10 Ways to Make the Most of Parent-Teacher Conferences in the Fall

Parent conferences occur around this time of year. Often, this is your first opportunity to sit down with your child’s new teacher and individually discuss your child, hopefully in-depth. Here are a few tips to keep in mind to make the most of your first conference of the school year.

1. Remember that the teacher is still getting to know your child, whereas you know your child best! Remember to find the balance of hearing the teacher’s point of view and sharing your valuable information, too.

2. Write down a few specific questions prior to the meeting. Conferences tend to go quickly and there is usually a lot to discuss. You want to make sure that you will remember what to ask.

3. Take notes during the meeting. Often times you leave a conference and have a general feel for how it went, but you may not recall specific information. Write down some key points to help you after the conference is over.

4. Give the teacher a chance. You go in with certain expectations based on your previous experiences, good or bad. Hear her out. Let her prove to you that she is working hard to get to know your child and meet his/her specific needs.

5. Most conferences follow the sandwich format. In this format, the teacher will start with the positive attributes, then talk about things to work on, then end with the positive. Being prepared for this style of conference allows you to take in more information and limits the chance of you feeling defensive.

6. Conferences work best when their are no surprises. If you haven’t had a chance to talk to your child’s teacher before the conference, send her a check-in email, telling her you just wanted to know how things were going. This allows both parties to put any issues on the table for discussion at the conference. If you have a clue as to what is going on before the conference, you cannot be blind-sided.

7. Remind yourself, and perhaps the teacher if necessary, that you, the teacher, and your child all are a part of the same team, trying to help your child succeed in school. With this approach, the conference will be more solutions-based, where everyone can win.

8. If you feel that you and the teacher are engaged in a power-struggle, say to her, “I really believe in a strong home-school partnership. Let’s work together to improve things for my child. What are some strategies that we each can do?”

9. At some point in the conference, preferably the beginning, offer the teacher a compliment about something that you feel she is doing well with your child. Say something like, “I have noticed that …. This is really working for my child. I think you are doing a great job with …..” Teachers, like students, appreciate the positive feedback and compliments will help lighten the mood.

10. Make sure to set goals at the end of the meeting. You want to walk away from the conference feeling as though you have a common goal that has been set for your child. There should also be a plan for reaching that goal and a plan for how to communicate about it in the future. Will you email, have phone calls or wait until the next conference to check in on the goal? Try not to wait for the next conference. See if you can follow-up in one to two weeks with some tangible indication that there is progress. Be clear about what the goal is and how it is going to be measured to ensure your child is making progress. (See how to advocate for your child.)

Fall conferences are challenging for both parents and teachers. You want to get off on the right foot with your child’s teacher to make the best of your child’s school experience. Following these pointers can help you to do that. In the spring, conferences are quite different…we’ll have more on that later as the year progresses.

Matthew Mandelbaum and Jamie Cohen are parents and learning specialists and are the creators of Jumping Joey’s Number Line. Jumping Joey’s Number Line is an innovative, child-centered, multi-sensory arithmetic learning system for Pre-K through Elementary. Jumping Joey’s Number Line fosters enjoyable, engaging, effective and efficient mathematical experiences, where students are motivated and build a strong math foundation with long-term understanding. Students feel successful and excited about learning opportunities, and confident in their emerging abilities. Visit www.jumpingjoeysnumberline.com for more blogs, product purchase, or product information, or buy Jumping Joey’s NumberLine at Amazon.com