Back-to-School Tips for Parents
Back-to-School Tips
for Parents
By Laurie Hunter
Updated August 10, 2025
Attend Parent Orientations at the Beginning of Every School Year
The best tip I can give to parents is to attend their children’s orientation and to write a letter to their children’s teacher at the beginning of every school year. Each school hosts an orientation for students and parents. It is referred to as Back-to-School Night, Open House, or Meet the Teacher. These parent-student orientation events are valuable opportunities to learn essential information about our children’s classroom experiences. Attendance can help us organize, prepare, and start building a relationship with our children’s teachers and the school staff.
Write a Parent Letter
Parents can start building a rapport and advocating for their children at the beginning of every school year by writing a brief letter to their children’s teachers. It will have the most impact if it is delivered within one week after Back-to-School Night. Letters should be about one page, no longer than two! Below is a Back-to-School Letter Sample.
Sample Back-to-School Letter
September 3, ____
To: (name of teacher)
Re: (name of student)
It was nice to meet you on Back-to-School Night. I’d like to take this time to provide you with relevant information regarding my child, (student’s name).
Brief History
At the end of 1st grade, (student name) was identified with dyslexia. Every year, he has received intervention and 504 Accommodations for his dyslexia. He has become a high-functioning dyslexic student, progressing in reading and other areas in school. In 5th grade, he made AB Honor Roll and was in Safety Patrol and Art Enrichment.
Challenges/Work in Progress
(student’s name) experiences difficulties in the following areas:
- Reading fluency rate
- Copying down information from a distance
- Spelling
- Organizing and sequencing sentences in compositions
- Writing in cursive
- Sequencing of steps in multi-step math problems
- Rote memorization of multiplication tables
- Self-confidence
Section 504 Accommodations
I attribute much of (student name)’s success in reading to the phonics intervention he received and his 504 Accommodations. I attached his 504 Accommodations for 6th grade.
What Works
I attribute (student name)’s budding self-confidence and increased competency to some of the strategies his previous teachers have used during their instruction. Over the years, the following strategies have made the biggest difference for my child. They address his difficulties and prevent anxiety and frustration, which have significantly decreased undesirable classroom behaviors:
- Deliver explicit and systematic instruction in Reading and Math
- Break down processes into clear individual steps, starting from the beginning; use checkboxes, diagrams, or visuals
- Think Alouds – the teacher would talk out loud to the students, explaining from beginning to end, discussing the rationale
- Anchor newly learned information to visuals
- Use colors to distinguish similarities or differences
- Incorporate the students’ interests into lessons
- Check for understanding
- Oral administration of the Math STAAR
Self-advocacy
(Student’s name) knows he has dyslexia, and he is still learning how and when to advocate for himself. He is shy and does not want to call attention to himself, so it is difficult for him to self-advocate. Please encourage him to self-advocate in the following ways:
- Sit at a desk closer to the board and other visuals
- Ask questions to make sure he understands what he is reading
- Ask questions to make sure he understands what he is writing (ex., class notes, agenda book)
Strengths
As you get to know (student’s name), you will find that he is hard-working, conscientious, motivated, and imposes high expectations of himself. He wants your communication and guidance. He is creative, scientific, constructive, and inventive.
In the interest of time, I tried to be brief and concise. Don’t hesitate to ask me to expand or clarify. Let me know if you have any questions. Also, if you have any suggestions, you can always express yourself honestly with me. I welcome your input.
Best regards,
(your name)
Our children do not have to be identified with a learning disability for us to write a letter to a teacher. The purpose of writing a letter is so that teachers can become acquainted with our unique children and, hence, provide the “right” instruction for everyone. As a consequence, our children will become more successful. And if our children are more successful, then our teachers will also be more successful.