How to Host Successful Early Childhood Parent/Teacher Conferences

Conferences are vital in fostering collaboration between educators and families. While conferences are typical in the elementary years and beyond, they have their benefits in the early childhood setting as well. Conferences provide a unique opportunity to highlight a child's strengths, discuss developmental milestones, and address any challenges that may impact their learning or well-being.  

For early childhood professionals, hosting a successful conference may be nerve-wracking. How do you address your concerns without offending parents and caregivers? How do you share assessment data that highlights a child's positive achievements? How often should you host conferences in the early childhood setting?    

In this article, you will discover practical strategies to help you prepare for and host effective parent/teacher conferences in the early childhood setting. From using assessments to guide discussions to creating a welcoming atmosphere for parents and caregivers, you'll find actionable tips to ensure every conference you host succeeds.  

What is the benefit of parent/teacher conferences in early childhood?  

While it may be obvious why educators host conferences during the elementary years and beyond, they also serve a beneficial purpose in the early childhood setting. A conference is a collaborative discussion between parents and/or caregivers and teachers to highlight a child's strengths, discuss developmental milestones, and find solutions for potential challenges that could affect children's academic growth and overall well-being.   

Conferences help build a strong home-school connection, encouraging parents and caregivers to participate more actively in their child's early education.    

Using the information uncovered during a conference, educators can tailor their learning activities and instructional practices to better meet the needs of young children. Parents and caregivers can also use the information to support their child's growth and development from home or find community services and resources that can help.   

How do you prepare for a productive early childhood parent/teacher conference?  

Before hosting a conference, you will need to determine the focus and purpose of the meeting. Do you want to share academic achievements with parents? Do you need to meet about a reoccurring classroom behavior? Whatever the reason for your conference, ensure all participants know its intention and the topics up for discussion.   

Suppose you plan to highlight children's academic or developmental achievements with parents and caregivers during your conference. In that case, you must assess each child before your scheduled conference date and time to establish their academic and developmental growth. Organize your classroom observations, sample classwork, and any child-specific assessment results to share with parents and caregivers easily.  

How do you prepare your classroom for a productive parent/teacher conference?  

Conferences bring out nervous energy in both educators and parents/caregivers alike. Hearing critiques about their child can devastate families and caregivers, potentially leading to defensive responses and behavior. At the same time, educators may fret over how to share assessment data in an informative and meaningful way.   

As the host of a parent/teacher conference, your goal is to create an atmosphere that builds genuine collaboration and openness between all participants.   

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How can you communicate effectively during parent/teacher conferences?  

In the conference setting, the educator must create a space where parents and caregivers feel safe sharing their thoughts, ideas, and observations without judgment.   

To ensure open lines of communication between all participants, speak with parents and caregivers before your scheduled conference date to determine communication preferences. If needed, offer to have an interpreter on-site during the conference to support linguistic differences between yourself and any participating parents or caregivers. When scheduling your conferences with families, give yourself enough time between sessions for meaningful discussions and goal setting, especially if you need to discuss areas of improvement.   

As you begin the conference, highlight children's positive attributes or academic achievements before addressing areas of improvement. Starting with something positive will alleviate any pre-conference jitters and worries that parents and caregivers can feel going into the discussion. If you need to speak about a child's potential areas of improvement, present assessment data or observations along with classroom and developmental expectations to support your concerns and ask parents and caregivers to share their perspectives and input regarding what they see from their child at home.

With all this information, you will have a clearer vision of why specific challenges exist and steps to take moving forward.   

How do you set goals during an early childhood parent/teacher conference?  

After a productive discussion with parents and caregivers, it is time to develop goals for the child in question. Your goals should align with the purpose of your conference and have tangible outcomes that improve young children's academic and developmental growth. Conference goals in the early childhood setting can look like the following:    

  • Helping a child hit academic milestones so they will enter kindergarten on a path toward success  
  • Assisting a child in successfully toilet train so they can move up a classroom after their third birthday  
  • Helping a child build self-regulation and positive communication skills to improve their relationships with peers  

No matter the goals you set during a conference, all participants must take on their role in helping the child hit the proposed benchmarks. Parents and caregivers will trust that an educator is doing their part when the child is in the classroom. And educators will trust that parents and caregivers are doing their part when the child is at home. Consider sending home resources and learning kits to help parents and caregivers if they are unsure how to support their child at home.   

How do you ensure success after an early childhood parent/teacher conference?  

Once the conference is over and you have had some time to gather your thoughts, send a recap of your discussion and next steps to the parents and caregivers involved in supporting the child. Maintain regular contact to reinforce goals and encourage the efforts of parents and caregivers. Regular communication will allow parents and caregivers to ask questions or seek reassurance, and it will enable you to update the family on their child's growth or any setbacks you notice.   

As children hit milestones, no matter how big or small, celebrate their wins and encourage their parents and caregivers to do the same.   

How often should you host parent/teacher conferences in the early childhood setting?  

Conferences are a great way to include parents and caregivers in the education and care of their young child. The more opportunities you have to connect and collaborate in this way, the better. However, monthly and even quarterly conferences may not be feasible for everyone.   

At a minimum, try to host conferences at least three times per year. The first conference will help you establish an academic and developmental baseline. Any subsequent conferences will help you track and monitor a child's progress toward their goals and catch any developmental issues promptly.   

Ready to start conferencing with confidence?  

Yes, parent/teacher conferences can feel overwhelming and intimidating, but they truly are a powerful tool for building solid connections between home and school. By using the tips above, you can host conferences that promote early childhood growth and development and help parents and caregivers see themselves as active partners in their child's care. For tools and take-home learning kits that can help with pre-conference assessments and post-conference achievements, visit our website.   


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