annah Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Hi there, It has been suggested that we start doing home link books as we have a few children at our preschool where the childminder is always dropping off and picking up and they don't have much contact with the setting. We are not sure where to start. Whether we should fill them in daily, weekly, what sort of things go into it. Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 I guess it really comes down to how many children you have. At my current school (Special school for children with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties) I have 8 children and every day I write to the parents as all but a couple can't communicate and even then its difficult for them to explain. They write to us (well most of them do) when they need to tell us things or just want to say hi or anything. In my last school (mainstream Reception/Year 1 class 30 kids) I used to write a general note that I photocopied and put in the books each week and then if there was an important message for a particular parent then I would write that in and they could do the same with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Hi annah I am leader of a Pre-School. We have used home link books for about 18 months now. It started from that old thing "haven't you done anything today" if there was not a painting or craft to take home. Using the books we can record activities the children have taken part in, but may not tell parents or carers about, such as a game, special role play, music and movement, physical play, computer etc. It is a bit time consuming. We have the books out in the morning and as the child completes a special task we write a few lines. It is impossible to write everything, but it gives a snapshot of the day and the parents seem to like it. We do invite parents to write special achievments in them, but they hardly ever do. I buy cheap notebooks and stick a picture on the front. That way the children can always recognise their own book. We give them out at the end of the session, and parents are welcome to take them home or they can put them in the box before they leave. We have lost a few, when parents don't return them, but not to many. They can also be used as behaviour books. (After discussing with parents any problems first) I can write comments about the child's day which are private and nobody overhears what is being said at the end of the session. Hope this helps Glen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 We use folders with sheets of A4 lined paper inside. Children's names & symbols are on the front. Parents are encouraged to write about anything that's newsworthy from home. Some of these are then shared at greeting time. It's a 2-way dialogue so it's got anecdotes from us, sometimes photos. Seems to work very well although we do need to give it a little push every now & then to keep the momentum going. We've only used this format since September & have been very pleased with the results. WE don't write in all of them every day, but we do monitor to make sure no-one's being missed out. The key-workers have the main responsibiltiy here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annah Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 Hi annah I am leader of a Pre-School. We have used home link books for about 18 months now. It started from that old thing "haven't you done anything today" if there was not a painting or craft to take home. Using the books we can record activities the children have taken part in, but may not tell parents or carers about, such as a game, special role play, music and movement, physical play, computer etc. It is a bit time consuming. We have the books out in the morning and as the child completes a special task we write a few lines. It is impossible to write everything, but it gives a snapshot of the day and the parents seem to like it. We do invite parents to write special achievments in them, but they hardly ever do. I buy cheap notebooks and stick a picture on the front. That way the children can always recognise their own book. We give them out at the end of the session, and parents are welcome to take them home or they can put them in the box before they leave. We have lost a few, when parents don't return them, but not to many. They can also be used as behaviour books. (After discussing with parents any problems first) I can write comments about the child's day which are private and nobody overhears what is being said at the end of the session. Hope this helps Glen 46837[/snapback] Hi Glen, Thanks....that is just the kind of info we need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annah Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 We use folders with sheets of A4 lined paper inside. Children's names & symbols are on the front. Parents are encouraged to write about anything that's newsworthy from home. Some of these are then shared at greeting time. It's a 2-way dialogue so it's got anecdotes from us, sometimes photos. Seems to work very well although we do need to give it a little push every now & then to keep the momentum going. We've only used this format since September & have been very pleased with the results. WE don't write in all of them every day, but we do monitor to make sure no-one's being missed out. The key-workers have the main responsibiltiy here. 46851[/snapback] Thanks for the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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