Talking With Teachers

Open communication with teachers is an important guiding principal at the Goddard School. With the new school year under way, you might be wondering how to best communicate with their child’s teachers to keep the lines of communication open so everyone has a wonderful school year. Here are a few tips to cultivate a strong relationship with your child’s teacher:

• Take time to touch base with your child’s teacher on a regular basis. Find time before and after school to have quick conversations about your child. These quick conversations can be a great supplement to parent/teacher conferences. But be conscious not to cut into your teachers daily planning and preparation time.

• Spend time in your child’s classroom if possible. Many schools advocate parent participation through reading to children and helping out during class activities. Not only does this help your teacher out, it is a great way to experience how your child and teacher interact.

• If your child’s teacher comes to you with a problem or if you have to address a concern with your child’s teacher, try the following:

o Listen to the teachers point of view
o Express your concerns calmly and productively
o Avoid assigning blame
o Collaborate to determine the proper solution to the problem

It is important that you and your child’s teacher work as a team. Working as a team offers consistency at home and at school and results in stronger, quicker solutions.

The main thing to remember is that working together to find out the best way to help your child will help to foster a positive and nurturing learning environment and set the stage for a great school year.