Whether your child is just starting school or is entering their final school year, one thing you will want to do from the very beginning is to get along with your child’s teacher. Forging a good personal relationship with your child’s teacher will benefit you, your child and the teacher.
Introduce Yourself Early On
You don’t want to meet your child’s teacher for the first time when they call you to pick up your child after an epileptic seizure. Start as you mean to go on by meeting them at the beginning of the school year and introducing yourself as Tom’s mother, Sarah. Then when it is time for parents’ evening, you will already be a familiar, friendly face to your child’s teacher.
Be Approachable
Many parents make it a point to be approachable toward all of their child’s teachers and to do all they can to be involved in their child’s school life. Let your child’s teacher know who you are, how you can be reached and if you are willing to help out in any way at school, such as acting as chaperone during a field trip or volunteering in the classroom on occasion. Your efforts will be greatly appreciated even if you are never called upon to help.
Don’t Go Running to the Principal Over Minor Issues
Children should be taught from a young age to settle their own minor differences with others in the home and also in school. One of the first ways in which they learn to do that is through their parents’ sterling example. If your first response to your child’s problems in school is to go straight to the principal rather than your child’s teacher, the teacher may start to feel undermined by you.
Children can easily blow a minor issue out of proportion and sometimes even get it wrong. Before you know it, the accidental shove your child received in the playground has turned into a deliberate, hostile act and the other child who is responsible is suddenly “out to get” your child. Turn to your child’s teacher first before running straight to the principal to solve any minor problems your child is having in school.
Children learn best when they have a wide support network including teachers, other faculty, and their parents who are keenly interested in helping them to succeed. An integral part of that includes developing a good working relationship with your child’s teacher from the very beginning. Start by introducing yourself early on, being approachable and resisting the tendency to run straight to the principal when there is a minor issue.