ClassDojo Keeping Parents Informed Of Their Child's School Life

This is advertorial content written for ClassDojo.

Every day when I pick my four and five years old up from school I ask them what they have done that day, I always get the same reply "I don't remember" or "Nothing". Sometimes they will tell me they haven't played with anyone that day, which after asking their teacher at parents evening I find out not to be the case at all as they are always playing with other children. As my children are a bit reluctant to tell me about their days, and also because my youngest is one of the youngest in the school (he is an August baby) and my daughter has speech delays I do worry about how they are coping and getting on at school. So when I heard about ClassDojo I wished my children's school used this as it sounds like a great way to help us parents know what our children have been up to and how they are getting on at school. 

ClassDojo is the most popular school communication app. It is used in 85% of UK primary schools and it helps connect teachers and families so they can become a 'teaching team'. Teachers can send photos, videos and messages to let parents know what their child has been up to at school, which is something 93% of parents would like to know more about (myself included). My children's primary school does not use any kind of school communication app so the only chance I have to find out what they have been up to at school is in the brief parents evenings I get to attend twice a year. 

ClassDojo was founded in 2011 (by two Brits) and is based in San Francisco. It's a school communication platform that teachers, students and families can use every day to build strong relationships and support communities. This is done in two ways. Firstly, by sharing what's been learned in the classroom back home through student profiles and photos, videos and messages. Secondly, by helping students build social-emotional skills through in-classroom feedback and engaging activities. In the UK, 85% of UK primary schools have joined ClassDojo, and worldwide it's used in 180 countries.  

The fact that I can find out what my children have been doing at school really appeals to me and I think it would open dialogue between myself and my children more if I knew what they were learning about. We would also be able to help the children learn about topics they have learned about and help improve their educational outcome. For example, my daughter has been learning about mining but I didn't know that. Had I have known, we could have taken her to her great grandparents to learn about it first hand. 

Other benefits of using ClassDojo are that you can receive digital school newsletters, which would be a gamechanger in our house as the children are forever forgetting to bring them home or I misplace them. And I sometimes forget which child needs book bags and PE kits on which days. It can also translate messages so if English is not your main language you can translate the messages to see what your child has been up to.

You can also contact your child's teacher too with questions about trips, homework etc. 

ClassDojo sounds like such a useful and easy way to help us parents find out what is going on in our children's school lives. I hope that my children's school starts to use it in the future so I can talk to them about what they have been up to that day instead of being met with 'I don't remember'  when I ask them how school was. 

You can find out more about ClassDojo for primary schools here  

Does your child's school use ClassDojo? If so I would love to know what you think in the comments below.

Disclosure I have been compensated for writing this post, however, all views are my own.