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Wednesday’s child may be full of woe but Wednesday’s Parent can substitute action for anxiety. Each Wednesday Wendy and I will provide parent tips to get and keep your student on the college track. It’s never too late or too early to start!
Wednesday’s Parent will give twice the info and double the blog posts on critical parenting issues by clicking on the link at the end of the article from pocsmom.com to parentingforcollege and vice versa.
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Parent-teacher communication tends to wane after the student enters high school. Parents become less involved and teachers become apathetic because of the lack of parent involvement.
When my daughter was in high school she was struggling with her Physics class. She was an A student, aspiring to college, and panicked about her recent test grades in that course. I called the teacher to set up a conference. She sounded shocked on the phone and I wondered why. When I met with her she said I was the first parent that had ever called her to discuss a student’s progress. She also told me that parents rarely show up for parent/teacher nights in high school.
I explained to her my concern and my daughter’s concern about her low grades because she was working toward a high GPA for college applications. Again, I saw shock in her face. “Few students in this school worry about their GPA or going to college”, she said. I, in turn, was shocked. To make a long story short, she scheduled private tutoring sessions for my daughter and explained the material to her at a level she could understand. The result–an A in Physics.
What can parents learn from this experience?
It’s obvious–communicate with your student’s teachers on a regular basis.
Following are excerpts from articles about the parent-teacher relationship. Read the suggestions carefully and apply the techniques provided on each site the next time you meet with your student’s teacher.
Noodle Education posted an article on the top 5 questions to ask at a parent-teacher conference:
1. How will you assess what my child knows? How does the school use the information garnered from standardized testing? Does it inform their teaching? Assist them in identifying students who may need help?
2. What’s the best way to communicate with teachers and administrators?
3. How can I stay on top of my child’s homework?
4. What’s support is available if my child is struggling academically?
5. When and how does my child get supervision?
More4Kids gives 5 tips for having effective parent and teacher communication:
1. First, it is important to understand that parent and teacher communication is intended to benefit the child’s overall success academically.
2. While the numeric scores will outline a child’s level of achievement on tests and other assignments, it is important to realize that a numeric score is also beneficial in identifying a child’s weaknesses.
3. Many parents make the mistake of sitting back and allowing a teacher to come to them with issues.
4. It is important to sign up as a volunteer in your child’s classroom and ensure that you visit their class often.
5. It is important to understand that parent/teacher conferences may not always be appropriate as far as time is concerned.
PBS Parents talks about the importance of the parent-teacher partnership:
1. Approach this relationship with respect.
2. Let your child develop his own relationship with the teacher.
3. Try not to brag.
4. Remember how you liked (or disliked) your teachers.
Parent-teacher breakdowns
If you neglect the relationship, you are hindering your student academically. An uninvolved parent is the worst type of parent to be. Even more so than the helicopter parent. And uninvolved teacher communicates lack of concern and an inability to connect with parents and students to promote learning.
Step up
If you haven’t talked with your student’s teacher and/or teachers set the date. If you don’t attend parent’s night, change that behavior. If you are the type of parent that won’t accept honest evaluations from the teacher, listen the next time you meet with him/her and ask for suggestions to help.
Parents who value parent-teacher communication are parents of students who have a successful high school experience. Think of it as teaming up with the teacher to help your student excel academically. It’s never too late to get involved.
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