Understanding the power of parent – teacher cooperation is a very important component in a student’s success. Knowing the teacher is on your side will help you understand what you can do to make the most of your child’s school year.
Sometimes kids don’t behave at school as they do at home. If the teacher advises you of your child’s questionable behavior, don’t dismiss it just because you haven’t seen your child act that way at home.
Classrooms are different environments and your child may express herself differently at school (http://nichcy.org/schoolage/behavior/atschool) than at home. Teachers are educated to help your child be successful and will work to resolve problems or conflicts your child exhibits in the classroom. But they will achieve better results if you work with them as a team.
Get to know your child’s teacher. Meeting with the teacher is very important so you can ask questions and develop a trusting relationship. Trust facilitates honest communication that leads to receiving constructive and productive suggestions from the teacher to understand your child’s classroom behavior. Try to resolve issues your child may be having by listening to and talking with her teacher because she spends a lot of time with your child and may understand her behavior.
Communication is the best way to achieve healthy parenting including your child’s school success. Talk with your child and be involved in her homework. But avoid doing her homework for her. It’s better to help your child understand how to find the answer on her own. This is helpful both for parents and children. For instance, it helps your child develop creative thinking skills while also establishing a trusting relationship with your child by helping her overcome difficulties.
A well organized daily routine can be very helpful. Small things like making sure kids pack their school backpacks for the following day or providing a peaceful and well organized space for studying can go a long way in helping your child’s preparation and focus.
If your child is suffering from some form of learning disability or ADHD (http://www.additudemag.com/adhdblogs/10/9066.html), it is crucial to establish good cooperation with the teacher.
Parent-teacher cooperation makes resolving critical issues and understanding proper classroom behavior easier both for parents and teachers and produces the best results in a child’s success at school. Teacher will probably provide you with helpful insights of critical issues that
need to be addressed so your child will be more focused and learn easier. Teach your child to respect other children and their property and to always ask permission if they need to use something that doesn’t belong to them. Explain how helpful it is to listen to the teacher during class and that it is easier and faster to study at home after being focused at school.
As a parent, especially if your child is young, you can use play to show appropriate classroom behavior. Make the game interesting by changing roles; you can switch between playing student and teacher. This way your child can easily learn about important rules of good classroom behavior such as inside voice, how to address a teacher politely, and how not to interrupt others. You can also help develop a sense for team work by acting as another student and making a project where each participant will have their own role.
By being a loving, helpful, involved and supportive parent, you empower your child to develop life skills from an early age and continue developing them throughout their life, on their own, with less and less of your help.
