Making the Most of Your Parent-Teacher Conference

Parent-teacher conferences are coming up. The title of this meeting puts the parent first because the parent is the child's first and most important teacher.  This time to sit down and discuss your child's development is also an opportunity to begin building a partnership. This partnership will positively influence your child's growth by connecting learning between school and home. It will support the consistency that encourages meeting goals that have been collaboratively decided upon.

As you prepare for your parent teacher conference, there are some tips to make the most of your time together:

1.  Make a list of questions and concerns.  Prioritize the list to ensure that you have time to listen to your teachers thoughts.

2.  Have examples of how your child plays and learns at home.

3.  Tell your teacher about your family. Sharing special characteristics and circumstances will provide your teacher with opportunities to make learning meaningful for your child.

4.  Share changes that may impact your child.  Moving further away from school means your child will have to wake up earlier to get to school on time.  This information will provide a context for your child's behaviors and allow for your teacher to put proactive plans in place to support your child during this transition.

5.  Ask questions!  Learn about the intentional activities that are planned to encourage growth and about the activities that you can implement at home to extend that learning.

Conferences are formal meetings but they aren't the only opportunity to discuss your concerns or to ask questions.  There are many ways to communicate with your child's teacher throughout the school year.  Schedule a time to meet, email your teacher or schedule a time to talk via telephone.  Partnerships between parents and teachers positively correlate to children learning and growing.