Setting up a home school communication system is an essential for the special education classroom. When you set up a home school communication system, you’re setting up a relationship with families. The connection between home and school becomes easier when you have an effective system. I have four tools I use to make home school communication a breeze in the self contained classroom. Want to know what they are? Keep reading!
1. Home School Communication Binder
I have always used a binder to facilitate my home school communication. This system is super simple to set up and I explained how I set it up step by step in this post. The beauty of using a binder is that family members know where they can find all communication from the classroom.
Each day students bring home completed work and classroom paperwork in their binder. I keep binders organized by having a side for things to leave at home and a side for things that need to be returned. My students always pack up the papers to go home. Anything that is to be returned is placed in the binder by our classroom staff. At our back to school night I explain that parents should review the binder nightly.
2. Daily Communication Log
Providing a daily communication log is a great way to build communication with parents. Oftentimes, my students aren’t able to go home and tell family members what they did at school. Providing a communication log provides that information to parents. I send home information about what students are eating at school, special events we participated in, and when they are using the restroom.
I also like to have an area for notes to and from school on my log so I can communicate with parents. As my students are communication more, I’ll often write something like “Ask (STUDENT) which library book they picked today?” This provides an opportunity to connect school activities to home conversations. Of course, I practice answering questions with students before they head home.
There are tons of great communication logs out there. These are a few of my favorites:
- School to Home Communication for the Special Education Classroom
- Daily Home Communication Logs | Special Ed | Editable Daily Communication Sheets
- Communication Log Home From Student – Special Education
- Daily Parent Communication Notes for Special Education – K-5 – Print & Digital
3. Classroom Newsletter
Keeping families informed about what’s going on at school helps build a connection. I use my classroom newsletters each month. I write a short note about what to expect in the classroom and prepare a monthly calendar with important dates. These newsletters are more of an overview and informative but they help families know what is happening in our classroom.
4. Class Quick Notes
In addition to providing a newsletter, I also find it important to include quick notes on occasion. We will often have special activities, field trips, or minimum days that families might forget about. Life is busy, it happens.
I started using quick notes so I could remind families of important events. I print these notes out on bright paper so they’re hard to miss and either slip them in their home school communication binder or hole punch them and tie them to student backpacks.
These are my tried and true ways to keep our classroom connected to the home community. How do you make sure you keep the home to school communication pipeline open? Leave a comment and let me know!
