Communicating with Parents of Preschoolers
Most of the time my only contact with the parents of my Mission Friends is at the end of our Mission Friends sessions when parents come to pick up their preschoolers. We have Mission Friends in the evenings and pick-up time is usually pretty rushed. Parents are ready to get home so they can get their preschoolers to bed. There is typically not a lot of time for conversations with parents. Communicating with parents of preschoolers is important, so how do we do this when our contact with parents is so short and rushed?
To teach a preschooler is also to touch the life of their parent or caregiver. As preschool teachers at church, we are partners with parents in helping their child grow toward God. Making connections with parents is important as we partner with them.
Tips for Communicating with Parents of Preschoolers
- Help parents know what their preschooler is learning in Mission Friends. Use “Mission Friends at Home” as a communication tool so parents will know the missionary name and the place where the missionary serves. “Mission Friends at Home” can be found in Mission Friends Leader and is great for involving families in Mission Friends at home.
- Give “Mission Friends for Babies, Ones, and Twos” to the parents of your younger preschoolers each quarter. Follow up each month to remind them what their preschooler is learning that month. This handout is included in Mission Friends Leader and is great for involving families in Mission Friends at home.
- Write a Bible thought or prayer request of the featured missionary on preschoolers’ artwork so parents can pray with their preschooler at home.
- Make a point to connect with parents while at church at other times during the week. Speak with a parent, even briefly, after a worship service. Sit with parents at a church fellowship or meal.
- Create a text message group that consists of parents of your Mission Friends. Send messages that give a heads-up about what preschoolers will do in Mission Friends that week. For example: We’ll play a beach ball game this week in Mission Friends to help us talk about how our missionary, Mr. Ku, starts churches near the beaches in Orange County, California.
- Use your church’s website or social media accounts to share about the focus for Mission Friends each month.
- Take a photo of an individual preschooler involved in an activity in Mission Friends. Send the photo in a text message to that preschooler’s parent. Parents love to see what their preschooler does while at church.
- Give a call to the parent of a preschooler who is absent. Check to see if there is a need in the family.
- If there are ongoing concerns about a preschooler’s behavior, talk with the parent individually. Ask if they have noticed the same behaviors at home, in childcare, or kindergarten. If so, ask what strategies they use to help the preschooler.
- Be open to share with parents, especially nonbelievers, about God’s love for them through Christ. They may be more open to hearing the good news of the gospel from you as someone who cares for their child.
Pray for the Holy Spirit’s leadership to use you in the lives of the parents of preschoolers as you make connections with them.
Joye Smith is the WMU preschool ministry consultant.
