A new year brings opportunity for fresh starts, and for re-establishing connections with the families you work with. This helps both children and their parents feel a sense of belonging in your early learning community, and reinforces each child’s sense of connection between school and home. In this article, we share three simple tips for reconnecting with parents to create a foundation for partnership and collaboration in the year to come.
A fun way to reconnect after some time off is to ask families to send or bring in photos of them enjoying their holiday break. These can be printed and hung on a classroom bulletin board, or shared in a community album or Facebook page.
Expressing interest in families’ lives outside of school is a great way to bridge the gap between home and the classroom, and to create connection between the two. This helps children and their parents feel a sense of belonging in your early learning community.
The start of a new year is the perfect time to revisit your classroom’s calendar to confirm dates for family community-building gatherings. You might consider adding an event that coincides with seasonal themes, such as Lunar New Year, cozy winter activities, the Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, or foods prepared using seasonal fruits and vegetables. Invite families to join together to play games, listen to music, and contribute favorite dishes to a potluck meal.
You can welcome families at the start of the new year by giving them a save-the-date invitation, so they can mark their calendars with upcoming community and family events.
If you are interested in finding more information about hosting events for your early learning community, you might enjoy this G2K article from the archives: Hosting Community-Building Events for Families.
The beginning of the new year is a perfect time to schedule a round of brief check-ins with parents. These can be done in-person, over the phone, or via video conference. During these conversations, you can ask parents for updates about their child, such as changes to their sleep routine or food preferences, or if there are new activities or topics they have recently enjoyed at home. These meetings can help parents know that you look forward to continuing to collaborate with them to support their children in the new year.
If busy schedules make it difficult to find time to connect, you might consider sending families a brief survey to check-in and learn about any important updates that they would like to share.
If you are looking for more inspiration, the following articles from the G2K archives offer additional ways to build connections with families.
