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Parent Involvement

  • 1.  Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-18-2022 10:23 AM
    I am looking for fun ways to get parents more involved in our program.  At my previous center we did a doughnut breakfast, invited parents to join us for our outdoor time.  I do not believe my new school has ever done anything like this, so I'm looking for ideas from others.  What fun parent/guardian activities do you all do?

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    Tera Weber
    Director
    Bosco Catholic School System
    Gilbertville IA
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  • 2.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-18-2022 12:41 PM
    We invite adults in our learners' lives to come be a guest reader in the classroom. 

    We also had our annual Special Person Day last week in which each learner brings an adult guest for the first 2 hours of the school day.  Our guests joined us for our Shabbat service (we are a Jewish school), music class, visited the Sukkah (https://www.reformjudaism.org/jewish-holidays/sukkot) since it was during Sukkot, and had time to explore the interest areas in the classroom with their learner. Families love it because it really gives them a peek into what their child's day at school is like.  

    We haven't brought them back yet, but before COVID we also had parent noshes once every month or two where adults could stop into a meeting room for coffee and a bite to eat after dropping off their child.  A staff member was there to introduce parents to each other. We used to do a wine and cheese night too, early in the year for parents to meet each other.  

    I think it depends in part upon your goals.  Is it for families to connect with each other, or have a greater sense of things that happen during school, or something else?  Knowing that can guide the way in part.

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    Sharon Rosenberg-Scholl
    Director
    Temple Israel Early Childhood Center
    Minneapolis MN
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  • 3.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-19-2022 08:46 AM
    Good morning 

    At CCCAP we have a few Parent Involvement activities.  On camp we have Special Chapel events which the parents and the family are all invited.  

    We also send home Family Project Crafts. For example: Thanksgiving Time we send home a Black and White Clip-Art for the family could decorate. Free Turkey Black And White Clipart, Download Free Turkey Black And White  Clipart png images, Free ClipArts on Clipart Library  We do Fall Leave and also for Christmas.

    Blessings,

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    Nelida Rosado
    Preschool Director
    Calvary City Christian Academy & Preschool
    Orlando FL
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  • 4.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-20-2022 09:05 AM
    I just started parent involvement bags. Bags rotate every Monday bags go home. Bags have different activities including outside scavenger hunts, patterns, small motor skills activities, precutting skills activities. And a book for them to read to their child. I included a notebook in each bag for parents to write notes about what they observed if they found out something different about their child they may not have known before.  On Fridays the children bring their bag back and share with their friends all the fun they had with their families at home. So far it's been a huge success !!

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    Kristina Dukett
    Family daycare provider
    Keeseville NY
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  • 5.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-20-2022 05:55 PM
    >>>>> Easy small events like parent guest reader offer parents and teachers a choice of dates and times. Another way to connect to families at home and school is to pick math vocabulary words like “ same” that need to be repeated thousands of times before children understand what they mean. Ask parents to say the words at home when they see a child use them in their play, i.e. “that crayon is the same color blue as the blue truck.” And “Your doll goes to bed at the same time as you do every night.” Explain how hard it is to learn a word that is a pre-math concept like same.Ask mom’s to send a note of a time at home when the child heard or said the word same. Find a time in school to use the word the same way..




  • 6.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 11-10-2022 09:32 AM
    I love your "Special Persons Day". My Center used to do "Donuts with Dad" and "Muffins with Mom" years ago but the trend was obviously problematic and we phased it out.

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    Samantha Lemoine
    Program Director
    The Child Development Center at RFK Community Alliance
    Lancaster MA
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  • 7.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-19-2022 07:23 AM
    We have sent parents' home, sometime in January, a brown paper lunch bag, a paper clip, a white bowl, and some googly eyes with the instruction to make a snowman with their child.
    They could use the materials that we sent home or not. The snowmen were then displayed around the center or in the classrooms and then voted on. You could have categories like the most creative, most unique, the ugliest, the cutest, the tallest etc.
    This got so many parents involved, and the whole family could participate in this activity.
    Send it home over a weekend, and just enjoy what comes back!

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    Christine Luna
    Newborn Specialist
    Parenting Coach
    Only Happy Noises
    Painesville. OH
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  • 8.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-20-2022 12:12 AM
    Wow, what an amazing idea!  I hope you don't mind if I use it.

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    Joseph Thompson
    JrK Teacher, Preschool Curriculum Coordinator, Training Coordinator
    Trucks N Trykes Playcare
    Sioux Falls SD
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  • 9.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-20-2022 09:39 AM
    Sending home craft materials and displaying craft projects made by parents/guardians and children together is a lovely idea.  I imagine it generates a lot of excitement as children and their families look at all of the displays.  However, I question whether turning it into a competition and having children and families vote on each others projects is wise.  It turns what should be a fun creative experience into a contest and teaches children that it's their place to judge the artwork of their peers.  I wonder how being encouraged to judge the work of others will come into other aspects of their relationships and childcare experience.

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    Aren Stone
    she/her/hers
    Child Development Specialist
    The Early Years Project
    Cambridge, MA
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  • 10.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 11-07-2022 12:11 AM
    Wonderful idea, thank you for sharing.

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    Sandra Grunder
    Assistant Teacher
    KinderCare
    Aliso Viejo CA
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  • 11.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-19-2022 02:00 PM
    Some activities we have done at our center: father and toddler cooking class, parent and child tower building "competition" with different types of blocks and each team got an award, salsa dancing class and appetizers (Cinco de Mayo), sing alongs and grandparents lawn games and breakfast.

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    Susan Smith
    Director
    Heart and Hands Montessori
    Lafayette CO
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  • 12.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 10-21-2022 08:26 AM
    *Mystery Reader- Invite any family member/special person of the children to sign up to read a book to the class just before lunch then join the child for lunch.
    *Send home a disposable camera with a different child each weekend and have them take photos of their family/home and weekend fun.  Print and display, have child talk about the photos.
    *Send home a stuffed animal every week with notebook to a different family.  Ask them to include the stuffy in their weekend.  Ask parent to write, as the stuffy, about his/her adventure with the family.  Read it to the group on Monday when he comes back.
    *Donuts with Grownups
    *Friendsgiving Potluck
    *Put photo props in the lobby for fun pics as families arrive/depart for the day.  And classes can stop by for fun pics during the day with friends.
    *Have each family make a scrapbook page (for book or hang/display together on a wall- we called these "quilt squares")
    *Any time of year- a party with a main craft pertinent to the season or curriculum study (tons can be found on Oriental Trading or ideas found online) and snack
    *Put together an art show with each class creating a display
    *Snack N Chat with the Director- schedule one hour each month for families to enjoy a provided snack and chat with the center admin team about anything they bring up or a focused topic each month, provide resources, answer questions, etc
    *Parent Wrapping Party- provide space, tape, and scissors for families to bring holiday gifts and wrap them while socializing
    *Family Game Night- set out board games and order pizzas
    *Create a board game lending library
    *Card-making party for seniors or community workers 
    *Raffle tickets and a few prizes for every book read to a child at home in a period of time

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    Erin Corcoran
    Director
    Wonderspring Early Education
    Pottstown PA
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  • 13.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 11-07-2022 03:13 AM

    Hi Tera, 

    Some ideas that I can think of are to hold a reading time with parents inside the classroom and they can bring books to read with their child. Also, you can invite the parents to share information about their career or ask them to share their skills or interests. Have them bring items that they use on their job to show to the children. Another one is to have potluck and ask them to prepare a traditional dish from their culture.





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    Althea Lorraine Ulit
    Kahului HI
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  • 14.  RE: Parent Involvement

    Posted 11-10-2022 09:31 AM
    Our classroom teachers will post a sign-up sheet and send home a list of activity suggestions or books and parents sign up to come in and read a story or run an activity. Next week, a preschool parent will be coming in to make ice cream with the children and last week a mother came and set up an outdoor obstacle course for them. We always do what we can to make the time a parent offers work for the classroom schedule rather than the other way around. 

    We also schedule walks to our local barn, fire station, and police station and invite parents to join us. Often, a parent and their child will join even if they aren't scheduled to attend school that day.

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    Samantha Lemoine
    Program Director
    The Child Development Center at RFK Community Alliance
    Lancaster MA
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