Supporting Parents Through Conferencing and Newsletters During the Coronavirus School Closures

With thousands of students home from school because of the coronavirus, schools are hosting conference days for parents by phone and online. Through these meetings, parents meet with teachers to learn how they can support their children’s academic success at home. To prepare for these conference days, teachers compile diagnostic reading and math data and portfolios of students’ work to show the parents what their children need to learn and what they have achieved to date. We also provide parents with guidance on how they can help their children at home.

Newsletters for Parents

I created a winter newsletter that highlighted our second graders’ second semester updates. These included:

Summarizing the various math operations and strategies the students are learning to solve various math and word problems in class
Guidance on how students can help their parents shop at the grocery store by adding the total of ten items that are being purchased.
Reading assignments and strategies that students are learning to build independent reading stamina with diagnostic testing support to become more familiar with online test-taking skills
Guidance for parents to reinforce reading with their children at home for at least 20 minutes daily.
Added guidance on how parents can support their children’s writing at home by encouraging them to self-edit their work and read the various stories that their children have created.
Information about the various social studies and science modules that students will complete in class with follow-up research and experimentation at home.

How Parents Support Teachers and Students

As I work more closely with my students’ parents at home and through the school’s online system, I am humbled in how supportive they are in providing all students with essential resources for class projects and parties. The parents have gone beyond my expectations in trying to help me succeed with each and every student in my class.

Happy learning with your children!

Danielle