Open house is an exciting time! It’s the first time families and students see the classroom. It’s when students and parents meet the teacher for the first time. It can...
Open house is an exciting time! It’s the first time families and students see the classroom. It’s when students and parents meet the teacher for the first time. It can...
Open house is an exciting time! It’s the first time families and students see the classroom. It’s when students and parents meet the teacher for the first time. It can...
Hosting a preschool open house for families of the children in your in home child care or preschool is a breeze with Experience Curriculum's Open House Kit.
More than perhaps any other business, when potential customers are considering a preschool for their child, it is crucial that it “just feels right.” There are many different ways to…
Last week I was so focused on blogging, I blogged every day! This week, well other things seem to be the focus! Here are the three things ...
Open house is an exciting time! It’s the first time families and students see the classroom. It’s when students and parents meet the teacher for the first time. It can...
The beginning of the year is always a whirlwind with the first few days of school and Open House/Visitation. Whether you have your Open House/Visitation before school starts, or once the year is already in full swing, it’s still a huge undertaking! Today I’m sharing with you my 5 favorite tips for your Open House ... Read More about Kindergarten Visitation!
Love podcasts? Check out this post in the form of a podcast episode on The Classroom Commute Podcast :
FREE open house bubbles printable for preschool, pre-k, kindergarten teachers to give to students and parents to show benefits of bubbles!
I'm going to let you in on my 3 secrets to have the best elementary open house ever! Ready to love hosting open house? Here's how...
This post comes to you after my first 1st-grade Open House. Today I met my 28 wonderful, first-grade friends! And let me tell you – Houston, we’re not in 5th grade anymore! I received h…
Open House Ideas {Fab Ideas from the Weekend Warriors} 5 comments Tips and Tricks, Weekend Warriors It's time for Weekend Warriors! I love our monthly link up. I really do! Our goal has always been to share great ideas with you, but we are always striving to make things better. Over the past month we've made some exciting changes to Weekend Warriors. First, we have a new look! Eek, don't you just love it? Another change we've made is to open up the linky! That's right, if you have a blog and some ideas to share that go with the current month's theme, then grab the buttons, post away, and link up! We'd love to check out your ideas! So, let's get started with this month's theme! This month, we are linking up to share our favorite Open House ideas, and more! We hope to share some fun ideas that you can use at your own Open House, or whatever annual nightly event your school might host. Warning, you are about to be photo bombed. My apologies in advance. But, I have lots of ideas to share with you. Each of which helped make our Open House a successful event. I truly hope you can take an idea or two away from this post! We recently had our Open House, so I thought it would be fun to take a peek at what we did. This year we spruced up the inside of our classroom by displaying new work on our bulletin board. It's always so nice to hang fresh work up for these kinds of events. The kids had a blast making this adorable display from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. They wrote about why their future will be so bright. The parents loved this display! I kept our self-portraits up so the kids could play a guessing game with their families (you may recall from a few posts ago, that I never take this board down, or change it out). A few weeks ago, I removed the name tags that were on display with their artwork. With the names gone, the kids asked their families to figure out which portrait was theirs. It was a fun to watch this! If you're looking for a fun way to get students interacting with their families and their work, this is a simple way to do so. Just have your kiddos complete a self portrait, put them on display, and watch the fun unfold! Look for quick and easy projects to fill smaller spaces in your classroom. We put together this quick and easy little "board." This space is actually where I hang my anchor charts, but I didn't need those on display, I wanted student work on display. The students finished the prompt and colored their iPod. Easy peasy. You can grab a copy of this quick project here. Another idea is to spruce up your desks or table groups. That's exactly what we did! The students wrote letters to their parents thanking them for attending and noting the things they wanted their families to look at. We set these out with newly decorated name tags and bouquets of tissue flowers. I had the students hide their well loved name plates in their desks and they made new ones. I simply cut some white card stock into strips (2 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches) and wrote the students' names on each one. Then, they used colored pencils to decorate! This is my sample (and I really should have colored a bit darker...oops). I will be laminating their name tags so that they can use them as bookmarks. They are very excited about this! The finishing touch? We made some fun tissue paper flowers to set out at our table groups. Aren't they amazing? The following Monday, I sent them home with the students (they each took home a mini bouquet). My sweet colleague suggested this idea, and I am so glad she did! It made our room look super cute, the parents were really impressed, and the kids had a blast. And, they are super easy to make! To make these beauties, you need some tissue paper circles (I used 4 inch circles that I cut out on our die cut machine), pipe cleaners, and some "vases" (I used the small Mason jars). Fold one end of the pipe cleaner over (twice). Stick the opposite end through a mini stack of tissue circles (3-6 pieces). Gently slide the circles up to the folded end. Then, take your whole hand and scrunch the circles upward. Then, open the layers one at a time and rescrunch each one. Finally, trim the stems and stuff them into some Mason jars! Another fun idea is to set out any class books you might have. My students were so excited to show these to their families! Finally, to create a calm and welcoming environment, make it smell nice! I can't be trusted with a Scentsy, but I love the Air Wick plug in air freshener. I found a great tropical scent the other day and plugged it in. Our room not only looked great, but it smelled great! I realize this is soooo not necessary, but it's a nice touch. DON'T FORGET IT: PIN IT! Don't forget to visit these fabulous ladies to grab some more great ideas for Open House and more! And, if you've got some great Open House and More ideas to share, feel free to link up! An InLinkz Link-up Share It:
Hey Y'all! I can't even believe we're talking back-to-school! Didn't summer JUST start??? Back to school means lots of things...school supplies, squeaky clean teacher planners, new clothes (maybe that's just wishful thinking), #targetruns, setting up classrooms and decorating, and open house. Or meet the teacher. Or Sneak-a-Peek. #couldwepleasejustallchooseonenameandstickwithit (for the purposes of this post, I'm going to call it Open House) Open House is absolutely wonderful! I get to meet the sweet families that I will from that point forward forever call my own...I expand the number of children that I affectionately refer to as mine! Here's the thing though, on the inside, I'm crawling with nerves, and feelings of awkwardness. For real, y'all. Parents and their kids come to the door, we say hello, and then everyone awkwardly wonders what in the world is supposed to happen for the next few minutes. There's a billion things to make sure parents know about, forms to fill out, and on and on. I needed something for parents to do, so that I wasn't trying to tell the same thing to 25 different families who all arrive at different times. #chaos Several years ago, I decided to try something different. For purely selfish reasons, of course. I can't handle awkwardness. So instead of having all the papers set up for each student on individual desks, I set up STATIONS. #cuethehallelujahchorus Y'all, this is the single most brilliant thing I've ever done. Seriously. So what are stations, you ask? What do the parents do? What do the KIDS do? What does the teacher do? What are stations? Stations are numbered areas throughout the room. Parents start by signing in, and then continue through the rest of the stations. Once they get to the last one, they know they've gotten and done everything they need to do, and are free to leave. How do parents know what to do? When parents first walk up to my classroom door, I introduce myself, we shake hands, and I do the same with their child/children. I greet every.single.person that comes in the family. Oh, and smile! After introductions, I give parents an "agenda" of sorts, and it pretty much does the rest. (You can find the checklist pictured below HERE.) Why stations? Prior to using stations, I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I felt like parents were waiting to talk with me, while I was talking with a different family. I felt like parents didn't know what they were supposed to do, and everything just felt so awkward. Stations, on the other hand: Provide clear, concise directions Provide a space for parents to fill out papers (and turn them in!) Speed things along...parents spend less time wondering what to do, and get them in and out (this makes it sound like I don't want them to stick around, but the truth is that parents have just as much to try to get ready for the first day of school as I do. Plus, there's often families who have more than one classroom to visit - stations get parents in and out in about 15-20 minutes) Allow me to mingle with families and students, and most importantly, allow me to greet families at the door What do I have at each station? I typically use 10 stations. You could use more or less...that's the great thing about stations, you get to make them fit YOUR needs. Station 1 - Welcome and Sign in This is the only station (unless someone looks lost) that I point parents to...I hand them their agenda, and tell them to start here. Station 2 - Transportation This is pretty much the most important station I have. I need to know how my students are getting home each day, and especially on the first day of school. While I also asked parents to turn in the student info sheet before they leave, this is the ONE thing I've got to have turned in!Station 3 - Student Info Student info is pretty much the same no matter where you go. Does the office have this info? Yes. But I like to have it on my form, all in one "student info" binder that I keep in my classroom. Station 4 - Volunteer/Room Parent Sometimes parents want to know when they can help, and I always direct them here. Some years I have lots of parent volunteers, some years I have zero. Station 5 - Supplies This is my favorite station (like, duh)! If parents brought supplies with them, I have them sort (this is a great job for the kids) the supplies into the containers. If parents didn't bring supplies, I have supply lists specific to my classroom ready for parents to grab. ***Tip: Put one of what you want in each container to everyone knows exactly what goes where*** Station 6 - Instagram/Text Notifications Last year, I did a class Instagram, and gave parents information with how to follow the class, as well as had them sign a permission slip. In years prior, I used text notifications through Remind (formerly Remind 101), but now there are a lot of different apps you can use, like Bloomz that The Elementary Darling wrote about. Station 7 - Getting to Know Your Child I like to have parents describe their child to me. It's let me get to know the child from their perspective. Station 8 - Meet the Teacher Parents pick up a sheet that tells them, and their child all about me. This is one station that I always hear a lot of comments from. Station 9 - Wish List I included a half sheet with items that are wish list items. Parents take one if they want, and send in supplies if they want. No pressure with a wish list. Station 10 - Scrapbook Page The scrapbook page station is where my students get their very first assignment for the new school year! I ask students to create a scrapbook page that tells all about them! I usually have it due the end of the first week of school, and students present them to the class. The scrapbook page doubles as our first class book that lives in the classroom library! I provide the scrapbook paper and allow students to choose their favorite color. I also have examples from previous years that are always pretty popular! What do students do? I tend to switch this up each year. Some years I have some sort of "All About Me" page for students to complete. Sometimes, I ask students to sort their school supplies at station 5. Other times, I just let them go with their parents. Tomorrow, Erin from The Elementary Darling will be sharing 10 ideas for STUDENT participation during open house, and I can't wait to read all about it! Read about it HERE. Are others using stations? In a word...YES! A few years ago, I got smart, and made stations that I could use year after year instead of having to retype them from scratch each year. Here's what other teachers are saying about them: Wanting to try Open House Stations this year? I'd love to hear from you! If you're interested in what I've shared (which is editable) you can find them HERE! SaveSave SaveSave
The first two weeks of school of been exhausting and busy. We have been busy busy learning all our brand new routines and procedures. My cla...
Hey Y'all! It's Erin from The Elementary Darling! Summer has been flying and I go back to work tomorrow! so today I am going to chat about what your new students can do during Open House. I have enjoyed my summer full of Target trips, dollar store hunts, and family time but as the school year rolls around, I get equal parts excited and anxious. Back to school time is fun but also stressful and this year I am moving to a new school and a new grade level. Many of you are doing the same or even just one of those things, and while it is an exciting time, it is also a stressful time. To help with the stress of coming back to school and having Open House (or meet the teacher, or sneak a peek) I also started doing stations in my classroom. Yesterday, Theresa shared her station idea with you all. If you didn't read it, head here. I did something similar and you can read about those stations here on my blog. The only difference is that I found that my parents were doing the stations, and my students weren't always participating. OR one parent was taking the student to do the stations (LOVE) and the other was filling out the paperwork. {This is the ideal situation for my classroom.} My school was a Title One school and we had a ton of information and surveys for the parents to fill out. ***Insert big idea here*** I decided that I needed some things that students could do while the parents filled out all of the paperwork! You can make these a station OR you can just have them set out in the room and let the students do them. {Side note: if you teach Kinder babies you may want to make it a station, so their parents can help them.} Here are 10 ideas for student participation during Open House! 1.) Organize Supplies I love Theresa from True Life I'm a Teacher's idea of having the students take a scrapbook page to create a scrapbook. The students pick the color of their paper and they take it home to work on. I also love that she organizes her materials THAT NIGHT. This is a great activity for the kids to do! Everything is labeled and even if they can't read the words, you can put one of each item in the box and the students will know where to put the item. 2.) Selfie Wall Almost every kid knows how to take a selfie. This selfie wall or photo booth is a great and easy way for the students to snap a picture with a saying. I just put second grade on mine, but you can do anything! I also had to use a selfie stick because no one was at school to take my picture so excuse the terrible pose :) 3.) Photo Booth Another version of this is Chandra, from Teaching with Crayons and Curls, photo booth where she took a sparkly table cloth and the students used signs and got a picture. She did a Party theme and it was precious! 4.) Meet the Teacher Chart Kristin from School in the City created this cute chart to learn about the teacher. This would be cute for the kids to look at during open house. It is also easy to make for all grade levels! 5.) Estimation Station The students grab a post it note and write how many skittles they think are in the jar with their name. I check them all when Open House is over and I put all of the post its on an anchor chart for our math focus board. The student who gets the closest answer wins the jar on the first day of school! It makes an awesome first math lesson and gets the students excited. 6.) Post it Note Anchor Chart This is an easy and fun way for students to answer a question. They love choosing their post it note, and most grade levels can answer the question on their own. K-1 babies will need some help on this one, but even pictures are cute. My first graders did pretty well with this, the year that I did it! 7.) Choose your back to school gift! Sometimes I have my students' gifts on each desk as they walk in, but I think this year I am going to let them choose their own gift. They are either going to pick based on marker color or based on paper color, but who doesn't love a choice?!?! You can find these editable marker papers here in my TPT shop for FREE! 8.) Scavenger Hunt I have seen so many different scavenger hunts for students. I love the ones with the pictures, especially for the K-1 babies. There are too many to choose from, so my suggestion is to get on TPT or Pinterest and find the perfect one for you and your classroom! 9.) Find your seat or choose your seat. This may seem like an easy one, but many students, like us, are anxious. They may want to sit closer to the teacher, or the board and choosing his/her desk is an easy way for them to get excited for the year. My suggestion is to write the names on the name tags, have the students choose their name, and then place it on the desk they choose. If you need a more controlled environment, I understand! The students could just find their desk. Make sure to leave them something fun like ready confetti, jitter glitter, or a present to make them feel comfortable. 10.) Meet the Teacher Wait, they need to actually talk to you? YES! And this is the cheapest and easiest suggestion of them all! It is so important to take the time to talk to the student. Many times, the parents take over, and the kids just sit there. Have some "go to" questions to ask the students that are easy to answer. *What did you love about First Grade? (their previous grade) * What are you excited to learn about? * Do you love science? We are going to do some fun science experiments! *Did you get anything special to start the year off with? *or my Favorite- Do you think your mom and dad are ready for you to Second Grade? Just remember, these are suggestions. I don't think all of this is possible during one open house. It's like Target, just pick the one or two you need. {Who am I kidding, I need everything at Target.} Good Luck!
This paper strip process art project is easy to set up and reinforces important preschool skills. And the little artists love it!
I'm going to let you in on my 3 secrets to have the best elementary open house ever! Ready to love hosting open house? Here's how...
Get to know the new classroom with our free classroom scavenger hunt! Set a timer and use this free printable as a fun I spy classroom activity.
Make your preschool transportation theme the best one yet with these adorable transportation worksheets and activities.
Open House is an awesome time to throw open our classroom doors and share our learning with parents, friends, and schoolmates! Here's a peek at a few of my favorite ideas to spruce up our classroom! One of my favorite things we do each year for Open House is our Welcome signs. I work in […]
Teachers, We have just a few more months left in the school year and the end of the year Open House night is quickly approaching! I wanted to revisit a few quick tips I have for hosting a successful Open House, Meet the Teacher, or Back to School Night: 1. If you decide to have a presentation, design an
Download this FREE Help Your Child Learn to Read reading tips brochure for your students' parents to support their child in learning to read.
Back to school is a hectic time, but check out these easy Open House ideas for organization, donation requests, and student information gathering.
These assessment forms for Pre-K can be used to record children's progress as you work with them during learning activities or observing them through
Open House ideas. Great activity for students to do to show during Open house.
If you’re anything like me, you get stressed out when Open House starts lurking around the corner. The projects, the cleaning, the ANTICIPATION! This year was extra stressful for my team and me because Open House fell right smack dab in the middle of our grade level’s statewide testing. Call me crazy, but I would
These open house teacher ideas will make life simple when the new school year comes around. Print the elementary forms and ...
I love self-portraits. It always amazes me how much each child's personality comes out in their drawings. I constantly have parents aski...
Open house is an exciting time! It’s the first time families and students see the classroom. It’s when students and parents meet the teacher for the first time. It can...
Welcome to our 🐝 BEE UNIT! 🐝 This was such a fun one, packed with stunning…
Teachers, We have just a few more months left in the school year and the end of the year Open House night is quickly approaching! I wanted to revisit a few quick tips I have for hosting a successful Open House, Meet the Teacher, or Back to School Night: 1. If you decide to have a presentation, design an
It's back to school time! Here are some tips and tricks for Meet the Teacher night or Open House to help you make everything run smoothly and make a great first impression!
