Communication with Parents

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Building mutual trust with class parents helps provide students with a strong foundation for learning. Use Scholastic resources to help you establish rewarding partnerships during parent-teacher conferences and throughout the year.

Professional Articles

Getting Along With the Grown-Ups
Expert ideas for solving your toughest parent problems

Speaking Their Language
Successfully reaching out to immigrant parents just requires a few simple steps.

Many Ways to Reach Parents
For those times when face-to-face conferences are not possible or necessary, you can communicate effectively in other ways.

10, 9, 8 … Countdown to Open School Night
Here are 44 tips, activity ideas, and last-minute reminders to guarantee a great celebration.

Planning for Parent Conferences
Use this guide as you prepare for upcoming conferences — includes ideas for an agenda, tips for setting up a comfortable conference area, and more.

Handle with Care
Some conferences require special preparation. Get tips on how to conduct meetings with the parents of a student whose behavior has raised concerns.

Tips from Teachers
Experienced educators share words of wisdom based on their own parent-teacher conferences.

Establishing Friendly Partnerships
Use this guide to foster pleasant relationships with parents.

Audio Resources

Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences
Listen to a round-table discussion between teachers with ideas and suggestions for making parent-teacher conferences successful.

Additional Resources

Class Homepage Builder
Keep parents updated on classroom news throughout the year via your own Class Homepage.

Sample Parent-Teacher Conference Preparation Forms

Form for Parents to fill out before meeting

Form for Teacher to fill out before meeting

Back-to-School Letter that Invites Family Involvement (PDF)

Reproducibles:

• Back-to-School Letter that Invites Family Involvement (PDF)

Listening and Following Directions
Listening and following directions are important skills that span several areas of child development. See where these skills come into play and how you can work on them with your child.

When Siblings Are Compared at School
Having the same teacher as an older sibling did may create problems. Being compared to a sibling can put pressure on a student. Learn to solve the problems and reap the benefits of siblings in school.

Quick Click: 8 Ways to Support Your Child's Coach
Whether she's playing peewee soccer or varsity lacrosse, your child can learn a lot from a great coach. Support your athlete � and the whole team � by assisting the coach from the sidelines.