Communication is key to a successful classroom. It helps to foster and build relationships between both teachers and students and teachers and parents. Healthy relationships build trust and help to set the stage for a successful school year. You probably begin communicating with your class before the first day of school even happens. I bet you send out a cute welcome letter or email telling them all about yourself and the fun that is to come. Communication continues with parent open houses, back-to-school nights, and in the classroom when setting up routines and procedures. During this time, it’s likely that parents will share useful information with you about their child that is vital to their development. Let’s talk more about the importance of parent-teacher relationships.

Why Are Parent-Teacher Relationships Important?

An outsider to the education world may be wondering why you are spending so much time worrying about having a parent-teacher relationship. After all, it’s the kids that you spend all day with. However, research shows that having a positive parent-teacher relationship improves a child’s academic abilities. Children are also better off socially and emotionally. When kids are aware that their parents are actual partners with their teachers and everyone is on the same team, they do much better at home and school. Their attitude and behavior improve, which helps their grades to improve. It’s a win for everyone involved. The importance of parent-teacher relationships is tremendous.

A Healthy Parent-Teacher Relationship

Communication is key. Setting the tone for communication from the very beginning is important. Try sending out an email or note letting your parents know your preferred method of communication. Maybe you would like them to email you rather than call? If so, let them know that you answer emails between the hours of 7 and 3:30. If you are sending notes home to parents, let them know where the notes will be located. For example, notes might always be on the right-hand side of the child’s take-home folder. Be sure your parents know that you will call them with any serious issues or concerns. If you nurture a healthy parent-teacher relationship from the beginning, the year will run much smoother.

Back to School Communication

Consider starting the year off by sending home a back-to-school brochure that you could repurpose year after year. I like to create a welcoming brochure for students and parents. These editable back-to-school brochures make sharing classroom information with students and parents easy! Both brochures are perfect for Open House, Meet the Teacher Night, Parent Night, or the first day of school. A mailable version is also included.

You could also consider creating back-to-school flipbooks for parents and students. In both the brochure and flipbook, I included information such as ways to contact the teacher, a supply list, the daily schedule, and more. The parent brochure and flipbook include a variety of ways parents can help their child succeed at home.

Building a Relationship with Parents

You may be wondering how to nourish these parent-teacher relationships throughout the year. It’s important to set up a schedule or routine that works best for you. Sending home a weekly or monthly classroom newsletter is a great way to keep up the relationship with students and parents. This allows everyone to be informed of upcoming events and have a reference point for any questions that may arise.

Most parents consider classroom newsletters to be a useful source of information. Parents need to know what you expect from their children. Connecting with families through positive communication helps parents understand which academic habits and classroom behaviors will help their child to succeed.

Parent-Teacher Communication Using Classroom Newsletters

Monthly newsletters provide parents with topics being taught over the span of a few weeks, upcoming special events, field trips, etc. Weekly newsletters are great if you want to provide a quick snapshot of the week to come. They typically include a shorter list of topics students will be learning for the week, along with homework and test dates. You could email your classroom newsletter or send home a hard copy once per month or every week. Parents really appreciate it and can plan for the days and weeks ahead.

Stress-Free Parent Teacher Communication

All of my parent-teacher communication resources are created to be easy and stress-free! They come with prefilled information that you can keep or change to meet the needs of your classroom.

The back-to-school brochure and flipbook make it easy to communicate your expectations between parents and students. They allow you to introduce yourself and establish a relationship at the beginning of the school year.

My editable newsletter templates are perfect to use all year long! Easily keep your parents up-to-date with what’s going on in your classroom throughout the year. Whether you send a newsletter home weekly or monthly, these templates make it easy, and editing them is a breeze! You can choose blank templates, seasonal themes, or school themes. It is NO FUSS and SO EASY! You, your students, and your parents will enjoy them all year long!

I hope you realize the importance of parent-teacher relationships and develop a communication system early on that works for you and your parents!

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Make sure to save these parent-teacher tips to your favorite back to school Pinterest board. You will be able to come back to it later when you are ready to kick off the school year.