Home and school are two places that create a child’s foundation for learning and growing. Thus, the communication between the mentors at home – the parents and the mentors at school is most crucial. A healthy parent-teacher collaboration is necessary to understand the child’s potential and development. Parents need to have all the right questions for the teachers to assist in the child’s future and create a positive environment of growth at home as well. Let us look at the most effective questions to ask for efficient parent-teacher communication.
Familiarizing with your child’s experience:
For a child to grow and learn they must have a positive experience from the environment, both at school and home. Thus, parents need to understand that the child is getting the right setup for emotional, and intellectual development at school. But what is the right way to put forward the question?
Which activity is my child most drawn to?
With ample options around, it is easier to determine which option intrigues a child the most. For a parent to understand their child’s interests and talents helps them create the opportunity and vibe to nurture the same at home. When children show early interest in painting, music, plays, or sports, the guardians must look out for it. Even children find new interests and hobbies when they engage in them along with peers and friends. Thus, asking the question gives the parent a clearer idea of their child’s preferences.
How does my child enjoy their time at the school?
Getting into a world outside of home can be a big change for the kids. Thus, the parents must ensure that the child is being treated right and adjusting well to the new school set-up. Schools bring a child face to face with newer people and newer circumstances; asking the right question will ensure the child’s fondness and concerns for the parents to understand and address.
Establishing effective communication channels:
The communication between teachers and parents must be both ways for better clarity on the child’s growth and needs. Here are some questions to ask a parent about their child and the teachers about the progress.
What is the best way to communicate in case of concerns and questions?
This question clears up modes of communication between the parents and teacher and also establishes their involvement towards the child’s wellbeing. Establishing a preferred and proper communication channel to reach out to one another clears the understanding and expectations of reaching out in case needed.
How do you perceive the child’s progress and capability?
Perceptions of progress and development can be very different based on the priorities set. A school is a place where the children are learning amongst many and are evaluated as a whole. However, the interpretations of growth are unique and cannot be compared to one another. Thus, the parents need to understand how the child is being evaluated for achieving milestones and progress. The same is a valid question to ask a parent about their child to understand their viewpoint of their child’s progress.
Measuring progress and developmental goals:
For a parent, the most common concern for a child is whether the child is progressing and if there are concerns in their path of development. Here are the questions to ask to clarify these concerns.
Does the child need additional assistance and care to achieve the milestone?
Every child has their own pace of learning and growing. Sometimes amongst all the crowd, a child might feel left out or fall behind. It can be a concern for parents and asking this question will help them have a better picture of how they can help their child move forward and catch up. This also helps the teacher understand the parent’s involvement and offer the needed support.
How is the child doing towards achieving the goals?
This question will help the parents get a picture of how their child is performing academically and socially in school. How the child is coping with the curriculum and developmental practices at schools. Every parent has a clear set of priorities for the child and this will answer the progress towards each of those goals.
Maintaining the Learning at Home:
School is not the only place a child learns and thus the environment at home must be as positive for growth. Here are the questions for the parents to identify the learning possibilities at home.
How to maintain the learning curve at home?
To maintain the harmony of growth of a child, the things that they learn in school must be reinforced at home as well. For example, if a child is learning a new language, it would be helpful for them if the parents could incorporate speaking in it at home. If a child shows interest in play, parents can arrange for enacting scenes from books and movies at home for the child to keep learning even after school.
Are there any specific skills or areas of growth that we need to focus on at home?
Teachers often have a very keen eye on the strengths and weaknesses of the children; it is very effective to understand from them to take proper steps to help your child with it. Teachers are with the children the longest part of their day and see their behavioral patterns which helps them identify skills and concerns. This question will help the parents make use of the observations made by the teacher and also result in an effective parent-teacher collaboration.
Asking questions is not just a means to get more information but also ensures your involvement and concern for the child’s future. Asking questions will help the parents and teachers learn more from one another and effectively implement it to nurture and guide the child. Asking more questions and establishing proper collaboration only suggests the parents’ commitment to the success of their child. Questions are not only meant for parents to ask but it is also important to know how to ask questions in class as a teacher.
Here at Kangaroo Kids International Preschool, we are dedicated to helping your child grow and prosper just as much as a parent. With highly trained teachers, your child will get the best mentorship and guidance towards a healthy and fulfilled future.
