A weekly rhythm for messages to families

Families want to hear from the classroom, and guides want to spend the day with children. With a weekly rhythm, you decide in advance what goes in one note to the whole class, what goes in a direct message to one family, and what waits for a conference. Then you write on the same day each week.

Sort every message into one of three places

Before you write anything, ask who needs it and how soon.

The weekly note is for anything that's true for the whole class. Put these in it:

• What the class worked on this week, described in a few sentences.
• New materials or lessons that children may talk about at home.
• Dates for the next two or three weeks: days off, early dismissals, field trips, events.
• Requests, such as spare clothes, labeled water bottles or volunteers for a job.
• One thing families can do at home that connects to the classroom.

A direct message is for one family, about one child, and it can't wait a week. Use it for:

• An injury, even a small one, on the day it happens.
• A change you noticed that the family should hear about today, such as a child who didn't eat or seemed unwell.
• Something the child needs tomorrow, like a change of clothes.
• A short, specific piece of good news.
• A reply to a question the family asked.

A conference is for anything that needs a conversation. Patterns over several weeks, concerns about development, questions about the right classroom for next year and disagreements about how to handle something all belong here. When a topic needs a conference, a direct message can say so: "I'd like to talk with you about how mornings are going. Could you meet for fifteen minutes this week or next?"

If the family will have questions, the topic needs a conversation. A written message alone will start a long thread you can't finish between work cycles.

Write the weekly note on the same day

Pick a day and keep it. Thursday or Friday works for many classrooms, so families read it before the weekend and have time to pack what the class needs on Monday.

Use the same headings every week. Families learn where to look, and you spend less time deciding how to start.

This week in the classroom Two or three sentences on what children worked on. Name the materials and lessons only.

Coming up Dates for the next three weeks, with times.

We need One or two requests, with a date.

At home One small idea that connects to the classroom.

Keep it short enough to read on a phone in the pickup line. If you have more than four or five points in "This week in the classroom", save some for next week.

Leave individual children out of the weekly note, including praise. A note that mentions some children by name and leaves others out gets read closely by every family.

Scripts for direct messages

Keep messages about a problem factual, short and specific. Say what happened, what the school did, and what happens next.

For a minor injury:

"During outdoor time today, your child tripped on the path and scraped her knee. We cleaned it and put on a bandage, and she went back to playing. Please check it tonight."

For a pattern you want to talk about:

"I've noticed that your child has had a hard time settling into work in the mornings this week. I'd like to talk with you about it. Are you free for a short call on Tuesday or Wednesday?"

For a reply that needs more time:

"Thanks for asking about this. I want to give you a full answer, so I'll write back by Friday."

Avoid judgment words such as "difficult", "naughty" or "amazing". Describe what the child did instead.

Set limits families can see

Families write at all hours, and you can't answer during the work cycle. Tell them in your first-week letter when you read and answer messages, such as "I reply to messages after dismissal, by the end of the next school day." Then do what you said.

Give families a separate route for anything urgent on the day, usually the school office phone. A message about a pickup change sent at 11:30 may not be read until 3:15, and the family needs to know that before they rely on it.

Once a month, read back over the direct messages you sent. If the same topic keeps coming up for several families, move it into the weekly note or add it to your next orientation evening.