What is a parent letter in preschool?

A parent letter is sent by educators to parents and offers many opportunities to focus communication on important information. You can focus on one main topic per parent letter.

Possible focus topics could be:

• Organisational information (celebrations, excursions, etc.)

• Administrative informationen (familiarisation of new preschool children, getting to know each other)

• Health (allergies, previous illnesses, ticks or flu waves)

• Catering and nutrition

• Upcoming appointments (e.g. parents’ evenings)

As the parent letter is addressed to everyone, it reduces the amount of time educators have to spend and you no longer have to inform all parents individually when picking up the children, but you can reach the parents of the children centrally.

It is clear that parent letters are very effective for requesting support for your institution or informing parents in general.

Why are parent letters important?

Parent letters form the basis of communication with parents. The following three factors explain why they are so important: Pedagogy, participation and transparency.

• Pedagogy: Parent letters are an excellent way of giving parents an insight into educational topics and more background information about everyday kindergarten life. They can summarise facts on topics such as school readiness, media education, development and support in a clear and understandable way. This gives parents an introduction to the work of preschool teachers and allows them to apply tips at home.

• Participation: Parent letters are the only means of communication (apart from parents’ evenings) that provide parents with standardised information. This also makes it easier for non-German-speaking parents to participate, as they can usually follow the written content better than the spoken word. If you are a Sdui user, you can translate the parent letters.

• Transparency: The parent letters give parents and guardians a transparent insight into the work of the childcare staff. They know what is being done in the preschool and how, and can suggest changes or improvements if necessary. This allows parents and teachers to work together to organise the day-to-day life and education of the children.

• Based on this, parents can decide how they can support the preschool community. For example, as a crafting partner when making decorations for the carnival party.