With the winter break from school coming up, the school year is at a rough halfway point. It’s a good time to assess how your child is doing and to work with your child’s teacher regarding areas where your child is struggling. The Child Mind Institute has recently updated an article on how to work with your child’s teacher (also available in Spanish).

As our friends at Learning Heroes often remind us, grades may not give you the entire picture of how your child is doing academically. The Child Mind Institute article identifies seven ways to work with your child’s teacher in a way that helps support your child:

  1. Start early. It’s best to start the conversation with your child’s teacher at the beginning of the school year, but it’s never too late to start.
  2. Keep them in the loop. Things happening beyond the school’s walls can affect your child’s learning, so let your child’s teacher know if something is going on in your child’s personal life.
  3. Be proactive. Children often behave differently at school and at home, so asking about how your child is doing both academically and socially can help you both support your child.
  4. Plan ahead. Parents and teachers are busy, so when you get the opportunity to talk with your child’s teacher, know in advance what questions you want to ask. If it’s about a certain topic, letting your child’s teacher know your concern ahead of time can help the teacher prepare for your conversation with some examples of your child’s work or resources to support them.
  5. Focus on collaboration. You may not be getting an accurate picture of the situation from your child (e.g., “My teacher hates me.”), so reassure your child’s teacher that you are looking to find a way to work together to support your child, not to assign blame or make accusations.
  6. Support your child’s autonomy. With older children, including them in the conversation with the teacher or providing them behind the scenes to talk to their teacher on their own can be beneficial. Let your child know that you are willing to step in and handle the conversation for them if they don’t think they can handle it.
  7. Keep things positive. Don’t reach out to your child’s teacher only when there are problems. A quick positive anecdote when you see your child’s teacher at school or a note of appreciation when you see your child improving in an area where they have been struggling helps build trust and connection for those conversations when things aren’t going well.