 It's very important in the beginning of the year to make a positive relationship with your students' parents. It's really a partnership between the teacher and the parent that gives the student the best success for your classroom. So when I first meet a parent, I want to make sure I introduce myself kindly and warmly. I tell them my name, I tell them a little bit about myself and maybe my family, and where I learned my teaching skills. It gives them a sense of comfort to know that I've tried and practiced working with children. Next, I show them a little handout that has the classroom guidelines on them, has the rules on what we wear to school, how we behave at school, and just some expectations on manners and arrival and drop off procedures, things that could be useful on a day to day basis. And then we talk about our routine when they drop the children off for school. So in my classroom, the parents do not really enter our class. They stop at the door and the student walks in on their own, showing a little bit of courage as they start the day to come and try new things in my room. And remember, the parents might want to tell you a little bit of information about your child that's coming into your room. Say maybe they didn't sleep very well or they weren't very hungry or maybe they were really hungry and they didn't stop eating this morning so they might have a tummy ache later. Let the parent tell you that information, but then gently guide them to knowing that you can take care of it and that you will be happy to see them when they pick their child up at the end of the day.