Meeting Your Child’s Teacher
It was a little tough on you having to leave your crying child on his first day of school. But you know life has to begin—or is it go on for him. So you leave him in the learning arena; but you know he has to get nothing but the best out of there.
There is no other way to ensure that your son is getting the best out of this learning institution other than setting apart some time to meet up with his teacher/instructor to discuss his progress in all dimensions. We arm you with tips to help you make the most of your day with the teacher.
Prepare all the questions you may want to ask before the day. You could be seeking answers about whether his social skills are improving, the pace of his learning, what his weaknesses are so far, the activities that put him in his element, his feeding habits and his bathroom frequencies. Prepare to discuss any unusual behaviour such as withdrawing, fear of going to the school or being rough. Get to know if there has been reported bullying and seek the best way to end it in cooperation with the teacher.
Be open-minded. Your child might report to you biased information about the school, the teachers and his school mates, prior to your visit based on his likes and dislikes. It is therefore important to be the neutral party. Try and avoid being defensive of the negative incidents he may have told you of. However, don’t get carried away in telling the teacher of the need to punish all wrong-doings. Instead, listen to the teacher who is the professional and reason together on the best way to straighten your child whilst still instilling positive attitude towards learning.
You may have had report forms and comments made by the teachers passed on to you. When you get to meet your child’s trainer, review the notes to get a sense of what has been happening. Ask to see samples of your child’s work that may have been displayed on walls or in the class-work book to gauge his intellectual growth. Ask to be directed on how to help your child at home so as to be the best he can be in class, especially if you realize he is a bit slow.
Focus on the child. Ensure that on the day you have the meeting, you have cleared your timetable from any other distractions such as work or other commitments. This will help you to be attentive and unhurried enough to pay attention to details. Talk to the teacher about the child’s preferences at home because this may help him incorporate the preferences in class work thus making learning enjoyable. It also helps avoid conflicts when the teacher insists on activities that are uninteresting to the pupil.
Act on issues raised. Do not only promise to ensure the child does homework or sleeps early so that he does not doze off during lessons: follow it up with action. After the meeting, let the teacher report improvements in performance, participation or social skills in class through the report forms. This will work a long way in ensuring harmony and progress.
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