Tips for Parent Teacher Conferences
If your child’s school is like mine, they offer parent teacher conferences in the fall and the spring. Our school just had ours last week. I thought I would compile some tips for navigating parent teacher conferences.
Parent teacher conferences are a way to build a relationship with your child’s teacher. The information given during a conference can help you provide support at home and you can share what strategies you find helpful when you are working with your child. It also gives you, as a parent, an opportunity to share what concerns you may be seeing at home and to ask for help from the teacher.
These conferences are usually pretty short with only about 15 minutes allotted for each parent. Most teachers have their own way of conducting conferences but most will include the following information:
Academic Review: Your child’s teacher will review your child’s academic record, this will include current grades, any standardized testing scores (including IReady and benchmark testing), any district level tests as well as classroom exams.
Behavior Review: This is also where your child’s teacher will discuss and behavior issues they have noticed in class.
Executive Function skills: Your child’s teacher may also speak about issues with organization or other executive functioning skills.
How Parents Can Prepare:
Think about the areas you want to learn more information. Select 1-2 topics you are concerned with or are curious about. An example for me, my daughter doesn’t like to do her homework unless my husband or I are right next to her and she often asks if each question is right once she’s completed it. That is something I wanted to discuss with her teacher; does her teacher see similar behavior during independent work, and if she does what are some ways that she deals with it in class? The short conference time doesn’t allow for in-depth conversations on multiple topics, so it is great to narrow down your concerns.
Come prepared with specific questions.
a. Ask for specific updates in reading or math
b. Is behavior a concern?
c. Anything that you notice at home that may be a concern (child doesn’t want to read, doesn’t want to complete homework)
How To Continue the Conversation
Parent teacher conferences are a way to meet face to face with your child’s teacher and to open a line of communication.
If the 15 minute conference time is not enough time to get through all of your questions or concerns, you can ask about a follow-up meeting. You may be able to have a longer meeting time to get through all of your concerns.
Another way to continue the conversation is to exchange email, or other preferred communication method with the teachers. That way you can follow up with additional questions or concerns. Or you can speak with the teacher when a new concern arises.
Communication doesn’t have to end when the conference ends. It is important to maintain contact throughout the year.
I hope these tips help you with your next parent teacher conference. What other tips would you add?