Do you use Newsletters to communicate with the parents?

Oh! Yes! We have had very similar experiences. I used to have a parent that would always ask me questions and all of the answers were on the newsletters/notes that I had just sent home at the last meeting. I started asking her if she had gotten the newsletters/notes and she would always tell me "yes, she had". So I handed one to her in person, stood there while she read it and then she started asking the same set of questions again. That is when I realized the woman could not read. If the daughter did not read it to her, she did not know what it said. I do get results from most of the parents that have been with the troop for a long time. They have learned that I will make follow-up phone calls if they do not respond on their own when needed. Try sending a newsletter/notes home, follow up with a phone call to the parent and ask "did you get the note that was sent home yesterday? If not, please look in your daughter's backpack? It is amazing what the parents will find in there from you, the teachers, their friends, from two weeks ago. Your parents will grow to love you for giving them a heads up. The girls will learn to take you seriously when you tell them to give their parents the newsletter or a phone call will be forthcoming. Right now, I have two girls (rather new to our troop)that have a real hard time remembering things. I have all kinds of fun shaped post-it notes. Every time they forget something that they were supposed to bring to the meeting, they have to wear a post-it note somewhere on them. We laugh a lot because I hand them the post-it note and they put it on their forehead and they wear it there for the whole entire meeting. And then the parent comes to pick them up and they have to explain why they have a post-it note on their forehead. It is the same principle you and I used when we were kids. If we wanted to remember something, we would tie a string on a finger or wear a rubber band on our wrist. We also have a reward system of stickers. They get to pick a sticker for themselves when they remember something important. Now I always thought they would put these stickers on or in a book. Noooo, they put them on their foreheads. Go figure.

I have one that can not read. I understand and I tell her what is in the notes. I hate to call the parents. I feel that if the girl want to go do these things, she should let Mom & Dad in on them. They remembered the lock-in, both of them!LOL I do not meet after school I meet later in the day and the girls leave with the notes in their hands, so they are not being left in a back pack. I have one that remembers the event but throws away the paper and doesn't remember the details. The girl calls me and asks me what day, what time,etc. I do not mind that really. At least they read the. Now don't get me wrong I have a couple of really involved parents, and their girls do do things, and are usually prepared if I ask them to do something. I really like the post-it/ sticker idea. I may try that. I do not ask for much to be brought from home, just permission slips when needed, and snacks or drinks.

tammyr, if you would like to get some post-it notes free, go to the 3M website. They occasionally have free sample packs. Just sign up, get the free samples and make sure you register for the newsletter that they send out once in awhile because it will tell you when the next sample pack is available. I like to get things free.