142. What Actually Matters Before the First Day of School

Strong family partnerships are not built by answering emails at night or going above and beyond until you burn out. They are built because families trust you, and that trust comes from consistent, thoughtful communication that does not require you to reinvent anything from scratch. This episode is about real systems used to make family communication work without adding extra weight to your day. In this episode, I share: why approaching families as the experts on their child while you are the expert on education makes every interaction more collaborative and less adversarial how a weekly newsletter framed around "ask me about" gives families specific ways to connect with their child without you having to do more why making the first communication of the year a positive phone call home changes the tone of the whole relationship how to set clear email expectations with families so they are not caught off guard when you do not respond immediately why sending positive notes and updates throughout the year matters just as much as reaching out when something is wrong how to use the same templates, newsletters, and systems year after year so strong communication does not become extra work

Almost every family wants to help their child learn at home, but teachers can accidentally make that help feel overwhelming, unrealistic, or unclear. If you have ever sent home a homework packet and wondered whether it was really helping anyone, this episode will help you rethink what supporting learning at home can look like in a way that works for real families with real schedules. In this episode, I share: why sending home too much busy work can do more harm than good, and what quality over quantity looks like for kindergarten families how to set realistic expectations that account for the fact that families have very different home lives, schedules, and resources why showing families exactly how to practice a skill matters more than just telling them their child needs extra work how to embed learning into what families are already doing, like driving home, setting the table, or reading a menu together why reading aloud together at home matters for every child, including kids who are already reading on their own simple ways to help families support math learning through everyday moments without adding anything extra to their day

Strong family partnerships do not fall apart because of one bad conversation. They fall apart because expectations were never clearly set in the first place, and by the time there is a problem, everyone is already caught off guard. This episode breaks down the most common reasons family communication breaks down and exactly what to do to prevent those situations before they start. In this episode, I share: why most difficult parent situations are preventable, and why setting expectations early is the most important thing you can do how to clearly communicate with families about how and when you will respond, so no one feels ignored or blindsided why waiting until parent-teacher conferences to bring up a concern is one of the biggest communication mistakes teachers make how misaligned expectations about what kindergarten looks like lead to misunderstandings, and how to address them directly why telling families their child is struggling is not enough without also telling them how to help how to find the right balance between over-communicating and under-communicating for the families in your specific class what consistent, low-effort communication systems look like in practice, including weekly newsletters, Seesaw, and template emails that save you time

Kindergarten has changed, and if you’ve ever wondered whether the expectations we’re placing on our youngest learners are actually developmentally appropriate, this conversation is for you. In this episode, I’m joined by Kate, also known as @EvidenceBasedKate on TikTok, who has spent 20 years in education as a classroom teacher and curriculum writer and now helps bridge the gap between educational research and what’s happening in classrooms. In this episode, you’ll hear: What research tells us about how kindergarten has become increasingly academic and why developmental expectations for five-year-olds haven’t changed along with it How standardized testing, education policy, and academic standards have contributed to pushing higher expectations into the early grades Why play, recess, social-emotional development, and other foundational skills create important conditions for learning What the research says about kindergarten redshirting and why the answer isn’t as straightforward as it may seem How to look more critically at claims that a curriculum or teaching practice is “research-based,” including resources teachers can use to find trustworthy education research Practical ways to work within a required curriculum while still honoring child development, foundational skills, joyful reading experiences, and what you know about the students in front of you

If a student has come to you with little to no letter or number knowledge and your first instinct is to panic, this episode is here to help you take a breath and make a plan instead. Kids arrive in kindergarten from different places, and not knowing letters or numbers is not a crisis, it is a starting point. In this episode, I share: why a child arriving with no letter or number knowledge is not something to panic about, and what your job is when that happens how to figure out what a student does know so you can meet them exactly where they are instead of focusing only on the gaps where to start with literacy when a student has no letter knowledge, from name recognition to fine motor to the most foundational phonological skills how to back up and build number sense step by step for students who are not yet tracking count, number order, or one-to-one correspondence why strong social-emotional skills in a child with no academic knowledge is actually a really good sign, and what that tells you about their ability to learn how to talk to families early without panicking them, and why that conversation is one of the most important things you can do why celebrating even small growth with the student matters as much as the extra practice itself