Repost & Reminder: Back to School Communications
By: Colleen K. Vesely
These three cuties started back to school this past Monday.
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My three kiddos started back to school last Monday. We now have a 7th grader, 4th grader, and Kindergartener in our house. This week was not without excitement and challenge as there was a fire and a power outage at LVI’s middle school, and IVI got lost on his way to Kindergarten on the second day of school (KK found him, brought him to his classroom, and helped him calm down and get settled). KK has already been questioned about her gender when she went to the bathroom, and IVI navigated a child asking why he has a pink backpack.
Witnessing what my kids are navigating as they transition back to school, I am reminded of the importance of sending letters to each of their teachers to begin to build connection towards partnership in support of my children’s learning, development, and school experiences. Over the next week, I will be taking my own advice and using the template I shared a couple of weeks ago to begin to connect with my children’s teachers: Back to School Communication to Build Connection with Teachers.
Since I first posted the template, I received wonderful feedback from readers whose children who are navigating all kinds of identity-related experiences, as well as learning, social and emotional needs. With permission, I am sharing one Raising Unicorns reader’s experience using the template we provided.
*All names have been replaced with pseudonyms.
I wanted to share that I used your email template from Raising Unicorns to introduce Emily and our family to her new teacher. What an amazing idea! Her teacher responded and was so kind. Emily has been talking about adoption and her birth sister quite a bit this summer and she told me she is ready to tell her friends, but she was concerned that they wouldn’t understand how she has a sister that doesn’t live with her. So, as a part of the introduction email, I asked her teacher if she’d be willing to have me come in to read a book and to help Emily talk about our family. Her teacher loved that idea. Thanks for the idea! I’m totally doing this from now on.
Please continue to share with us your experiences connecting with your children’s teachers!
