It’s hard to believe, but before you know it you’ll be welcoming back students and parents. This year, try something new to make all of your families welcome. This idea by Heidi Samuelson of Swamp Frog First Graders is one way to do just that. Originally posted in 2011, Heidi’s ideas hold true years later. She has a wonderful way of making all parents and students feel welcome.Â
Back to School Parent Meeting with a Twist
by Heidi Samuelson
“Welcome Back to School” are a few of my favorite words! I love the beginning of a new school year especially since it gives me the opportunity to try new things out with the fresh young minds that walk into my classroom ready to be shaped and molded! However, it’s not just the young minds, but also the “older” minds that come with those precious new children, that need some guidance in getting ready for all we plan to do during the upcoming year together!
The First Grade Teaching Team I work with is fabulous! Before school even begins, we get together to start creating a power point of things we want to share with our parents during our first grade parent information meeting. Having this meeting before the kids come back to school allows us to give important information to help start the year off well. We create slides with pictures from our various classrooms that help review things like common procedures and rules to things that we do as a grade level and the exciting events to look forward to during the upcoming school year.
We put together a special invitation letter to pass out on our county registration day as the parents come to register their children. We also make a point to call or email all our parents (new to the school as well as “repeat” families) to invite them to this informative meeting. In the invite, we make sure to let them know they can bring any supplies that are too large to fit into their child’s backpack (like those boxes of Kleenex or baby wipes they’re so generous to donate). This helps alleviate that fear of “How am I going to get all this stuff to school on the first day of school with my first grader?”.
On the day of the meeting, the First Grade Teachers take turns talking about each slide of the presentation and answering questions from the group of parents in a central location. We’re going to try something new this year to help those parents that can’t get off work to come to this informative meeting. We plan to tape information for each slide of the power point show. Then we’ll create a movie from the power point show to add to our individual web pages this year. We hope to reach as many parents as we can during this special time of the year. Getting that parent relationship off to a positive start is so important in making the school year with the children successful!
Enjoy getting ready for your new school year and think about creating your own power point presentation for your parents. You’ll be surprised at the positive response you’ll get for your efforts!
About The Author
Heidi Samuelson is a First Grade Teacher from Tennessee and author of the blog Swamp Frog First Graders. Â She invites you to “Hop by the Swamp” for more creative ways to start the year with math and reading station ideas!
kara says
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing.
Roxanne says
I like the idea about the slide presentation. One of the things I always make sure I include on parent night is showing the parents what the curriculum looks like. I think this helps to prepare them for just how rigorous 1st grade is. Thanks for the ideas.
Melissa Gragg says
We also started running a power point for parents at our open house so they can see some of the expectations for 2nd grade. I love the movie idea for parents who can’t come!
Pam says
What a fabulous idea to reach parents who can’t make the meeting. It’s definately something I will keep in mind! Thanks!
Brenda says
I love the idea of putting the slideshow on your website!
Ms. Braun says
I love you idea about getting information to parents. I have been trying to get information to parents. My issue is that there is not much parents support.
Stefanie Taylor says
Love your idea about meeting before school starts. It seems so hard to do this with all that is going on before hand but the time seems well spent! Each year in our information night we include curriculm and a slide show showing how kids work in our room (last year’s pictures). It allows parents to see how things flow.
Charlotte Hindman says
I really like the idea of the slideshow and posting the movie on your webpage. We have been having a Parent Orientation day before school starts for some time now, and it works really well. However, there are some parents that either can’t come for various reasons, or do not come. Having the information available on the website in movie form is a great idea. It also gives you something to refer back to when you have a parent that misplaces the information letter or forgets the information you have given them. I love this idea and will be sharing it with my colleagues.
Connie Copenhaver says
Wonderful and very practical advice!
Sarah says
Wow! This year I am in a classroom with a ceiling mounted projector, so doing a powerpoint with information for the new school year would be a great idea. I could leave it running in a loop for parents and students to watch while I am visiting with other parents and students. Putting it on my classroom website for parents who can’t come is also another good idea. I love getting new ideas. 🙂
LaNessia says
Thank you for the ideas for a parent meeting. We have an open house the night before school starts and this gives the parents the opportunity to come in and drop off supplies. During this time it always seems things are so rushed, because parents are busy filling out paper work, you have parents coming in at different times. I do agree that this is a way to start off the positive relationships! Thank you for your ideas!!
LaNessia says
I think the slide show presentation is a wonderful idea!!
Amanda says
I was really excited to read your post because I am moving to first grade for the first time and wanted to have some ideas of how to start it all off. So reading through this helped me come up with a few things I’d like to try! Thanks so much for sharing!
-Amanda
AnnaMarie Norris says
Great ideas! It’s so great to have a team that you work so well with. It makes all the difference in the world and everything is so much easier. Good luck on your new year!