As a follow up to my last post on Parent Communication/ Transition Reports, here are some examples of straightforward News or Transition Reports that would likely be helpful to the other parent.
Notice that these are straightforward, give information, and do not comment on the other parent’s parenting abilities or make judgments. Also notice that some reports give specific websites where more information can be obtained, so the receiving parent can get his/ her own information without using one parent as the gatekeeper for information. Please also note that reports are typically not very long.
Very simple (Child is in 2nd grade)
D. had a good week at school including rehearsing for her role in the school play. They did the play on ________ again on ______________ For homework, we just did a little math, vocabulary and reading assignment. My understanding is that you will pick her up tomorrow and I will pick her up from your house on Tuesday morning. Dance recital information can be found at wwwDanceInfo.com if you don’t have that already. Let me know if you have any questions.
More structured and businesslike (child is in 7th grade)
- Medical. No updates, except he did bump his shin while swimming and you could see a bruise. No appointments pending.
- School. His first few days seemed to go well but the math homework looks to be challenging. He turned in his summer reading assignment. There will be major projects due in October and again just before Thanksgiving and we should watch for teacher emails about those. He has everything needed for initial school supplies but the school will likely be asking for additional classroom supplies, and if you don’t get a list of those, I will forward. If you didn’t get it, the official site for checking on grades, projects and assignments is www.XXXXSchoolgrades.org and the sign in is LittleJoey, password 12345
- Activities. You have received separate emails about soccer tryouts and the website for soccer is www.XXXSoccerstuff.com
- Other. He has been invited to two birthday parties already and those emails were forwarded to you separately.
- Clothing. Could you tell me if his black Nikes and grey hooded shirt are at your home, and if so, can they be returned.
Structured (child is an infant or toddler)
- Her speech is progressing each day, and she has started using thanks and sorry in appropriate ways.
- She has a healthy diet and this week we discovered she loves kiwi. You will notice lots of teeth coming in.
- Her next doctor’s appointment (18-month) is on October 4 (you received a separate email notifying you of that). She has had a persistent rash and I have been applying Desitin per the pediatrician’s recommendations.
- She continues to need Pull-ups at night. We have tried without it but have accidents. I have tried reducing her liquids somewhat after dinner and making sure she spends some time on the potty before bedtime.
