Parent school relationships
If you want to help your child become a successful student, it is important to get involved in with their school. You don't need to become the band parent or the PTA president, but you do need to know what is happening with the school and your child's education. Parents need to support teachers in their lessons and the homework they assign. Here are some suggestions that may help you build a successful parent school relationship.
Tip # 1 - Get involved
Far too often parents sit back and let the teacher do all the work. They expect them to teach their child and discipline their child. The role of a parent is to support the teacher, not to sit back and let them do all the work. Find out what type of homework your child is doing. Talk to them about their classes and teachers. Talk to their teacher about their behavior at school and address things with your student if they are not obeying rules or disrupting the class. Take an active role in helping your child to become a better student by setting some rules at home about study time and play time. This should happen clear up to the time when they graduate from high school and move onto college. When parents get involved in their child's learning, they are showing the child they care about them and they want them to become successful. Make this a part of your daily ritual and show your children that they are your priority.
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Tip # 2 - Communication
To build positive parent school relationships, you need to keep the lines of communication open. You need to let the teacher know that they need to contact you with any problems or concerns they may have about your child.
Contact the school and ask if there is a web site you can look at to see when school events are coming up. Simple things like Halloween parties, assemblies, and other social events are a great way for parents to get involved. Talk to your child about their assignments and find ways to encourage them to work hard and learn more. Let them know you appreciate their effort to work on their homework and to do their best. When they bring home graded assignments, praise them for their effort. Don't tell them "you can do better", just let them know that they did their best and no one is perfect. Then you need to come up with some action steps that may help them work harder for the next assignment. Maybe you need to sit down daily and go over math problems that you make up or you need to spend 30 minutes helping your child read. Do everything in your power to help your student learn and to do their best.
Tip # 3 - Eliminate distractions
When it comes to being a good school parent, you need to eliminate the distractions from your child. This doesn't just mean you need to turn off the TV at home, it means you need to get rid of distractions in the classroom too. Do not allow your child to take their cell phone to school or if they do, make sure they keep it turned off until after school when they need to call you. You also need to make sure they leave their MP3 player at home. Anything that is distracting will frustrate the teacher, and it will be particularly difficult if you don't support the school and the teacher in their policy on certain distractions.
Tip # 4 - Follow the rules
If you want to be a good school parent, stop making up your own rules. Follow the rules the school and the teachers have outlined. Do not think you and your child are above the rules so quit fighting the principal and their decision to take away your child's cell phone. Make sure you read the school's discipline policy before you enroll your child into the school, if you have a problem, consider enrolling them in a different school.
Tip # 5 - Volunteer
While you may be a working parent and free time is scarce, it is important to your child to volunteer at the school.
Perhaps you can take an extra hour on your lunch break and come over to help your child's class. Maybe you can join the PTA and help organize the school activities. Always attend parent-teacher conferences as this helps to establish a relationship with the teachers and with your child.
