A child's learning can be revolutionized when you partner with their home. This is why I strive to form strong connections with their families through consistent, positive, open communication and multiple opportunities to bring them in as an active part of their child's education. I find it equally important for students to recognize their role in their community and provide them with experiences to learn from and/or serve the people in their local community.

Our Class Family Wall

Kindergarten can be a hard adjustment for both the student and their grown ups. I have a wall for "our class family" where students are allowed to bring in a picture of their family. Students love being able to talk about their people with their new classmates and feel comforted by having a piece of home with them in their new environment. It also serves as visual reminder to their grown ups that they do have a place and are welcome in our room!

Home Connection

To build an effective relationship with students' grown ups- I find it necessary to come from a place of understanding and care. While I work to do this daily, I attempt to set the precedent by sending home a "handle with care" letter at the beginning of the year. I also have their grown ups write down anything I might want to know about their child and any personal goals they have for them. I love to pull them out later in the year and show how far they have come!

KIT Binders

I try to keep parents as informed as possible by providing them with all the resources they need. Every student receives a take-home binder with instructions, daily and activity schedule, a page to write me a note, behavior chart, monthly calendar, homework folder, homework helper sheets,

FaceBook Group

My current school uses SchoolStatus to communicate with parents, but it does not allow you to send multiple pictures or videos at once. I love for families to see what we are doing in our room so I have used a FaceBook group the past 2 years. After following the agreed upon rules to join- they are able to see pictures, videos, receive reminders, updates, etc. They love getting involved and seeing what we do!

STAR Student

Whenever their child is chosen to be that week's STAR student- one of their people from home get to write them a letter to be read to them after they present their poster! If the child does not have someone to do this for them- I will write it or another adult in the building that they have a close bond with!

Family Projects

My families love getting involved and showing their creativity with monthly family projects! They range from decorating a stick figure to look like themselves, Storybook Pumpkins, Hiding a Turkey,

Guest Readers

One of my favorite things is to bring in guest readers! Once a month I will ask someone from the community (typically related to what we have been learning about) to come read to us. If they like- they can do an activity with the class! We always provide them with thank you notes. We have had police officers, librarians, nurses, fire fighters, other teachers, fellow students, veterans, and more!

Service Projects

I try to teach my students how important it is to give back to those around us- so we often do community service projects. We will write thank you notes, cards, or make crafts for people who come read to us, service members, veterans, nurses, school staff, custodians, nursing homes, etc.

Doing My Part

While I find it important that students learn to show up for their community, I find it vital that I do the same. I will have their grown ups send their extracurricular schedules and show up for as many events as possible. To create a strong relationship between school and home, they need to see me working as hard as they are to be there for their babies.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse