Getting to know your child's teacher

So the new school year has begun and the routine is beginning to normalise. Your child is settling into its new class and has possibly started to make new friends. And speaking of new, your child will most likely have a new teacher!

So the question is, what steps have you taken to get to know your child’s new teacher. Are you one of those parents who feel it’s still early days and you’ll get to know them over time, or even still – wait for the parent evening, for the formal introduction?

Hmm....if this is the approach you are looking at taking, you just might want to think again. It is important to have a good relationship with your child’s teacher and an ideal way to kick that off would be with a simple ‘Hello’. This could take place when you pick your child up from school; look for an opportunity to say a quick ‘hi’ to your child’s teacher – sooner rather than later.

Don’t be worried about bothering your child’s teacher because you feel they have twenty or thirty other kids to deal with. In fact, a good number of teachers do wish that more parents would become more involved with their child’s performance in class and they are quite happy when a parent initiates this by coming forward with the desire to forge this partnership, to the benefit of the child.

Having a good relationship with your child’s teacher can be of benefit to your child at home and at school, as you might (as a parent) be able to help identify certain behaviour patterns that happen at school but necessarily at home and vice versa.

 A good relationship with your child’s teacher can also help them identify where your child’s strengths and weaknesses lie and (possibly) tailor the teaching to better suit its needs.

Other ways to build a good relationship with your child’s teacher:

• Advise the teacher of any special help your child might need.
• Write in any comments regarding the homework your child brings home; might be about areas of difficulty, was quite easy or thoroughly understood etc.
• Have your child’s teacher keep you up to speed with your child’s learning progress in class, in case there are areas that need further practice, which can be done at home.
• Keep the teacher up to speed on your how you’ve noticed progress in your child learning.
• If possible, a chat with your child’s teacher, if he/she has a minute.
• Contact the teacher if you think your child is experiencing problems at school.
• Attend parent-teacher meetings and other events at school.
• Let the teacher know of any changes in the situation at home, which you feel may impact on your child’s learning.
• It’s also never a bad thing to show appreciation for all the hard work the teacher is putting in, by getting them something over the festive periods.

Do you know of any more ways develop a good relationship with your child’s teacher? Drop us a line on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LeadersAreReadersEducation