Getting along at school
Education is a human partnership of working together. This is very true in working with children who have special needs. How can parents and teachers form an adult-to-adult partnership to help a child achieve?
Do you have school phobia?
- Do you sleep well the night before parent-teacher or IEP conference?
- Does your stomach tighten when you walk through the school door?
- Do you find yourself trembling when you talk to your child’s teacher?
- Do you brood over a teacher’s offhand comment about your child?
It’s time to change. Try to examine your personal school attitudes. Schools need to hear from parents. Always start with the classroom teacher. This is the first step up the ladder. If you bypass the teacher and go straight to the principal without giving the teacher a chance, you are not being a team player. If the teacher cannot help work things out, then go to the principal. If the teacher and the principal cannot help you or choose to ignore your concerns, then, with a clear conscience, you can proceed to the director of education or superintendent.
You have the right to:
- Assume the school cares about your child.
- Be kept informed of your child’s progress or struggles.
- Be told when your child is overwhelmed or struggling.
- Volunteer to help at the school or in the classroom.
- Get a public education for your child.
- Be respected when you work with the school system.
You have the responsibility to:
- Not talk badly about the school or teacher in front of the child.
- Let the school know when problems occur so they can be dealt with.
- Be respectful in working with the school.
- Attend conferences and meetings as requested.
Parent Teacher Conferences – working together to help your child.
A conference early in the year can help prevent serious academic and social difficulties for your child. Remember that a teacher’s evaluation of your child, even though carefully considered, can never be completely right. The teacher sees the child in a group and academic setting, not in the security of the child’s home. Share your child’s homelife with the teacher. What are your child’s interests and talents? What makes your child tick?
Both teachers and parents have the same need, “trust me, respect me”. Teachers need this knowledge to be able to help your child. Teachers need to be told about difficulties at home that may be affecting your child and about how your child’s disability affects your child. On the other hand, teachers must share what difficulties your child is having at school, so that the parent may help the child at home.
- Start out by saying something positive about the teacher or classroom.
- Inform the teacher about any special family situations that may be affecting your child.
- Discuss your child’s skills, talents, interests, hobbies, and study habits. Document any sensitivities due to your child’s disability.
- Suggest to the teacher areas you believe your child needs help.
- Ask how the teacher determines grades.
- Ask for a general outline of what will be studied during the year and ask how you can help the child at home.
- Listen carefully to what the teacher says. Repeat back in your own words so that you can fix misunderstandings before they develop into a bigger issue.
- Follow-up on the conference. Check back in a few weeks on how things are going.
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