I have found that a lot of information needs to be sent home at the beginning of the school year. I put together a brochure using Microsoft Publisher. The brochure has 6 columns. On one column I put my letter to the parent, on another I put information about homework and classwork, school phone numbers, book reports that will be turned in throughout the year, the grading policy, and so on. This is an easy way for parents to gather all the information they need about their child's classroom and school.