School is back in session and though many of us may be more focused on our holiday plans than on the parent/teacher conferences we had before break, I for one want to bring us back. I can distinctly remember wishing that I had gotten more from my recent experience. After talking with a few other parents, it quickly emerged that are some key areas we as parents can work on to help make our next parent/teacher conference a successful one.
Ask how you can help your child reach their goals. Teachers are usually good about bringing problem areas in our children’s studies to our attention. But without getting their input on how you can help that information can become useless knowledge. Get copies of their work so you can see the erase they’ve made, and ask them about it. By reviewing their past work you can also get a sense of what the teacher expects, and how they grade. Also ask if there are any specific books, sites, etc. that they could suggest. Additional sources to review with your child will always come in handy.
Ask questions about your child’s strengths. Don’t just be pleased with their good grades, dig deeper. There are many reasons why a child excels in a particular area. Once you learn what drives them, it’s possible to apply that knowledge to other areas of study. And these questions can be posed to your child themselves. Your child may have some interesting takes on their performance.
Find out how their behavior is during class. Again, major issues will have already been brought to your attention. But what we should be asking is about their ‘everyday’ behavior. Are they more or less attentive at the same time each day, or same subject? Or how are their relationships with their classmates? Our child won’t always share with us things that embarrass them, so if you have reason to believe that somethings changed in their behavior ask.
Look towards the future, assignments that is. Find out what the next area they’ll be diving into in history, or if they’ll be learning new formulas in math. Or if there is another project just around the corner that you can start buying supplies for now. Knowing what’s on the horizon can help both you and your child feel a little more prepared.
Once you’ve gathered all your information and have their grades in front of you there maybe be a moment that you’ll either want to address every point or just move on…but wait. These next steps maybe the most important part of the whole conference even though it occurs in your home.
Review everything that was said and showed on your own. There many have been many things that were discussed so take the time to think about the important points. You don’t want to break your child down about every little mistake. Look at the grades, regardless of what they are and be honest with yourself. Does it show an accurate reflection of your child’s ability? If the answer is yes and your not happy with that, then that’s something you’ll need work on. And if your answer is no, then you have to get at the heart of the ‘why.’
Talk about the conference with your child. And as tempting, as it maybe don’t focus solely on the grades alone. Talk about what they find challenging and what subjects their passionate about. Then ask them what they think they need to do different or more of in the future. As our child grow their ability to understand their education strengthens and weakness can become clearer them. So did this time let them speak.
Set new goals and plan how to achieve them. Whether it’s to maintain or improve, their grades set a reality game plan. Plan for tutoring if needed, or cutting back on extracurricular activities if your child has too much on their plate. But whatever your plan is plan together, and continue to monitor their progress. Don’t leave grade reviewing until it’s too late to do anything about them.