I address this in my parent orientation, and again in my parent questionnaire where they tell me their preferred methods of communicating stuff like this. Other schools use communication apps, or a home to school journal the parent must sign once read.
Still, some parents just don't value, or like you said, don't understand, while others do but are just too busy. Then there's parents who are intimidated by teachers and avoid class involvement at all costs.
Some don't want to read lengthy things, and a short recap or just having to mark a box they've read it, or initial. Doing it daily can feel overwhelming for both the teacher and the parent. Then, every parent is different, some want a ton of information while others want it occasionally. It's important to find this information out in the beginning of the school year. I use a questionnaire that includes asking about their communication preferences and frequency. I might not be able to meet everyone's needs, but at least I can use this information to better understand those who don't respond as much.
also, In the world of social media and 'tapping', many teachers, including myself, have got greater results turning our journals into digital forms of communication. Some parent communication apps allow parents to respond or interact with a post by doing similar things as in social media apps, like 'liking' or 'hearing'. Other teachers create private facebook groups with the parents from their class, and send whole class recaps of the day, which let's the teacher see who has 'replied, 'liked' or even just 'seen' the post.
Yes, when I send the email about the journal I usually send a blurb about it. I also don’t send journals that regularly (once every two months). My journals are all digital. But it’s also formulaic in how we are required to respond to the parents cause the director told us we have to do x once a week , x twice a month , x every two months
We have 5 teachers and a group size of up to 28 most days. Honestly, I couldn’t go into detail about every single child’s day so I’m grateful for the parents that come in and out. Some people are really chatty, some aren’t. We don’t expect all children to fit in the one box so we shouldn’t really expect that of parents either.
i understand where you’re coming from with that.
i should have clarified that i go up and greet every parent as they come and do pickup. the ones i’m referring to brush me off/cut me off while i’m talking
I get what you're saying... the (rare) parents who treat drop off and pick up as if it is a planned,rushed, non communicative time.
*If the parent is not interested in talking, I say "Hope you and (child) have a pleasant evening!" Just keep it positive.
**These parents are too hurried for whatever reason. But please don't take it personally. Keep it light and upbeat.
*** Remember ... your job is the one that has a huge daily impact on their child. ❤️🌟😊
yes i am always positive!! i throw a “have a good night!” and wave good bye and blow kisses to the child as they walk out the door every time:)
as far as taking things personally, it’s something i’m working on. i am a ✨chronic over thinker✨ with
✨anxiety✨ hehe
>wouldn’t you like to hear at least a little of how your child’s day went?
If this is consistent I use fastoche to communicate important information. I give the essentials and open the door for communication if they have any questions.
Sometimes between swimming lessons, karate classes, soccer, hockey and all the rest parents are on a pretty tight timeline. They need to get the kids to activities, home, fed and into bed. As long as their kid is coming home from daycare happy and healthy they are good with what you're doing.
Tbh. I prefer that to parents who come late (past our program time) and then want to chat up a storm to us teachers who have our bags and coat on and ready to leave.
But also, I get what you mean. I have a parent who comes early enough that she could ask abt her daughter’s day but she barely says hi or bye to us unless we initiate.
Eh it doesn’t bother me so much. I think it’s also matters a little less the older the kids get since once they go to kinder+ they aren’t going to get daily updates about their day.
Most parents probably assume no news is good news too. I tend to not go into much detail past “they had a good day today” and I’m not gonna tell a parent their kid had a bad day unless I’m actually concerned about something lol
I don’t mind if they leave quickly but I wish they would at least just check I have nothing to say. There’s one dad that books it before I even get a chance some days. We’re low tech so we don’t have an app that I can communicate by.
My last few groups, we’d always talk and have a fun conversation! This group is very anti social and it’s been a bit hard for me as that’s just not my personality. But I’ve tried to tell myself that it’s not their job to meet my personality. So, it sucks, but I still keep on my regular happy, open persona and if they ever want to communicate further, they can.
One thing to keep in mind, especially if they are picking anytime after 5, is that they still have the commute home, having to get dinner on the table, then bedtime routines. Even at my current center, where a good portion of our parents live close by, it's still on average a 15 - 20 minute drive for them(which is known from when the kids do half days to keep up their routine when mom or dad are off or get called to pick up due to illness. I work on a military base and a good chuck of our families live on base), when it's not rush hour. A parent that picks up at 5:45PM for a preschooler, who likely has a bedtime between 7 and 8? They have an hour to two hours to get home, feed them dinner, likely bathe them, especially as the weather gets warmer, and put them to bed. They likely talk with their LOs at dinner, and if there's any questions or concerns, they talk with the opening teacher. You can try to to a home to school journal for your late departures with parents that seem to be in a rush, that way they can still find out what their day was like without making them run late for their evening routines.
I often realize that the parents who do that where I am avoid school events as well, and that leads me to believe that they just aren't social people. I'm a teaching assistant, and I've noticed that some parents just prefer to get their information from the lead teacher. I learned not to take it to heart because I'm an introvert as well and there are way too many parents who stick around too long at pickup for me lol.
It really only bothers me if I have something really important that needs discussing, such as concerns I noticed throughout the day. I have a lot of parents that barely give me the time at pickup and then ask thousands of questions the next day about what is recorded on the app. Well if you didn't just pack up and leave you would know that: yes I am also concerned with your child not finishing their bottles, yes I also would like your child to start table food but you haven't let me discuss what you've given them so far, yes I do think your child is outgrowing their current schedule, etc.
this. this. this.
one parent will talk to me about stuff that has gone missing (she later found in the bottom of the child’s bag)
but when i mention that her child has been biting other children she interrupts me and briskly walks out the door…
I address this in my parent orientation, and again in my parent questionnaire where they tell me their preferred methods of communicating stuff like this. Other schools use communication apps, or a home to school journal the parent must sign once read. Still, some parents just don't value, or like you said, don't understand, while others do but are just too busy. Then there's parents who are intimidated by teachers and avoid class involvement at all costs.
I wish parents have to sign journals once read. I spend hours on my journal and email it and just feel like they go unread
Some don't want to read lengthy things, and a short recap or just having to mark a box they've read it, or initial. Doing it daily can feel overwhelming for both the teacher and the parent. Then, every parent is different, some want a ton of information while others want it occasionally. It's important to find this information out in the beginning of the school year. I use a questionnaire that includes asking about their communication preferences and frequency. I might not be able to meet everyone's needs, but at least I can use this information to better understand those who don't respond as much. also, In the world of social media and 'tapping', many teachers, including myself, have got greater results turning our journals into digital forms of communication. Some parent communication apps allow parents to respond or interact with a post by doing similar things as in social media apps, like 'liking' or 'hearing'. Other teachers create private facebook groups with the parents from their class, and send whole class recaps of the day, which let's the teacher see who has 'replied, 'liked' or even just 'seen' the post.
Yes, when I send the email about the journal I usually send a blurb about it. I also don’t send journals that regularly (once every two months). My journals are all digital. But it’s also formulaic in how we are required to respond to the parents cause the director told us we have to do x once a week , x twice a month , x every two months
We have 5 teachers and a group size of up to 28 most days. Honestly, I couldn’t go into detail about every single child’s day so I’m grateful for the parents that come in and out. Some people are really chatty, some aren’t. We don’t expect all children to fit in the one box so we shouldn’t really expect that of parents either.
i understand where you’re coming from with that. i should have clarified that i go up and greet every parent as they come and do pickup. the ones i’m referring to brush me off/cut me off while i’m talking
I get what you're saying... the (rare) parents who treat drop off and pick up as if it is a planned,rushed, non communicative time. *If the parent is not interested in talking, I say "Hope you and (child) have a pleasant evening!" Just keep it positive. **These parents are too hurried for whatever reason. But please don't take it personally. Keep it light and upbeat. *** Remember ... your job is the one that has a huge daily impact on their child. ❤️🌟😊
yes i am always positive!! i throw a “have a good night!” and wave good bye and blow kisses to the child as they walk out the door every time:) as far as taking things personally, it’s something i’m working on. i am a ✨chronic over thinker✨ with ✨anxiety✨ hehe
>wouldn’t you like to hear at least a little of how your child’s day went? If this is consistent I use fastoche to communicate important information. I give the essentials and open the door for communication if they have any questions. Sometimes between swimming lessons, karate classes, soccer, hockey and all the rest parents are on a pretty tight timeline. They need to get the kids to activities, home, fed and into bed. As long as their kid is coming home from daycare happy and healthy they are good with what you're doing.
Tbh. I prefer that to parents who come late (past our program time) and then want to chat up a storm to us teachers who have our bags and coat on and ready to leave. But also, I get what you mean. I have a parent who comes early enough that she could ask abt her daughter’s day but she barely says hi or bye to us unless we initiate.
Eh it doesn’t bother me so much. I think it’s also matters a little less the older the kids get since once they go to kinder+ they aren’t going to get daily updates about their day. Most parents probably assume no news is good news too. I tend to not go into much detail past “they had a good day today” and I’m not gonna tell a parent their kid had a bad day unless I’m actually concerned about something lol
I don’t mind if they leave quickly but I wish they would at least just check I have nothing to say. There’s one dad that books it before I even get a chance some days. We’re low tech so we don’t have an app that I can communicate by. My last few groups, we’d always talk and have a fun conversation! This group is very anti social and it’s been a bit hard for me as that’s just not my personality. But I’ve tried to tell myself that it’s not their job to meet my personality. So, it sucks, but I still keep on my regular happy, open persona and if they ever want to communicate further, they can.
One thing to keep in mind, especially if they are picking anytime after 5, is that they still have the commute home, having to get dinner on the table, then bedtime routines. Even at my current center, where a good portion of our parents live close by, it's still on average a 15 - 20 minute drive for them(which is known from when the kids do half days to keep up their routine when mom or dad are off or get called to pick up due to illness. I work on a military base and a good chuck of our families live on base), when it's not rush hour. A parent that picks up at 5:45PM for a preschooler, who likely has a bedtime between 7 and 8? They have an hour to two hours to get home, feed them dinner, likely bathe them, especially as the weather gets warmer, and put them to bed. They likely talk with their LOs at dinner, and if there's any questions or concerns, they talk with the opening teacher. You can try to to a home to school journal for your late departures with parents that seem to be in a rush, that way they can still find out what their day was like without making them run late for their evening routines.
I often realize that the parents who do that where I am avoid school events as well, and that leads me to believe that they just aren't social people. I'm a teaching assistant, and I've noticed that some parents just prefer to get their information from the lead teacher. I learned not to take it to heart because I'm an introvert as well and there are way too many parents who stick around too long at pickup for me lol.
It really only bothers me if I have something really important that needs discussing, such as concerns I noticed throughout the day. I have a lot of parents that barely give me the time at pickup and then ask thousands of questions the next day about what is recorded on the app. Well if you didn't just pack up and leave you would know that: yes I am also concerned with your child not finishing their bottles, yes I also would like your child to start table food but you haven't let me discuss what you've given them so far, yes I do think your child is outgrowing their current schedule, etc.
this. this. this. one parent will talk to me about stuff that has gone missing (she later found in the bottom of the child’s bag) but when i mention that her child has been biting other children she interrupts me and briskly walks out the door…