Parent Conference Tips

Parent conferences provide a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with your child’s classroom teacher.  Through this partnership, the resulting advice, strategies, and insights can help both you and the teacher enhance your child’s success in school.  The following suggestions are intended to help you get the most out of the conference:

• Be mindful of time – Please keep in mind that the teacher has to meet with a lot of parents, and the conferences may be on a tight schedule.  Being punctual will maximize your discussion time.
• Ask questions – While the teacher will have a variety of topics to discuss and work to share, don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Be sure to ask about your child’s learning goals and what the teacher has observed in regards to your child’s performance or behavior.
• Discuss strengths and what your child needs to work on – By getting details about how your child is doing, you are in a better position to acknowledge what is going well and offer encouragement and help if there are obstacles to overcome, ranging from behavior to motivation to topics or assignments your child struggles with.
• Find out what you can do at home – By working with the teacher to come up with activities and strategies you can do at home with your child, you will reinforce the learning that is happening in the classroom and have a great impact on your child’s performance.
• Continue the partnership – The parent conference doesn’t have to be the only time that you talk to your child’s teacher and you don’t have to wait for a problem to arise to discuss your child’s education!  Find out what would be the best way for you and the teacher to communicate throughout the year, i.e. by e-mail or phone.
• Your child will want to hear all about the conference – If your child was not a part of the conference, s/he will be VERY interested to hear what the teacher had to say.  So, be prepared to share details with him/her about the positive things that were discussed, and follow up by talking about what needs to be done to improve.  Use this discussion to acknowledge your child’s accomplishments in school and to offer encouragement for future efforts.

We are thankful to be part of a school community where there will be nearly 100% parent participation in these fall conferences.  It is important to have your continuing support and willingness to combine efforts with your son or daughter’s teacher(s) to ensure that your child has a successful and happy school year.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,