Here are my final thoughts on how to forge a healthy relationship with your child’s teacher.
In the previous blog, I commented that Tyler’s teacher often remarked that she could tell I spent a lot of time exposing him to things in the community. I have taken those opportunities to discuss some of the things that we do in our leisure time like going to the museum or our resent visit to a cave. And I talk about the kinds of things Tyler likes to do for fun to amuse himself. I think this gives her a more complete picture of the kind of kid Tyler is. So often in school teachers see just one side of the kids they teach.
Unfortunately, sometimes there are conflicts in the relationship? What do you do then? On the one hand you may find yourself feeling a tinge of jealousy at your child’s affection toward his teacher. Try not to complain about it because you may end up hearing less and less about what is going on in the classroom.
The opposite is also true. At times your child may say that the teacher does not like him or picks on him. When this happens a parent’s natural inclination is to side with the child and may develop an attitude with the teacher without discussing the child’s concern. Some parents will go so far as to request a change of class without discussing it with the teacher to get at the root of the problem, if one actually exits.
As parents our main priority is to become as involved in our child’s school as possible. Forming a healthy, cordial relationship with your child’s teacher is the first step, along with asking the right questions at parent-teacher conferences, volunteering in whatever capacity you can and keeping the lines of communication open to avoid any unnecessary conflicts. When this happens, the result is a win-win situation for everyone – you, your child and their teacher.