Conferences

[Hartingirl]

Hi!

Talk to me about parent conferences. I am a new provider and would like to start offering parent conferences at least twice per year. My children are ages 24 months - 5 years.

How should I set it up? (After school hours in the evenings? Everyone comes at appointment times? Everyone comes at the same time? Where should I conduct the conferences?

What should I address? (My state has early learning standards. Should I discuss EVERYTHING? Or just a few goals we're working on?) Just trying to think of a format I should follow to keep the conferences 15-20 min MAX.

Are there any forms I can complete to help guide the conference?

Help! I'd love to know anything and everything you can tell me about conducting these conferences. Thank you!

[kendallina]

For each child I complete a portfolio- which is just a 3-ring binder that has their 'work' in it- artwork, times they wrote their names, etc. When I do parent conferences, this is a good starting point. We look through the portfolio together and just talk about things. This gives them a chance to see the kinds of activities we do (I also keep a facebook page that tells them this). Also, if we have any books the kids have made or anything, I make sure to show them that. I ask them if their child talks about coming here, what do they say? What do they enjoy?

Then I typically do a quick run-down of specific areas of development. I don't always hit each area with each child, but often talk about : social development, fine motor (as they get closer to kindergarten especially), self help skills, academic stuff (i.e. math, literacy mostly). I reiterate that the most important things they're learning are the social and self help stuff. I may make recommedations of things to work on at home (usually this is stuff that encourages independence and/or fine motor skills). I ask them if they have any concerns or questions. I might ask them how they feel like things are going with their child in the program, if there is anything in particular they like or don't like. As kindergarten gets closer for their kids, I do a lot of reassuring that their kid is fine and ready for kindy .

My conferences often take 20-30 minutes but I could probably cut that to 15-20minutes if I didnt' talk so much. I usually have my conferences at my dining room table after hours as long as I can trust their child to play in the playroom by themself (usually with my daughter, but we cannot see them from my table-and usually by the time they're 4 yrs old I know I can trust them).

I offer two conferences a year and strongly encourage parents come to the fall one, but I don't push it as much with the spring one. Some parents come, others don't and I don't worry about it. I LOVE doing conferences, it's so important to spend some time talking with parents and they love to hear all the good stuff their child is doing here.

ETA: I have 3-5 year olds.