I always mention that parents and teachers are a team and that the parents are the first and most important teacher in their kiddo's life.

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KatieHutt-SP
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I couldn't agree with you more on your statement that parents and teachers are a team!  It's hard when there is limited in person contact, but I love that you found class dojo.  I am going to look into that as a way to communicate with our families throughout the day.  I know as a parent, when I would hear from my kids teachers and get pictures, I loved it!  It made my day!

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KarenWilliamson
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2022 11:25
From: Katie Hutt-SP
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

I strongly encourage family involvement. Unfortunately, parents are not allowed in the building at this point in time. However, in the past I've had them come in during our center time to help work with some kids and to have another body in the classroom. 
I send home a newsletter every Monday that gives weekly happenings, future events, future dates, etc. I also give suggestions. I used to do this all on paper, but have found Class Dojo and love it! I encourage communication and will usually end up with messages to and from almost all of my parents each week. I always mention that parents and teachers are a team and that the parents are the first and most important teacher in their kiddo's life.

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KatieHutt-SP
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Original Message:
Sent: 11/2/2022 11:25:00 AM
From: Katie Hutt-SP
Subject: RE: How do you encourage family engagment?

I strongly encourage family involvement. Unfortunately, parents are not allowed in the building at this point in time. However, in the past I've had them come in during our center time to help work with some kids and to have another body in the classroom. 
I send home a newsletter every Monday that gives weekly happenings, future events, future dates, etc. I also give suggestions. I used to do this all on paper, but have found Class Dojo and love it! I encourage communication and will usually end up with messages to and from almost all of my parents each week. I always mention that parents and teachers are a team and that the parents are the first and most important teacher in their kiddo's life.

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KatieHutt-SP
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I have quick 1on1 moments with the parents when they are picking up their children at the end of the day. I also send a note out during nap time each day via the app about what we've done that morning and any upcoming activities that I want parents to be aware of ahead of time.  I'm finding that my current parents really appreciate the updates!

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KatiaWierenga
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Good evening Allison, my name is Mary Eckert and I teach preK I do send out monthly newsletters and keep my parents informed on up coming events and special dates. I also keep them informed on the I pad as well and send videos out to them.  Parent/ teacher communication is very important to me and the families like all the information I send out to them.

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MaryEckert
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

We send daily messages through our app that the parents have access to. We send photos throughout the day and parents can comment on the photos. Makes it easy to communicate with family. We always go over everything that we have done for the day on this and parents get to watch their children in the action of activities, play and learning.

Hi Cammie  my name is Mary Eckert I like all the things you do to get your  families involved. I like the Facebook post for families and the radio .

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MaryEckert
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2022 19:44
From: Cammie Jones
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

Hi my name is Cammie Jones. We get our families involved by sending newsletters, posters of any local events taking place, the local news paper. Our local radio and the tribal facebook bulletin.

I work at a daycare center, in the infant class, so I send announcements to my babies families about our theme/curriculum for the month. Also when they come to pick up their child, I have a conversation with them about their day and discuss any milestones that I seen in the kids. They will then sometimes tell me if they see it at home as well. Some are amazed that their baby can do certain things and ask how I was able to get them to do it. I think having a good personal relationship with the parents will keep them engaged and on the same page with their child's development.

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JenniferBrune
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This is wonderful Jennifer, you're doing an amazing Job. Building personal relationships with families is important, that way we(parents and teachers) are able to foster children's development appropriately.

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EmberCheng
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-02-2022 23:27
From: Jennifer Brune
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

I work at a daycare center, in the infant class, so I send announcements to my babies families about our theme/curriculum for the month. Also when they come to pick up their child, I have a conversation with them about their day and discuss any milestones that I seen in the kids. They will then sometimes tell me if they see it at home as well. Some are amazed that their baby can do certain things and ask how I was able to get them to do it. I think having a good personal relationship with the parents will keep them engaged and on the same page with their child's development.

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JenniferBrune
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Original Message:
Sent: 11/2/2022 2:46:00 PM
From: Taylor Hilliard
Subject: RE: How do you encourage family engagment?

Hello Ms. Bloomfield,

My name is Taylor Hilliard and I am a lead twos teacher at CNI 314. 

Do you send out newsletters? 

We currently don't send out a newsletter. 

How do you stay connected?

We prefer to chat with the parents usually at pickup about how the child's day was, address any concerns the parent or teacher has, and just check in with them. 

How can families get involved in the work that you're doing in your classrooms?

We actually had a Halloween party this past Monday and the parents volunteered a snack to bring for the party!

Thanks for checking in,

Taylor Hilliard 

Original Message:
Sent: 11/2/2022 2:46:00 PM
From: Taylor Hilliard
Subject: RE: How do you encourage family engagment?

Hello Ms. Bloomfield,

My name is Taylor Hilliard and I am a lead twos teacher at CNI 314. 

Do you send out newsletters? 

We currently don't send out a newsletter. 

How do you stay connected?

We prefer to chat with the parents usually at pickup about how the child's day was, address any concerns the parent or teacher has, and just check in with them. 

How can families get involved in the work that you're doing in your classrooms?

We actually had a Halloween party this past Monday and the parents volunteered a snack to bring for the party!

Thanks for checking in,

Taylor Hilliard 

Original Message:
Sent: 11/2/2022 2:46:00 PM
From: Taylor Hilliard
Subject: RE: How do you encourage family engagment?

Hello Ms. Bloomfield,

My name is Taylor Hilliard and I am a lead twos teacher at CNI 314. 

Do you send out newsletters? 

We currently don't send out a newsletter. 

How do you stay connected?

We prefer to chat with the parents usually at pickup about how the child's day was, address any concerns the parent or teacher has, and just check in with them. 

How can families get involved in the work that you're doing in your classrooms?

We actually had a Halloween party this past Monday and the parents volunteered a snack to bring for the party!

Thanks for checking in,

Taylor Hilliard 

My name is Brandi Rundial.  In Sarpy County head start, we get families involved in many different ways.  We have Facebook posts, book buddies where we send home a book each week for the child to read with their family.  We also have events from time to time.  We recently had a fall festival for everyone to come with their families and it went great.

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BrandiRundial
BellevueNE
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I strongly encourage families to practice things we do in the classroom such as helping them study songs and try different activities with them while at home.  I personally send out news letters on our APP we use at school along with pictures I take throughout the day of their children doing activities and explain to them what was used and what we did it.

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JasmineMorales
PennsaukenNJ
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This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

We send out a Newsletter every month and We use the Remind app to communicate with parents on a daily basis. Also communication in person also.

Sorry everyone so late, 
As for me when engaging with my families our center also does newsletters, along with emails each month. I have to communicate through a program called procare where I take pictures of my babies and send messages back in forth to the parents, therefore the parents are always knowing what their child is doing. Our center just recently had a fall festival and we also have social events. I'm always communicating with my parents face to face also ❤️

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Chau-kesaGlover
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Having an app to communicate throughout the day is a fantastic idea.  I like that you send pictures to parents during the day.  I am going to bring this up at out next staffing at our center to see if we can get it started here.

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KarenWilliamson
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-03-2022 21:30
From: Chau-kesa Glover
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

Sorry everyone so late, 
As for me when engaging with my families our center also does newsletters, along with emails each month. I have to communicate through a program called procare where I take pictures of my babies and send messages back in forth to the parents, therefore the parents are always knowing what their child is doing. Our center just recently had a fall festival and we also have social events. I'm always communicating with my parents face to face also ❤️

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Chau-kesaGlover
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I work in the two's and we don't send out newsletters but a lot of our communication takes place in the app that we use. I always like to be open with the parents. Sometimes we have parents that don't necessarily have time to talk or seem like they're not up to having a conversation. I'm a closer so luckily I get to speak to all of the parents. To me open communication is very important in creating a trusting relationship with the parents. We also communicate to our directors so if parents have any questions, comments, or concerns they're able to speak with the directors as well. A big thing in our center is communication between teachers so we can all be there for the parents if need be. Also, for each unit we like to send out notes in the app for our parents so they know what is to come in the future and they know what their child is learning and how to incorporate it at home at well.  Sometimes we ask parents to bring in toys or something that to relates to the unit as well so they know that their participation helps not only their children but it also helps the other children in the class.

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TonyaPalermo
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Good evening Tonya, 
I definitely agree with you on how important it is to have a trusting relationship with parents, at the end of the day we are taking care of their little ones❤️ I always said it takes a special teacher for the toddlers and twos LOL but you can do so much with that age group.

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Chau-kesaGlover
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-04-2022 12:57
From: Tonya Palermo
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

I work in the two's and we don't send out newsletters but a lot of our communication takes place in the app that we use. I always like to be open with the parents. Sometimes we have parents that don't necessarily have time to talk or seem like they're not up to having a conversation. I'm a closer so luckily I get to speak to all of the parents. To me open communication is very important in creating a trusting relationship with the parents. We also communicate to our directors so if parents have any questions, comments, or concerns they're able to speak with the directors as well. A big thing in our center is communication between teachers so we can all be there for the parents if need be. Also, for each unit we like to send out notes in the app for our parents so they know what is to come in the future and they know what their child is learning and how to incorporate it at home at well.  Sometimes we ask parents to bring in toys or something that to relates to the unit as well so they know that their participation helps not only their children but it also helps the other children in the class.

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TonyaPalermo
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Good afternoon everyone my name is Jazmaine Mitchell from Kindercare in Sandy Springs Georgia.  I encourage family engagement by always communicating with each parent at pick up time about their child letting them know about their day. I also encourage the parents to duplicate some of the activities and learning materials I preformed with the children throughout the day. This will encourage the child to want to do the activities we do at school when they do the same with their loved ones. Like hand washing singing the abc's while washing their hands they like that when the parents do it as well this way they get a routine on hand washing and how long they should wash their hands.

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JazmaineMitchell
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Hi Jazmaine! I always tell the parents that my job is not only to be here for their child but I'm also here to help them. It's very important to me to be completely real and up front with the parents. I'm not going to lie about if their child had a bad day but it in very important in my opinion to present your concerns in a respectful way. It's inevitable, children are going to have good and bad days, but I believe that it is our job to give support and be willing to offer help and guidance to parents and children that might need a little extra help.

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TonyaPalermo
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-04-2022 14:49
From: Jazmaine Mitchell
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

Good afternoon everyone my name is Jazmaine Mitchell from Kindercare in Sandy Springs Georgia.  I encourage family engagement by always communicating with each parent at pick up time about their child letting them know about their day. I also encourage the parents to duplicate some of the activities and learning materials I preformed with the children throughout the day. This will encourage the child to want to do the activities we do at school when they do the same with their loved ones. Like hand washing singing the abc's while washing their hands they like that when the parents do it as well this way they get a routine on hand washing and how long they should wash their hands.

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JazmaineMitchell
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Hi my is Nanniel Smith I work as a teacher in Pre K what we tend to do is leave a sign up sheet for parents to participate

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NannielSmith
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Hey my name is Tamara.  I've found that monthly newsletters works best for our parents and students.  We also do home visits every three months to inform parents on their child's progress.  There is also a social Media page created with all the parents,  so they can see pictures and daily activities of the children. I also keep an open line of communication through phone calls and text.

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TamaraPaggett
JonesboroLA
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Our center sends out newsletters. We also hand out calendars with any events happening that month. I will also let them know in person either in the mornings before or the evenings as they are leaving.

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KristinRobinson
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Hello,
In response to family engagement, we send out via Class DoJo a copy of Daily Report along with pictures of student activities for that day. When asked by parent at pick up time how their day was we then elaborate on any specifics the child may have.

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LindaMartinez
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My name is Karen Williamson and I am a TA in the four/five head start classroom.  I make a special effort to stop and speak with each parent about their child's day at pick up.  Our parents text with us teachers throughout the day, but I am seeing many people use a fun app for this, so I am going to look into getting that started at our center.  We have at least one family engagement activity that all families are invited to each month, such as an ice cream social or fall festival etc.  Most parents are very responsive to our family engagement activities, however there are always a few that we never see.  I would love suggestions on getting them to want to be involved as well.

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KarenWilliamson
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Hi Karen I love your ideas on family engagement. I do a lot of those similar things and the parents do enjoy them. Oh I am sorry my name is Mary Eckert I teach pre.K. I have had that happen where parents don't come for events and I found that sometimes it's the times that can effect them from coming or work schedules. So what I do is I ask them what days and times work for them because we like for them to be able to come and I would try to accommodate them by setting up something that works better for them and typically the people that normally come would still be there that way it gets those few parents who miss things like that an opportunity to come to events. I think most parents want to be more involved but the work schedules sometimes hinder them at times so just trying to do the best and communicate with them and see what works for them. I hope that helps you some

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MaryEckert
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-08-2022 09:22
From: Karen Williamson
Subject: How do you encourage family engagment?

My name is Karen Williamson and I am a TA in the four/five head start classroom.  I make a special effort to stop and speak with each parent about their child's day at pick up.  Our parents text with us teachers throughout the day, but I am seeing many people use a fun app for this, so I am going to look into getting that started at our center.  We have at least one family engagement activity that all families are invited to each month, such as an ice cream social or fall festival etc.  Most parents are very responsive to our family engagement activities, however there are always a few that we never see.  I would love suggestions on getting them to want to be involved as well.

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KarenWilliamson
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Hi @Katie Hutt-SP, @Kristina Royer, @Karen Williamson, @Katia Wierenga, @Mary Eckert, @Jennifer Brune​​​​​​​, @Taylor Hilliard, @Yetta Cormier, @Diana Brown, @Ailess Tembo, @Brandi Rundial, @Jasmine Morales, @Chau-kesa Glover, @Tonya Palermo, @Jazmaine Mitchell, @Nanniel Smith, @Tamara Paggett​​​​​​​​​​​​, @Kristin Robinson, and @Linda Martinez,

Thank you so much for your recommendations and insight, I am absolutely loving all of your responses and ​think we might just need to make a resource out of them! We are also hosting a webinar tomorrow - Putting Interactions at the Heart of Family Engagement! We will feature some of your responses and this amazing thread during the webinar. Be sure to join us at 3:00 pm ET, you can register here!

Best,
Allison​​

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Allison Bloomfield
Silver Spring MD
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We encourage family engagement through use of newsletters, classroom page on facebook, google meet, calls or text. We do activities each month at the center for parental involvement and invite the parents to participate. I send home a communication notebook and text letting each parent know how the day went. I also send home an activity for parent and child to complete each time we start a new study. Last month they had to make trees and send them, this month we are asking them to decorate a clothing item for clothes. We display it in the classroom and post it on the parent page.  After thanksgiving we're going to donuts with dad. We also encourage our parents to volunteer at the school or in the classroom.

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SharondaRobinson
foxworthMS
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I like to have a one-on one chat with parents after pick-up! A lot of the times I like to ask them if there's anything I can help their child with or if they would like to see their child improve on anything. 

As for keeping connected w/ families and keeping them engaged, my center director likes to send out emails to notify what special  events we have going on in our center.

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AlexaExconde
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I am an EHS toddler teacher. During the pandemic we started using Class Dojo to post activities for our parents to try. I have continued to use it to keep the parents informed about what we do in the classroom. I post pictures of special activities we do and use it to post my newsletter, activity calendar, and lesson plans. Class Dojo came in handy last week when 7 out of my 8 children were home sick. I posted daily activities, songs, movement songs, and stories for the parents. The parents then posted pictures or observations in their child's portfolio that I can use in my DRDP. I do talk to the parents at drop off and pick up but Class Dojo has been a way to allow parents to see what we do and a way to offer suggestions of what they can do at home to reinforce the concepts we are working on at school.

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Maria AngelicaRodriguez
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