How do you communicate with parents...... Parent communication linky party

You all have such fabulous ideas for keeping the lines of communication open with your parents! Thanks for sharing!   Lorraine at Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies is having a parent communication linky party. 

I feel like parent communication is a critical component for student success.  Here are some ways I communicate with parents in my classroom.

1.  Daily planner-  In 3rd grade students receive a daily planner.  This is where students can write down homework and any extra information such as early dismissals, parent permission slips that are due, and etc.  Each day before the students are dismissed, I write the items that students need to write in their  on the board.  Students are required to write these things in their planner.  Parents must initial at the bottom of the child's planner each day so that I know the planner was seen.  ( Planners are new to our 3rd graders so we spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year helping them to adjust to this change.)   I also use the planners to jot down notes to parents to let them know that their child had a fabulous day or thanking them for treats brought in and etc.

2. Weekly Newsletter- I e-mail and/or  send home a hard copy of my weekly newsletter to parents each Friday in my students' Friday Folders ( these folders contain their graded papers for the week and any additional communication from our school).  This newsletter includes our spelling words for the following week, things we will be working on in the classroom, any upcoming tests, and other school related information.  I also share information about what the students did well with that week or any special activities that we participated in.

3. Phone log/parent communication folders labeled for each month-  I also contact parents by phone if needed.  I keep a log of this contact in my parent communication folders.  I have manilla folders labeled by months.  I have a phone log I place in each folder.  I also place copies of e-mails from parents and any notes I receive in these month by month folders.  This helps me stay organized in case I need documentation for any reason.  A few years ago, I had a student that was in the middle of  a custody battle, and a lawyer had contacted the school to request all e-mail communication I had with the other parent.  ...... This forced me to look at how I organize and keep track of parent communication.

You can grab a free copy of my Parent Communication documents HERE at my TN shop.
Take a peek.

 Included is a  phone log, e-mail log, and cute monthly labels to place on your parent communication folders, also included are sunshine notes.



I would love to read about parent communication in your classroom.  Head on over to Lorraine's Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies and link up.

Have a fabulous Tuesday!  April seems to be flying by.