Parent-Teacher Communication Is the Key
Creating an open communication system is key to building a strong parent-teacher relationship. The importance of creating this communication system will benefit your child, the teacher, and parents. Below are some helpful tips to create and maintain effective two-way communication.
- Make a commitment with your child’s teacher to work together for the best interest of your child. Share any insights which you feel may be important for your child’s teacher to know. When a teacher gets to know your child, it makes it easier for them to understand your child’s behavior, learning styles, interests, and character.
- Find a way to communicate with your child’s teacher on a regular basis. We suggest using daily communication notebooks or weekly emails.
- Show your child’s teacher your sincere and genuine appreciation for all that is done – even on “non-special” occasions. Teachers all too often receive notes, phone calls, and emails when a parent has a complaint. It’s nice to know that you are recognized for all the good things you do.
- Establish a relationship with your child’s teacher early in the year, and ask about volunteering opportunities such as working with small groups of struggling readers, being a weekly guest reader, or setting up a time to come in on Friday afternoons to teach a hands-on science lesson.
- Become involved in creating or helping with classroom newsletters. Ask your child’s teacher to include a section titled ‘A Note From Parents’. This section could be for parents to share their own writings, recipes, or tips that are working for them and their child.
- Suggest a monthly bagel breakfast, lunch bunch, or potluck dinner where parents could come in and have a question/answer session with the teacher about the latest strategies being used or simply to inform parents of what’s going on around the classroom (class projects, published stories, etc.)
Parent-teacher communication should be positive and consistent all year long.
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Strategies Tools & Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
