One of the best ways you can ensure better learning, growth and development for your child is to partner with their teacher. A lot of Filipino moms, unfortunately, tend to overlook this advantage, with some of them meeting with the teacher only during parent-teacher association meetings or report card day. As a result, these parents fail to know their children’s strengths and weaknesses, which is partly the reason kids do not get to exercise their full potential.
That said, it is important that you collaborate with the teacher of your child. A particular school near Lancaster, Cavite, for instance, has a strong partnership with parents, dedicating time to explain to parents each student’s learning journey. So, you might want to consider sending your kids to schools like that.
Here are some more ways to get started.
Seize social opportunities
There are plenty of opportunities where you can connect with your child’s teacher, from campus tours and educational trips to foundation day celebrations and family fun day events. In some instances, teachers themselves would also ask you for help, say, in raising funds for a disaster relief program for a local community or in volunteering in a school organization’s cause.
Join such activities and be intentional in talking to the teacher during these occasions. Do not ask about your child’s academic performance in such settings though. Your goal at this point is just to build rapport, to let them know that they can reach out to you easily on concerns about your kid.
Set a meeting with them
Do not just maximize opportunities — create them. Meet the teacher personally with the aim of asking them directly how your child has been performing academically so far. Of course, there is the card day where you will get to know more about your child’s status, but it still pays to talk to the teacher more personally. This way, you will be able to know the nuances of grades and make room for improvements.
Ask the teacher what you can do to help them. Treat each other both as critical members of a team. Also, if the teacher tells you about an academic problem on the part of your kid, for example, be sure to let them know about the actions you have taken at home.
Support learning at home
Another way you can partner with your child’s teacher is behind the scenes. Help your child better prepare for their teacher’s lessons by having discipline at home when it comes to reviewing notes, doing homework and limiting screen time. Let them be organized as well in keeping documents. Encourage them to be diligent in recording assignments in the assignment book so that they can better keep track.
However, be sure not to put too much pressure on your child. Set realistic goals based on your kid’s abilities, and then communicate this with the teacher. You must also make it a point to reward your little one for any school achievement to encourage them to do even better next time.
The bottom line here is you need to partner with and support your child’s teacher. Remember, it takes a village to raise intelligent, responsible kids.
