There is a reason why the US Postal Service does not employ pre-schoolers. And yet, we teachers keep trying to use their services as a reliable way to transfer papers between home and school. We rummage through the 12 pockets in their backpacks, trying to find the book order they thought they brought, and we go through 45 boxes of safety pins, attaching notes on their shirts so that (hopefully) one of their parents will spot it before it’s ripped off, rolled up, and used as a telescope!
I like to do a lot of communicatin via email these days, but sometimes you have to send a paper note. Book orders, last minute reminders, and home activities often need attention. I might even send a note to remind parents that they need to watch for the newsletter and lesson plan via email. (Sounds crazy, but trust me, in the long run it saves paper.) So how can we help out our little mail carriers?
One simple way to do this is to use a notes folder. Get a two-pocket folder for each of your children. You can find them for about 10 cents a piece during these back to school sales. On each folder, write the child’s name on the front. On the inside, write “To Home” on one pocket, and, you guessed it, “To School” on the other. Whenever you have a note, you slip it in the “To Home” pocket, and Mom and Dad send their notes to you in the “To School” pocket.
You may want to have the kiddos leave the folders in their bags, and check them each yourself, or you might want to have a letter tray where they set them as they come in for the day. You can quickly go through them all and see whether or not there is a note for you (and whether or not their parents picked up the last note you sent). Parents can also very easily take a quick look and see whether or not there is a note that day. Let your parents know from the get-go how important it is that they get into the habit of checking the notes folder. Having that routine will really simplify the process of “passing notes” for both of you. Though you might miss all those cool treasures you got to check out back when you had to rifle through the 12 pockets in their backpacks!
For more back to school ideas to consider, click here!
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