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I really liked the idea of open mic night. This would allow students to do what they want (monitored) and have them freely express themselves. It would allow parents to watch their children do something they enjoy doing. This would make the students feel valued. This would work best on a Friday night to best accommodate the majority of families. Not only that, but it is totally free.

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I work in a daycare, and we use Bright wheel to communicate with all parents. We post photos throughout the day, so the parents know what the child is doing. We also post diaper changes, what they had to eat, and how much. We can also directly message parents if we need to get in contact with them.

Also, at my daycare, we have a "walk in my shoes" paper the parents fill out when they first start their child, so we know what they like and what they don't.

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One great way to engage families is to host a Family Reading Night at school. Families are invited to come to the school and read books together with their children. Teachers can set up different reading stations, have guest readers, and include fun literacy games or crafts based on the books. At the end of the event, students could even choose a free book to take home so they can continue reading with their families.

This type of event helps children see that reading is important both at school and at home. It also gives parents ideas for simple reading activities they can do together, even if they only have a few minutes each day. Family Reading Night creates a welcoming environment where families, teachers, and students can build stronger relationships while supporting children's literacy skills and confidence. Research shows that when families are involved in their children's education, students often have better attendance, stronger reading skills, and greater confidence in school.

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I found this website that has a lot of cool ideas for family nights in K-12 schools. What really stood out to me was the second event listed, a "Multicultural Celebration." I really liked the first example, which is a cultural potluck. I feel this would be a really great way to get the whole community involved. I have always wanted my classroom and environment to feel all-inclusive, so I love this idea. Families can bring dishes that represent their culture or heritage. It could be a family recipe or something store-bought. I think this idea would be great for involving everyone, including the ELL students and their families. This event also would be nice, as families can enjoy all kinds of different dishes and learn more about different cultures.

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Best 21 Family Night Ideas for K–12 Schools | RevTrak

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Bring families together with 21 family night ideas perfect for K–12 schools. Spark joy, build relationships, and support student involvement.

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At the preschool where I work, we use the Brightwheel App for ways of communicating with parents as well as lots of other things like activities and observations, etc, so I found this on the Brightwheel App. I liked the variety of ideas that it shares of how to engage your families in different ways! I personally like doing Meet Your Teacher for the beginning of the school year, where the families can come during a period of time for them and their child to check out the classroom and it gives me a chance to meet them and talk to them about their family!

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Active family participation is an important part of any successful early education program. Family participation helps to build trust and strong communication with families, which can help you increase family satisfaction, improve your retention and referrals to your center, and identify opportunities for improvement.

This article discusses ways to boost family participation at your program and simple, effective activities to increase engagement.

Ways to boost family participation

Education is often looked at as a two-way street between educators and children. Some fail to realize that child care creates an extra path where three elements-children, teachers, and families-meet in the middle.

Traditionally, family participation has been measured in attending back-to-school nights and chaperoning field trips. This system often does not work for everyone and doesn't accommodate working families. In fact, families can easily become frustrated when their only option for engaging with their child's program is to forego work. Research supports that being welcoming, responsive, and listening is the best way to engage families.

To increase family participation, childcare programs need to focus on building relationships and trust. This means taking the time to get to know every family and keeping communication open to provide updates on their child's progress.

Families want to know that their childcare provider is compassionate and receptive to their situation. For example, learn more about the cultures and customs of each family that you serve and encourage families to share their traditions with the rest of the class. When scheduling classroom events, be mindful of your families' work and childcare obligations and offer events such as back-to-school nights or new family orientations at various days and times to encourage participation.

Lastly, families want to be heard. Everyone can appreciate when their opinion is valued. Offer opportunities for parents to voice their concerns and make suggestions. They might ask for tips on keeping their child's education growing outside the classroom. Parents might even offer suggestions for events that they would like to participate in. Listen to and try to implement their suggestions if possible. It's important for families to understand the vital role they play in their child's development, which can further drive family engagement in your program.
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Family engagement activities

Effective family engagement includes f amily participation in decision-making and goal-setting for their children. Reciprocal relationships and two-way communication between the teachers and families also contribute to effective activities. Here are 10 activities you can use to increase family engagement in your program:

1. Educate families on early childhood development

Some families want to be involved in their child's education, but don't know much about child development or developmentally appropriate practices. Others may lack the confidence to ask you or your staff questions they may have.

You can help educate families by setting expectations at the beginning of the school year by outlining your learning goals through back-to-school night, new family orientation, a family handbook, or an introductory newsletter.

Explaining what learning looks like (and doesn't look like) is another way to ensure families are aligned with your center's approach to child development. It can sometimes feel like parents are overly focused on 'academic' content rather than developmental skills, and whether or not they realize it, they have expectations for what that will look like. For example, i f worksheets are not part of your curriculum, it's important to share that with parents and to explain why. Most adults just aren't familiar with the foundational skills required for future activities like reading and writing.

Sending helpful resources and pointing families toward trusted resources, such as information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), will also ensure that you're on the same page when it comes to their child's development.

Inviting local early childhood experts to come and speak to your families can also help educate parents and guardians on how they can help with their children's early childhood development. Some examples of early childhood experts and topics include:

Kindergarten teacher to talk about school readiness

Librarian to talk about effective read-aloud strategies

Speech therapists

If any of the parents at your center are experts, ask them to share their knowledge!

Don't worry about over-communicating with families or sounding condescending. You are the early education expert, and they will want to hear what you have to say. You both have their child's best interests at heart!

2. Use parent-teacher conferences to set learning goals together

Parent-teacher conferences are great ways to effectively collaborate with families and come up with learning development goals for their children. It's also important to continue the conversations discussed in your conferences throughout the year to align with families on their child's development.

Some directors and teachers might find it helpful to collect parents' questions and concerns ahead of the conference so teachers are prepared to provide information and solutions.

To help facilitate a productive parent-teacher conference, here is a sample agenda:

Start and end by sharing positive comments about the child

Discuss family concerns or questions

Work together to create learning goals for the child that you can revisit throughout the year

Share take-home resources, such as tips on how to continue the learning at home

3. Host fun and educational learning sessions for children and their families

Another way to boost family participation is to host learning sessions for children and their families. During these sessions, focus on specific developmental skills or academic topics. Focusing on specific topics or skills can help build trust, as you can demonstrate the educational value of your curriculum in a hands-on and exciting way.

Some session ideas include:

Paint pinecones using washable tempera paint and droppers/pipettes (promotes fine motor skills)

Host a nature scavenger hunt (strengthens problem-solving and social skills)

Sing children's favorite songs and have parents draw what's happening in the lyrics (exercises language skills, creativity, and storytelling)

These sessions don't have to be long events-around thirty minutes is a great amount of time to show families what their children are learning at your center. You may also consider scheduling these sessions to start right after pick-up time so it's convenient for families to attend.

For COVID safety, you can also host these events outdoors or over Zoom. If using Zoom or another online program, make sure you send a list of required items to families ahead of time, or send the children home with the items they'll need for the activity.

4. Regularly invite feedback from families

Using feedback from parents and families is a great way to increase family participation. By implementing their feedback, they'll feel that their needs are being met and their concerns are being addressed. Ideally, survey your families and ask for feedback at least once or twice throughout each school year. Regular feedback will allow you to check in and see how things are going on the family-side of your center, and will give you the chance to make improvements or changes if needed.

There are many free tools available to help you gather feedback, such as SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. Some example questions to include are:

What are your favorite things about our program?

Are there specific areas where our program could improve?

How satisfied are you with the communication between our center and home? Please explain.

How satisfied are you with our program's activities and curriculum? Please explain.

Is there anything else we should know?

After you receive their feedback, follow up with families and communicate any steps you're taking or changes you've made so they know their voices are being heard. Even if you can't implement their feedback right away, parents will appreciate that you have acknowledged their concerns.

5. Regularly showcase children's work

It's important to share children's learning on a daily basis through photos and videos-not just during parent meetings! When sending photos and videos to parents, make sure to spell out what skills their child is learning during activities-the more specific you are with explaining skills, the easier it will be for parents to help their child develop these skills at home.

Families will love to see what their child is doing in the classroom on a regular basis-whether they are exploring science activities or celebrating the 100th day of school! Including details about these daily activities in your communications to families will help them stay connected to their child's learning.

With brightwheel, you can easily send messages and photos to families so they can get insight into their child's day and skill development.

6. Leverage families' talents for volunteer opportunities

Volunteering is a great way to help families feel more invested in your program, because they're contributing to the success of it! Families are more likely to agree to volunteer opportunities if you ask them for something they're good at, sosurveying parents about their talents and how they can contribute is a great way to increase family participation.

Make sure to get creative with your volunteer requests to make parents feel included-everyone has a skill they can contribute!

Some ideas for volunteers include:

Preparing craft materials

Calling new families to welcome them

Organizing teacher appreciation activities

Donating products or services for fundraisers

Recording videos of themselves reading to use during storytime

7. Send regular newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to keep families informed with everything from changing policies to important reminders. You'll also want to add a human touch to make them enticing to read-photos of activities, special outings, or the children are always a fun addition!

Engaging topics to cover:

Recent classroom activities and how they contributed to learning objectives

Child kudos

At-home learning tips

Teacher spotlights

Family Hall of Fame-highlight families who have helped out!

New family/child alerts and how to welcome them to your center

Recipes from the classroom

What not to do in newsletters:

Make them too long-you want families to quickly get the important information they need

Use text only

Send them too infrequently-find the right cadence for you and your families

Brightwheel's newsletter feature makes sending newsletters a breeze. Administrators can build beautiful newsletters and send them to families with just a few clicks!

8. Host social events for families

Giving families a chance to meet each other and build relationships can help increase parent engagement by creating a fun, supportive atmosphere. Many centers have success with family events at the beginning of the school year, especially if there are a lot of new families joining.

Here are some ideas for family events:

Joint birthday celebrations (can be quarterly or twice a year)

Back-to-school picnics

New family meet-and-greets

Holiday events

When hosting events, monitor which families are regularly able to attend and those who cannot. Consider sending out surveys to see which days and times work best. Leverage this information to adapt your schedule to accommodate as many families as possible.

9. Help families build community with each other

A strong sense of community within your center makes for happier families, which leads to higher retention and more referrals. Community building doesn't always come naturally to people, so they'll probably need a little nudge.

Some ways to help families build community include:

Providing family directories at the beginning of the school year to encourage them to reach out and connect with each other

Encouraging families to set up playdates with each other, which can also help children continue developing important social-emotional skills outside of the classroom

Starting a private Facebook group for families so they can share parenting resources, local family-friendly activities, and questions

10. Use a tool like brightwheel to strengthen communication and engagement

The more you communicate with families about their child's education, the more they'll feel connected to your center and excited to continue their child's development at home. Using a software like brightwheel's communication feature encourages more communication and engagement between families and your center. By centralizing messaging, reminders, and alerts, brightwheel helps ensure that families never miss important updates. You can also send photo and video updates to give families a peek into their child's day and insight into what skills their child is developing.

Early childhood education is a group effort

Effective early childhood education requires the collaborative effort of teachers and families to create a healthy, educational setting for children. While some would put the baton solely in the hands of educators, family participation and engagement are closely tied to the success of any program. By making families feel welcomed, valued, and heard, you can increase family involvement and promote early childhood development inside and outside the classroom.
Brightwheel is the complete solution for early education providers, enabling you to streamline your center's operations and build a stand-out reputation. Brightwheel connects the most critical aspects of running your center-including sign in and out, parent communications, tuition billing, and licensing and compliance-in one easy-to-use tool, along with providing best-in-class customer support and coaching. Brightwheel is trusted by thousands of early education centers and millions of parents. Learn more at mybrightwheel.com.

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10 Family Engagement Activities for Your Childcare Program

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Try these ten family engagement activities to increase participation in your childcare program.

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This activity of reaching out to parents over a brown bag lunch really caught my eye! This event lets parents and school administrators have an informal lunch and to come around and just sit and talk. The goal of this parent engagement to have parents give their feedback and present any and all concerns in an informal and laid-back atmosphere. I feel like creating an environment where parents can come and sit with their children during lunch and chat with the people in charge of the school including the teachers is so amazing. I feel like sometimes parents are scared or nervous to speak up about issues and when you create a safe space where it is relaxed parents will approach this in a way where they feel comfortable to speak their minds.

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I like the idea of a guest reader program. It is a very flexible way to involve families. I would offer it year-round and make it available to everyone. I would encourage ELL parents to read in their native language. If a family member cannot attend during the day or may be too shy to read in front of the class, I would offer Zoom or a pre-recorded reading. We can find a way to include all family members.

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I didn't get far into my research when I fell in love with the idea of "Mom's Night Out". Moms and teachers get a chance to get together with no children allowed. This event gives moms a chance to build a relationship with one another and with the staff in a relaxed setting. The article suggested simple activities like games, crafts, food, and even giving moms a personal note about something special their child has accomplished.

I think this is a great idea because when families feel connected to the center, they are more likely to communicate with teachers and become involved in their child's education. As someone who works in child care, I've seen how much stronger the partnership is when parents know each other and feel comfortable talking with staff. Those relationships help create a stronger sense of community, which ultimately benefits the children as well.

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Parent Involvement Ideas for Daycare-Mom’s Night Out-Little Sprouts

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Having parent involvement events is a great way to keep your daycare full. We do a daycare mom’s night out once a year to build relationships.

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I think the best idea for engaging families from this list is the Talent Show. This would be a great Friday evening event and should better accommodate all students and families. I remember when I was in elementary school we had a talent show every spring and it was always filled with families and friends. The Friday evening always worked perfectly because most parents were done with work for the week and children had the opportunity to stay after school for the show. I think all kids and families deserve to have the fun and memorable time this would offer.

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Family and Community Engagement Strategies.pdf | Ideas for family engagement activities, Family engagement event ideas, Family involvement activities

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Google Drive is a free way to keep your files backed up and easy to reach from any phone, tablet, or computer. Start with 15GB of Google storage – free. Community engagement activities, Parent involvement activities, Community outreach ideas

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I really like the idea of karaoke party. Just about everyone loves music, and it's a perfect way for children and families to engage with each other. I also like the idea of celebrating dad's involvement. Not many fathers get credit for helping raise and teach their children. It's normally seen as a motherly thing most likely because of the number of fathers not in the home, or their work hours that strip the time away that they could be helping teach their child. A lot of fathers are involved though, and I feel like it should be appreciated more.

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This link takes you to a calendar for teachers, but there is some for students and families as well for. On the calendar one thing a day that was mostly to completely free ways to get involved with families each day and or families to become more involved. Its anything from taking a video tour of your classroom to share with families, parents sitting alone for 5 minutes enjoying a cup of coffee, dancing together in the living room. The other calendars had some ideas as well for involvement more so in the classroom.

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Exceptional Children's Assistance Center (ECAC)

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When families and schools partner, students thrive. “Yes, I Can” is more than a phrase, it’s a reminder of the power we have when we work together. By nurturing relationships and sharing responsibility, we create spaces where every child feels supported and every family feels seen, heard, and empowered. We invite you to explore the tools, stories, ... Read more

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While reading the article, I found the idea of creating a classroom blog or website to be a great way to engage families. The blog can be updated regularly with classroom news, student projects, upcoming events, and, with permission, photos of activities. I like this idea because it helps families stay connected to what their children are learning, even if they cannot visit the classroom often. It also encourages ongoing communication between home and school and gives parents opportunities to talk with their children about what they are learning each day.

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Engaging Parents in the Classroom | NoodleNook.Net | How to get parents involved in school activities, How to engage parents in school activities, Parent engagement night

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New Teacher tips (and vets too) on how to get parents more engaged. Yup- should be doing these... Parent engagement ideas, Parenting tips, Parent info board

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I found this list of family engagement activities on Pinterest and really liked it. There are over 15 different dates and times for all the activities, making it more easily accessible for families to come to different events, even if it is only one. There is also a wide variety of different activities so that families can personally choose what they feel comfortable with and which ones would best suit their families. The numerous times, dates, and activity options make engagement easier for families as it gives them more opportunities and easier accessibility.

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This website had a few ideas I really liked. One of my favorites e was the "Bikes, Blades, and Boards Rodeo" that can be held at the school. This event provides opportunities for other community organizations to participate, such as the police department, local bike and skateboard shops, parks departments, and youth organizations. It also would be a low cost event to run as community partners would volunteer their time.

When I was involved in Scouting with my son, we held a similar event that was free for the community, and many families attended. Our main goal was to get children involved in Scouting, but we also just wanted to provide a fun event for families. We set up a small bicycle obstacle course and a police officer would teach hand signals and provide safety tips. We also worked with a bike shop to perform safety checks on the bicycles. Volunteers checked to ensure that children were wearing appropriate safety equipment for biking and roller skating and adjusted their helmets as needed.

To help with overcrowding at some of the larger activities, local community organizations set up activity stations to keep families of all ages engaged. One of the groups also set up a dunk tank as as fundraiser. Children really enjoy dunking adults!

This could be an event many families would enjoy attending, especially when additional community organizations participate and provide resources and opportunities for children. Setting up the event in a school parking lot would make it more accessible to local families, including those whose children may not be old enough to attend school. Teachers could also run some of the activities or volunteer to get dunked. This fun and engaging family event could also serve as an opportunity to begin building relationships with the parents and guardians of future students.

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Try these creative family fun night ideas from parent groups across the country.

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I really liked the ideas in this link, especially #2 and #3. #2 starts off young children and parents working together on different material that encourages working together to be successful in school. It gives parents confidence they can help their child in "real" school. #3 is a great parent/teacher tool that can help the parents feel more comfortable in the school building. As a teacher, you can also have the children help to make some of the items they are looking for to give them "skin in the game". They know what to look for in the building while not knowing where the actual object is hung.

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Parent Involvement in Preschool: 3 Easy Family Engagement Activities - Just Reed & Play

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Discover easy ways to boost parent involvement in preschool with fun, low-prep activities—including a free alphabet scavenger hunt printable!

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I found this list of family engagement ideas very intriguing. It provides many creative opportunities that teachers could incorporate into their classrooms and schools. The list includes a wide variety of online family engagement activities, as well as simple, low-maintenance ideas that are easy to implement. It also offers options that appeal to different interests and family preferences.

I believe that one of the most important factors when deciding which family engagement activities to offer is knowing your students, their families, and maintaining open communication. When teachers understand their students and families, they can better identify activities and events that will be meaningful and engaging for their community. One way to gather this information would be to create a list of possible ideas and send home a paper or online interest survey to learn where families’ interests lie. This not only helps teachers plan appropriate events but also begins building a strong line of communication between families and the school.

Another important strategy I often hear from current teachers is reaching out to families individually early in the school year with a positive message about something they have noticed in their child. This helps establish a positive relationship from the beginning and ensures that the first communication families receive from the teacher is encouraging. Then, if a concern arises later in the year, a foundation of trust and open communication has already been established.

I have been fortunate to participate in Math Nights and STEAM Nights while attending West Chester University. These events are often successful because they are designed to be low-pressure experiences where students and families can connect through learning. Families can choose which activities they would like to participate in, and students have the opportunity to show their parents what they have been learning in school. This helps strengthen the relationship between students and their families while allowing parents to become more involved in their child’s education. However, one barrier to these types of events is that not all families are able to attend after-school activities due to work schedules, childcare responsibilities, or other commitments.

The list I found also included virtual engagement ideas that provide similar opportunities for families who cannot attend in person. One idea that stood out to me was a “make and take” night. I had never heard of this concept before, so I did additional research and found that it is similar to a STEAM Night, where families participate in hands-on activities, such as crafts or projects, and are able to take their creations home afterward. While thinking about this idea, I developed a way to make it more accessible for families who may not be able to attend an in-person event.

Students could create “STEM kits” during the school day that include all of the materials and instructions needed to complete a project at home with their families. Families could then complete the activity together and share pictures or a short reflection about their experience with the class the following day. This would allow students to bring the excitement of learning into their homes while creating an opportunity for family bonding. Most importantly, it would help include families who may not be able to attend traditional school events due to scheduling or other barriers.

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This pin on Pinterest contains a list of ideas. One that I particularly liked was that of an interactive virtual event, wherein the school hosts an event using a video conferencing platform and families can tune-in from wherever they are.

I like this idea because I feel like one of the biggest barriers to people attending school events is that they either can't be there (transportation, childcare, working hours, etc.) or don't feel like being there (long day at work, mentally/physically exhausted or ill, etc.).

Virtual events would allow parents/guardians in these situations to be involved with their child's school without having to go anywhere. It would take away some of that mental load and it may be the beginning of a relationship with parents/guardians who wouldn't otherwise be involved.

It would also be logistically easier and a lot cheaper for the school to host, which means they could do it more frequently than they would a big in-person event.