Parent-Teacher Communication: 7 Tips to Communicate With Your Child’s Teachers

After home, children spend a considerable amount of time at school with their teachers. A teacher is not just an academic instructor for a child but also a role model, mentor, and sometimes a confidant. As such, building a solid relationship with your child’s teacher becomes foundational for their overall development.

From academic progress to social behavior, there’s a lot you can discuss with them. But when you aren’t sure about how, when, and what to talk to their teachers, communication can look tricky.

What is The Importance of Parent-Teacher Communication?

Before talking to the teacher, it is essential to understand the role of such communication in your child’s development. A teacher has many students to take care of, but your attention is focused only on your kids as a parent. Inputs from you, such as what keeps your child engaged and what bores them, can help the teacher teach them better.

Apart from tracking academic progress, the teacher can also give you insights into your child’s social behavior. And for children, your time investment in their studies can reinforce their will to do better academically. It also helps them to see that you have their best interests in mind, and you are actively participating in important areas of their life.

The tips below will help you build effective parent-teacher communication strategies that foster a strong relationship with your child’s teacher by starting on the right foot.

1. Schedule The Meeting

Most schools realize the importance of parent-teacher communication and arrange open houses where parents and teachers can communicate. But if you are looking for one-on-one communication, it is best to ask the teacher beforehand. Before meeting the teacher, decide a suitable time that is feasible for both of you. A teacher has several responsibilities apart from teaching her class. Moreover, other parents might also want to meet them to discuss their children.

Scheduling the meeting beforehand is respectful for the teacher and also helps you save your time. Ensuring that the teacher isn’t busy gives you more time to ask questions and get feedback on your child’s performance.

2. Prepare Everything

This is one of the essential parts of the parent-teacher communication strategies.

If you are meeting your child’s teacher, you don’t want it to be vague and unproductive. Preparing your questions in advance gives a direction to the meeting. Is your child facing trouble at school? Is there anything you want the teacher to improve? Most teachers will be happy to help and accept feedback from parents. But if you are unsure what you want, there’s only so much a teacher can do.

Preparation should also include your child’s perspective. When you talk to the teacher, you aren’t just a parent, but also a representative of your child. If they hesitate to talk to their teacher or want you to address something in particular, it is best to communicate with them before the meeting.

3. Appreciate The Teacher’s Efforts

Positive communication builds trust, which is a basic requirement for effective parent-teacher relationships. Just like you, the teacher also has your child’s best interests at heart. Even though the importance of effective parent-teacher communication is often limited to discussing the performance of your child, appreciating the teacher’s efforts can set a positive note for the entire conversation.

Starting with a simple comment about how well they teach or how they have helped your child go a long way. It also allows the teacher to open up more and provide constructive criticism about your child. Additionally, it is important to stay polite throughout the conversation.

4. Listen And Offer Help

Communication is only effective when it is two ways. Just like you have any concerns to share, the teacher might also like to add their two cents. After all, they spend a considerable amount of time with their child and know them well. In every parent-teacher meeting, the teachers and staff have an equal say in the child’s performance.

As students mingle with other kids in classrooms, the teacher might identify certain social and behavioral problems. Listening and identifying areas where you can help is good for your child, and it simplifies the teacher’s work.

Moreover, listening without interruptions gives you an insight into the teacher’s personality, thoughts, and work.

5. Accept Difference of Opinion

Not everything that the teacher says might resonate with your thoughts. This doesn’t mean either of you is wrong. As an individual, each person has their own set of beliefs and values. While it is good to have a similar thought process, some differences of opinion should be appreciated. Having an open mind will also introduce you to new, exciting ideas that may be beneficial for your child.

If you have to disagree, put your views forward politely. Judging and criticizing will have the opposite effect and may permanently strain the relationship between the teacher and your child.

When communicating, it is essential to remember that the teacher is your ally. You should entirely avoid undue criticism, harsh language, or unfriendly gestures. No matter what, your child shouldn’t be involved in any disagreements.

6. Implement Any Advice

Talking is only a minor part of effective communication with your child’s teacher. What’s more important is how you implement their suggestions. To make the best out of the parent-teacher interactions, relay the outcomes of each conversation to your child and set practical goals for them. Team up with the teacher to develop a strategy and focus on areas you both want to improve.

7. Communicate Frequently

The relevance of a parent-teacher communication plan is to keep the parents updated on their child’s progress. While holding long conversations every week isn’t practical for both the parent and the teacher, keeping in touch through various modes of communication is feasible. In the first meeting, talk to the teacher about their preferred methods and devise a communication schedule.

For example, an email once a week followed by an in-person meeting every two months should be sufficient to track your child’s progress. While using online communication modes, it is best to stick to the important stuff and not overdo your texts and emails.

There are now many parent-teacher communication tools that simplify this task, making it easier and more frequent for both parties. So, leverage parent-teacher communication technology to keep in sync with what’s going on with your kids.

Foster A Good Relationship With Your Child’s Teacher

Healthy parent-teacher communication is beneficial for everyone involved. Whether it is addressing issues or helping your child study better, the best solution is to talk openly and effectively. The combined support of parents and teachers is important for a child’s development. Accepting teachers’ suggestions and creating child-centric strategies can help your child’s personal and academic development.

LEAD Powered Schools Facilitate Smooth Parent-Teacher Communication

Seamless communication between parents and teachers has been one of the primary elements of LEAD’s value prepositions. LEAD’s effective solutions allow transparent student performance reports, attendance notifications, assignments and feedback, assessment reports, and in-app direct messaging. Parents can view and schedule meetings with teachers, offer feedback and suggestions, and ask questions.

LEAD Powered Schools use two-way apps where parents can log in and access their child’s profile. With our parent-teacher communication tools, we aim to keep the parents involved in every aspect of a student’s academics through student dashboards and effortless parent-teacher communications.