Surviving the Parent-Teacher meeting

 

PTAs are around the corner, and you might be getting a sick feeling in your stomach right about now.

Life360.com has some useful tips on how to handle The Dreaded Meeting, i.e. how to get the most out of it for your child and yourself. We reproduce a part of the useful article here for your viewing pleasure:

1. Write Down Questions

Write down all the questions you want to remember to ask your child’s teacher. Chances are once you get to talking you may get off track and forget to ask something that you really wanted to discuss.

2. Talk to Your Child

You don’t need to interrogate your child necessarily, but in the few days leading up to the conference ask her about school. What does she like, are there any kids bothering her, or is there anything she’s having trouble with? If your child mentions something that even remotely concerns you, write it down on your list.

3. Bring a Notepad

Don’t try and remember everything the teacher tells you. Bring a pad and pencil and jot down upcoming dates, book recommendations, or details about areas the teacher recommends your child needs to work on.

4. Talk to the Teacher

Not that you should unload everything on your child’s teacher, but if there was anyone who needs to be privy to the goings on in your house, it’s her. Tell her about anything going on that may be impacting your child. Divorce, death, moving, job loss — all those things can affect the atmosphere of your house and, in turn, how well your child is doing in school. The teacher needs to be armed with that information so that she can do right by your child.

5. Ask About the Class

Don’t forget to ask some general questions about how things are going. Does your child get along well with her classmates? Are their any bullies in the class? Etc.

6. Leave Prepared

If your teacher does bring any issues or areas that you should work on with your child. Make sure she explains how to go about working on them. If there’s a problem, don’t leave the conference without a game plan in place. After all, that’s the point of the conference.

7. Be Respectful

Don’t waste too much time chitchatting about non-classroom things; and don’t waste time chatting up all the great and wonderful things your child is doing outside of the classroom. The point of the conference is to talk about your child in the classroom. Besides, most teachers are short on time and chances are while you’re chatting away another parents is standing outside waiting.

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