Parent-teacher conferences are one of the foremost useful tools that we’ve got as parents to make sure our youngsters have gotten the most from their education. But as helpful as they are, they will be downright stressful for everybody involved. Parents want to urge the lowdown on how their children do, and teachers want to make sure they convey everything a parent needs to understand their teaching style and how the child is performing in school, all in a 15-minute block of time. The ultimate goal for both parents and teachers should be to urge a well-rounded understanding of what is happening with the kid in their day-to-day life because it informs how they end up performing academically.
Creating a healthy partnership along with your child’s teacher can make all the difference in their school experience, so you would definitely want to make sure that you’re asking the proper questions when you attend your parent-teacher conferences. In this article, we will discuss 7 must ask questions in a parent-teacher conference. Read on to find out what those questions are.
7 Questions to Ask in a Parent Teacher Association
May I Tell You About My Child?
No one knows your child better than you are doing, so you have to assist your child’s teacher to learn more. Give your child’s teacher with more information on your child’s likes and dislikes, special skills, strengths, and weaknesses. This is the most important thing a parent can communicate to his child’s teacher. The teacher can do a better job of helping your child learn if they understand them better.
May I Tell You About What’s Going on at Home?
There are grave circumstances like illness, divorce or a new baby that may affect your child’s school experience, so you should inform your child’s teacher of such circumstances. Even knowing if the kid goes to at least one home on certain days and another home on other days is often helpful. If things at home change drastically in between conferences, make sure to drop your child’s teacher a note to let them know.
How is My Child doing Socially?
“how the kid functions socially within the class” may be a topic that ought to be addressed at a conference, so inquire about your child’s peer relations. A child’s social development is simply as important as his/her academic development, and your child’s teacher will have made useful observations she will share with you. Parents don’t always think to ask, but it is important to understand if your child interacts well with the other children. Is he/she a good friend? Does she help if another student is struggling? These are all important skills that go into measuring a child’s overall development.
How is My Child Doing Emotionally?
It’s important to ask about your child’s emotional health at school, how school affects them. It will help you get a grip on how your child feels about school and how time spent at school affects them positively or negatively. For example, is your child generally happy? Are there certain times of the day when your child seems stressed or agitated? These questions can help you find the necessary answers.
What are My Child’s Academic Strengths and Weaknesses?
Your child’s teacher sees him/her from a special perspective than you do. Ask the teacher what personal weaknesses your child must work on, and hear the response with an open mind. Ask about their strengths, as well, so you’ll encourage him to continue doing good work. Parents often have higher academic expectations for youngsters than the teacher does, particularly early within the year, so getting the teacher’s perspective is often eye-opening.
Is My Child Performing on Grade Level?
At a conference, you should try to get off their child’s work. But don’t attempt to compare your child to other students in their class. Every child is different and has different strengths and learning abilities, which makes them unique. Teachers will absolutely let parents know if they’re concerned that a toddler is falling below grade level, so this isn’t something to get too hung up on unnecessarily. The most important thing here is to understand if your child’s performance is where it should be, and your child’s teacher is going to be ready to tell you that definitively.
What Do Academic Performance Assessments Mean?
When it involves standardized testing and other assessment results, do not feel bad about asking ‘what does this really mean?’ increasingly, assessments are given for school-level progress-monitoring purposes, and it is best to not get too aroused about precisely interpreting every detail. In other words, what’s typically being graded by the standardized testing is the school itself, not your child specifically.
Therefore to conclude, these questions will help you secure a strong bond with your kid and make sure that they do well in school. All the best!
References:
https://www.schools.nyc.gov/get-involved/families/parent-teacher-conferences
https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-strategies-successful-parent-teacher-conference
