Communication and Education: Questions to Ask Your Child's Teacher

Image copyright FreeDesignFile

It's been about a month now since my son started his new school, and I can't be happier about his experience. Our curriculum night is coming up, and I am excited to hear what his teacher has to say about learning in her classroom. I'm not worried that my kiddo isn't adjusting. He is thriving both academically and socially, and it all started with a few simple questions.

I didn't ask his teacher all of these questions, some were asked to the principal prior to enrolling him into the school, and there are a few more questions that I will ask his teacher later. But your child's teacher should be able to answer all of these questions in a way that will give you a good idea what to expect in the classroom, how your child can have a successful learning experience, and how you can supplement your child's learning at home.

Raising a "Normal" Child - Learning to be Successful

My previous post introduced you to my family's horrifying discovery that we are not perfect. As parents, we made mistakes in the education and social upbringing of our son.Once strong willed, he was now fraught with anxiety issues and had difficulties engaging in social activities at school. The next phase of our lives involved acceptance, communication, and better expectations.

Anxiety can be frustrating

My son and I started having afternoon "conversations" where he would tell me about his day from going to school to coming home. At first he did not want to tell me about his "bad days" because he didn't want me to be mad. But, since I got called or emailed practically every day about his behavior, he learned he couldn't hide "bad days" from me. I also taught him, by being calm and nonjudgmental, that I accepted he would have "bad days," but this did not make him a "bad person." He had a hard time articulating his feelings, and many times his answers to questions were "I don't know." So we worked on finding the right words to describe various moments of his day.

Communication and the joys of teaching

image via KomoNews.com

A little while back, after posting about a conversation I had with a friend about writing, someone asked, "Have you ever considered teaching?" And yes, actually I have. In fact, my college courses were taken with an emphasis on education and teaching. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, it's up for debate) I chose a school that did not have a B.A. in Education and after two unsuccessful attempts to get into the Masters program, I gave up.

But I never lost my passion for teaching, and for years did tutoring, mentoring, and classroom volunteering. I would joke around with my friends that I would start my own school, but for a few years I stayed a little bitter that I was not able to get a teaching certificate. I have family that have been life-long educators, and some of my friends are teachers. When I first decided I wanted to go for my teaching certificate, almost every single one of them immediately asked "Why?!"