Relationships Matters
Updated: May 11, 2022
Parents and Guardians often comment that the only time they hear from their child’s teacher is when they’re struggling in class. Communicating and building relationships with families is so important. Starting the year off with sunshine calls helps to establish a positive relationship with families. You get to know more about your students and offer families the opportunity to share valuable information about their child. Sunshine calls can be done periodically throughout the school year. When you’ve communicated positive things about a child, families will trust you and feel more comfortable around you. If there is a time when you have to have a difficult conversation, they’ll know that you have their child’s best interest at heart and that you want to work together to help them.
As teachers, finding the time to do this can sometimes be difficult. Try to establish the best method for communicating with families. Sometimes families aren’t available for a call during school hours, but they might appreciate a quick email. Or if you can, set aside one day in a month when you can make calls outside of school hours to communicate with families. This shouldn’t feel overwhelming. By finding the best method and the best time to communicate with families, you’ll be able to reach them all in the course of a month or term.
How do you go about communicating with families on a consistent basis?

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