No More Parent -Teacher Conferences!

Have you ever had a conference with your kids' teacher and walked away with more questions than answers? Well I'm here to provide some tips to make those parent-teacher conferences not so dreadful and more of a power tool to help your kids succeed.

School has started for just about everyone at this point so I wanted to share some ways to navigate those meetings with teachers. First thing to keep in mind is that many times parent-teacher conferences, rather face to face, on the phone or via an internet based site like Zoom or Google Meets is just as nerve wrecking for the teacher as it is for you. But rest assured that teachers have the same goal as you do when it comes to your child's education and that is the ultimate success of the child academically, socially and emotionally. So when you walk into these meetings it's important to put your ego and pride in check because it's not about you, it's about your child. The best way to help your child is by developing a relationship with the teacher. Now keep in mind that all teachers are not created equal. Which means sometimes you will have to be proactive when it comes to contacting your child’s teachers. Sometimes teachers will only contact you if something is wrong. Therefore it is our responsibility to initiate contact with the teacher on a consistent basis.You may be asking how often you should make contact with your child’s teacher. The power parent rule of thumb is to make contact every 4 to 6 weeks. This gives ample amount of time for the teachers to begin to recognize any patterns your child may have as well as time to collect assessment data to share your child’s progress. If you consistently keep this 4 to 6 week contact schedule by the end of the year you would have made 8-10 contacts with your child's teacher. Talk about an informed parent.

Now let's talk about things you can discuss during these meetings that will help you help your child at school.

Tip #1: Tell the teacher about your child. No one knows your child better than you do. Mention some of their likes and dislikes. Information like this is gold for teachers because it comes in handy when building relationships with students. For example if you know that your child does extremely well when they are able to follow a checklist of things they need to do. Then that teacher can help them be more productive by providing a checklist on the board. The more a teacher knows about a student the better they are able to teach them.

Tip #2: Inform the teacher with any major changes or difficulties your child may be facing. Sometimes as parents we forget that we have way more coping strategies then our children. When things happen at home that may cause stress to a child it's important for the teacher to know. Children may respond to the stress with behavior changes and it can cause them to deviate from their normal academic performance. Things like divorce or moving to a new home can pose issues for children at school. I know you may think that it's none of the teacher's business but remember it's not about you it's about the success of your child. Plus you don’t have to give them every detail. Just making them aware is extremely helpful.

Tip #3: Ask how your child is doing socially/emotionally. How is your child treating their friends? Does your child interact with other students well? When my child experiences stress or frustration how do they typically express that at school? Does my child seem happy? All of these questions are important because many times parents do not get to see their child interact in a school setting. School can be a stressful place and having insight into how your child is coping can help you know what to talk about at home with your child.

Tip #4: Ask about your child’s strengths and weaknesses. This question gives the teacher an opportunity to explain areas that your child is excelling in and areas where there is room for improvement. At this time the teacher may take this opportunity to go over assessment data. Now as a teacher I know that world we use to talk about test scores can sometimes sound like another language. This is where you have to be brave and ask until you understand what the teacher is telling you about your child’s academic performance. Asking the teacher questions like is my child on grade level can help better grasp where your child is in comparison to the expectation rather than random numbers that do not mean anything.

Tip #5 Last but not least. The most important question any parent can ask when speaking with their child’s teacher is what can I do at home to support my child? You don’t have to come up with a plan all by yourself. You can simply just ask the teacher for some things you can do to help your child be successful in the classroom. This can be anything from reading 20 minutes everyday to implementing a consistent bedtime each night. Asking is the easy part! Doing is where some parents get stuck. You want to make sure you follow through with what the teacher says so that during the next meeting the conversion can be around the results that came about after following the teacher's advice.

That’s it! Power parents know powerful things that happen during a productive meeting. So I challenge you to schedule that conference today and continue being a great advocate for your child. If you have any questions about what to say in a parent teacher conference please comment below and I will get those questions answered.