Top 3 Powerful Ways To Communicate With Parents

28th February 2022

In schools communicating with parents and building connections with them is an integral part of the process. Forming a kind of collaboration and getting parents involved in their kid's education allows a good foundation, improves learners’ academic achievement, and boosts the sense of community. Be it Communicating with elementary school parents or parents of high school students, parents' involvement is must-have in today's time.

However, with many parents working full-time and juggling various other commitments, teachers are finding it hard to interact with parents these days. Not to mention effective parent-teacher communication is the need of time given what we have been through the past couple of years. The best way to involve parents is to keep a consistent communication that is ongoing and also has been established from the beginning. The more parents can be kept informed, the more they will feel like a part of the team.
 

Here are some proactive easy ways to communicate with parents –

In-Person Parent-Teacher Meets

The in-person parent-teacher meetings are not just the basics; they are essential to keep the connection. This is perhaps a space where you can creatively engage parents by organizing in-person meets and events. Keep in mind, these kinds of meetings do not need to be formal teacher talk sessions. Besides one on one meetings where you get to discuss the important things about students' grades, challenges, or improvement, try holding space for parents where their contribution is valued. Be solution-oriented while you conduct such meetings. This way parents can feel much more relaxed where you avoid the blame game and focus more on healthy conversations. In addition to this, other than using a classroom or office, try accommodating parents in the school field, or lunch hall, it can provide a lot of welcome vibes where you can demonstrate openness instead of following a rigid, strict, and formal format.

Social media

These days, social media is a huge platform that can create a network and boost communication effortlessly. While choosing the social media platform, make is an inclusive act do decide which platform your school will be using. Keep it open for parents so that they can contribute their opinions too. Facebook is by far the major reaching social media channel and has been reported to reach 79% of all internet users. However, social media platform also comes with a lot of algorithm challenges, which affects how and when content is reached to the user. The best way to ensure parents are seeing the regular post is to create a private group and ask them to switch on the notification of that group. Additionally, social media platform also has a lot of privacy concerns, hence make sure only general notices and news that are usually shared on the website are shared on social media.

Email and text

Emails, newsletters, and personal text are the best way to communicate inside news and updates. Email and text can both be a good way to foster communication and keep privacy intact. If you’re broadcasting emails out to parents make sure you disable no reply. This will ensure parents respect your process and also ask a question to the concerned person. One thing to keep in mind is that emails and text messages convey a sense of urgency. And because of this, it is best to keep anything non-urgent matter to the monthly newsletter or post via social media.

Final Words

When it comes to communicating with parents in the educational field like any relationship, the ways of communicating will change and grow over time. The easy ways to communicate with parents lie in finding the methods that suit the community. It involved teachers, parents as well as administrative staff. Furthermore, while presenting concerns to parents always make sure you are ready to explain and attend to their questions. When communications are done consistently, it becomes easier to expect parents to be more supportive, understanding, and less likely to jump to negative conclusions. Online Pre and Primary Teacher Training Course in Singapore can help educators will have new ideas and insights into better ways to communicate with parents in this modern age.