Communicating with Parents

I have always done some communication with parents, but they have typically wanted more than I was giving. Part of the reason I wasn't giving more was lack of time, and not knowing how to communicate what we were doing. Some parents were asking me to relay the directions for assignments (tough to do without them attending class). Realistically I cannot tell them everything, but I can give them a glimpse into what we are doing, that way they have a basis to question their student, and spark conversation. I have recently found two great ways to communicate easily with parents. So far I am getting some positive response.

I am making a bi-weekly newsletter in smore. I am sending that newsletter and other correspondence home through our online grading system. I typically don't love the online grading system, because it doesn't jive with my flexible due dates, and standards based ways, but when it comes to communication, it makes things slick. We use skyward, and it has a feature that allows me to message the whole class, or the guardians of the whole class. I can also select multiple classes and mass message everyone.

Here is an example of the newsletter I created in smore: https://www.smore.com/q7dqr

What ways do you communicate home?
Is it possible to communicate too much in upper grades?
Should we communicate more in elementary school?