Note to New Kindergarten Teacher...

My Daughter is just in Preschool but I am very active with her class and her education.

I always introduce myself and then a few days after the first few days of school has passed, I pick her up and then I speak more thoroughly with her teachers. I feel as though it's more personable when speaking with them rather than sending an email.

There will be a time for all that. You will get paperwork sent home or the open house in the fall when the teacher officially opens her classroom to the parents. Be patient!

email- after meeting her. That way, you can preface your email with, "It was so nice meeting you......"

:)

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I think it's a great idea to do after you meet her. As a mommy and future teacher I think it's great to hear about little more about a child that will be in your classroom. Also, schools LOVE free labor!! I volunteered 2-3 days a week in my son's Kindergarten classroom and his teacher and I built a great relationship. She is a fb friend now! :-)

I think as long as you communicate that you want to be involved it will be welcome. In the past I think home and family were more separate from school, but now the new trend is more collaborative, which I LOVE. I'm always communicating that I want to be included in my son's education and part of the team.

Volunteering and attending school functions and making your face seen is a great way to be involved in the school. If you want to volunteer the teacher will inform you on any policies. I was an active volunteer and I had to register with the district office and go through a background check before I could work in the school as a volunteer.

I love that you're involved and I'm sure the teacher will too! :-)

as a kindergarten teacher myself, I say email her! I love parents like you, that care and want to be involved. Sending an email is not over bearing! :) Don't worry, your little guy will be just fine!!

I would wait until after the Open House. Get a feel for the teacher first and let her meet you in person before sending her an email. When I was working in a school-building, I always found it odd to receive an email from a parent "outlining" their child before I had a chance to meet the kid!

Many teachers will actually have something for you to fill-out that asks about your child. If she doesn't do something like that at Open House, then send her a "thank you" email afterwards and indicate that you would be available and willing to volunteer. Share a paragraph of "important things" about your child, but unless it's something the teacher won't figure out within the first week- let your child "introduce himself" to his school. Kids are often different at home than they are in school!

Last year, I had a great relationship with my daughters K teacher. We are now in a different district since we moved, but we have continued to email and facebook. She became a friend more so than a teacher. Your sons teacher would love to hear from you. Maybe wait until after the meeting. But she may even enjoy hearing from you prior.

Good luck, hope you get as fantastic of a teacher as we had!

In elementary, my efforts were always appreciated. People in an elementary school are always so nice.
As my girl went through school, it wasn't always like that. As she got into jr high and high school, I would definately say they were not glad to hear from me! I would send that intro email and get basically "so what do you want from me? Go to to the online portal to monitor your kids grades snd stop bothering me" lol they must be really overworked!

My first born just started Kindergarden too. The school had a meet the teacher day and thats when i got to talk to the teacher. I warned her in advance the my daughter takes a bit to warm up to new people and doesnt like to talk to strangers. I also said she will do things if her friends do it too.

Our school sends home a folder every nite with comments from the teacher and a way to talk back to teacher too.

Hold off on the email and talk to the teacher in person. Open house is shortly after school starts and by then students and teachers are in a groove and/or any issues can be identified as well.

I wouldn't see that as overbearing. You said you have an Open House scheduled. Don't you have time to meet with the teacher 1:1? Before my youngest goes to K in a few weeks (sniff), each parent/child has a time scheduled with the teacher. They also mailed us a questionnaire to fill out so they know more specifics about the students. As school starts there are tons of volunteer opportunities that you can sign up for. If your school doesn't have anything like that in place I would absolutely send the teacher an email. I would imagine it would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, unless you have some urgent concerns for your child it is best to wait. Elementary teachers have more work cut out with navigating parents than with the kids themselves. If your school has an active PTA and Volunteers you will get a chance fairly quick to get up their and start making relantionships with the staff and other parents.

One of the best compliments I have ever recieved was upon leaving elementary school with my son. I had the fith grade teachers all thank me for everything I did while respecting their jobs as teachers. They said they are thankful for all the parents, but to have a parent that didn't cross the line between parenting at school and volunteering was wonderful.
Getting off on the right foot with teachers is helpful, but be mindful of their jobs and trust them, until you have a serious concern.

I have some teachers that encourage emails and communication, others that dont. I have the perfect teacher this year (same one that we had a few years ago). She did very well for my daughter. The teacher did send a few questions about my child, you can fill out a few words or a few senteances for each thing. I sent a few sentences. This year, 3rd grade is much more challenging and teh teacher knows i want to be involved and know the good and bad about how she is doing. An email once or week or two is fine i think.

I would not provide any insight into your child, unless the teacher specifically asks. Your innocent and endearing comment, like my son is a talker or my son is really active can set a teacher on guard. You say talkative or active and the teacher may hear disruptive. You say sensitive and the teacher may hear immature. Remember this person doesn’t know your son. The last thing you want is a preconceived notion to affect the natural development of their relationship. Let them get to know each other.
You will know if there are issues that you need to address fairly quick.

As for volunteering, at Thursday’s orientation there will be sign-up sheets and a chance for you to meet the teacher. The teacher will provide ground rules as to when you can come to the class and in what areas she needs help.

Good luck and enjoy kindergarten. Don’t take it too seriously or you will drive yourself crazy!

I think that's a good idea. My oldest was in kindergarten last year and I was frustrated that I never knew about upcoming events/fieldtrips until it was too late to volunteer to chaperone or help out in the classroom. I would have thought that maybe the teacher would send something home asking for chaperones, but no, other moms submitted their desire to chaperone months ahead! It was a little annoying as during our first parent-teacher conference I told her I would like to help as much as I can....so this next year I will be more proactive about it....

I think that's fine to let the teacher know some things about your son & that you are an involved parent. I'm friends with most of my kids' teachers - we do things outside of school, I will have their kids over to play, we're friends on FB, go to the same parties (Tastefully Simple, that kind of thing), etc. Kindergarten teachers need more help (cutting, pasting, die-cuts, working with children on their letter sounds/recognition, etc.). Find out who your school's volunteer coordinator is & GET REGISTERED! Set up a schedule with the teacher (I spent the entire Monday & the last 40 minutes or so of the other days helping my kids' K teacher for the whole year). You'll find that Kindergarten is a whole stew of interesting dynamics - kids who've been in preschool for 3 years & know their alphabet, numbers, shapes & colors, kids who've been in daycare with no learning fundamentals (but can separate from mom & deal with other kids), kids who've never been away from their mothers, kids with unfortunate home situations - & the teachers have to attempt to actually teach while reigning in all kinds of behaviors. Good luck & ENJOY it - not only will you be helping the teacher & acting as an involved parent, but your presence will demonstrate to your child how you value education & will instill a good attitude toward school & learning. Also seek out your school PTA - they ALWAYS need help with various committees & functions.

So far I've had good relationships with both of my daughters teachers. I've helped out as much as I could. Being a working mom puts a damper on that most of the time. But I try to at least take one day out of my year to help in the classroom. I also make sure when supplies are needed I provide them. I also have bought extra things for the classroom/teacher just for fun.
I've never written a note at the beginning of the year, but for my daughters PreK class I did have concerns and luckily I was able to voice them to her teacher when I met her before school started. For Kindergarten it wasn't much of an issue as my daughter was adapting well.

But I always kept in contact with both of them through email. I would email them periodically throughout the year. I emailed my daughters Kindergarten teacher at the end of the year for something and she responded with my daughter being a great student and even said I was a great parent to work with.

So like I said, I didn't do a lot but did keep in touch. I went on field trips when I could and helped out in the classroom at least once for the year. But I always kept in contact through email. So maybe that was the trick. :)

Wait until you go to Open House. While you are there, you have the opportunity to sign up for the PTA and any other volunteer opportunities there are. Also, in the paperwork I received in the mail from my daughters school there was a little get-to-know-you form to fill out and send back in to the teacher. It covered allergies, medical concerns, emergency contact info, and there was a notes section to let the teacher know anything you wanted her to know about your child.

Also, don't take it personally if your son's teacher doesn't allow parents in her classroom for the first 5 or 6 weeks. A lot of teachers ask parents to refrain from dropping in on the class during the day at first. This gives the kids a chance to bond with the teacher and get comfortable in their new surroundings. During this time, your presence could be a huge distraction from learning as well as bring on anxiety and tears from your child when it's time for you to leave and he has to stay there.

I think it really will depend on the teacher. Some are very receptive and want to hear from the parents, others are not. I would wait until I met her, kind of feel her out and see if she wants to hear about your child, etc.

I had a great relationship with my kids second kindergarten teacher. She was open and receptive to me being involved in the class. She asked for our input and used it when dealing with our children. We go to a school that requires volunteering, though. The first teacher they had (at a different school) was anything but receptive. I signed up to volunteer for a bunch of things and she NEVER once let me. She didn't care about my input when I approached her with it.

Usually the teacher will send a form home with your child (or you'll be given it in the intro package Thursday) and they’ll be questions for you to answer about your child. I remember mine had everything from siblings, pets, how often we read together etc. Also, there was a question about volunteering in the class.

I’d just wait until open house and see what the teacher has planned. Express your interest in classroom involvement at that time.

Do not give her insight on your son! She can see for herself as she gets to know him. She should send a letter home asking for any parent volunteers or make the announcment ar open house. I loved my middle sons kindergarden teacher. I volunteered in his classroom last year and she was great and we got along well. I never had the opportunity to volunteer in my older boys classrooms due to not having a babysitter for my middle but I liked all of them and never hesitated to call them if there was an issue.