Questions Every Parent Should Ask Their Child's Teacher

Questions for Your Child’s Teacher

As busy parents preparing for the new school year, you want to get your child off to a great start. You may be unsure how to assist your child’s adjustment to the next grade level and new teacher. So here are some direct questions you can use to ease your apprehensions about the new school year.

Ask your child’s teacher:

1. Aside from reports cards, what are the best ways to keep up with my child’s progress in your class?

2. What are the expectations for doing well in your class?

3. How can I find out my child’s reading and math levels?

4. Does my child have opportunities to work above grade level in reading and math?

5. What support can the school offer my child who may be struggling with reading or math?

6. How can I help at home so my child will be successful in your class?

Gear your questions toward focusing on your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Never be afraid to open up to the teacher about any concerns you may have concerning your child’s education.

We all want the best education possible for our children. To make this happen, the home, school, and community must form partnerships that focus on the positive growth and development of all children.

Is Your Home Ready for Homework?

PREPARING THE HOME FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR

As a parent, your support of your child’s education is vital for his/her success in school. Here are 10 Tips for preparing your home for doing homework assignments.

1. Schedule time each day for homework: set aside 30-45 minutes to complete assignments. Remember to plan 20 minutes of reading time with your child every day. This will help your child to keep reading skills sharp and to maintain reading on grade level.

2. Provide space and supplies: select a location in your home for your child to have a work space that is uncluttered. Have paper and pencils available to complete assignments.

3. Set time with few distractions: the TV should be turned off during homework time. Small children can be entertained with quiet games during this time.

4. Set rules and guidelines: plan with your child the necessary expectations for completing the work in a timely manner.

5. Offer help and check over the work: offer to assist your child but it is very important that he/she completed the work on his/her own. Look over the finished papers to see if directions had been followed correctly.

6. Have a plan for returning the work: assist child in returning the completed work to school the next day. Help your child to organize the book bag or folders to place the homework papers. Remind your child to turn the work in the next day.

7. Sign and return homework journals: many classes have homework agendas or journals to show parents have seen their child’s work so you will want to follow this plan to record your assistance.

8. Keep the lines of communication open between the home and school: feel free to contact your child’s teacher when needed. Take advantage of open house, conferences, and volunteer opportunities, as they arise, so you can keep informed about your child’s progress in school.

9. Tell the teacher if the homework is either too hard or too easy: homework is designed to give your child practice in important skills. If the homework doesn’t match your child’s skill level, contact the teacher to seek her advice.

10. Schedule conference time at least twice a year: it is so important to have a face to face conference time with your child’s teacher early in the school year and again near the end. This will keep you informed concerning reading and math progress. When you understand your child’s progress, you can offer assistance when needed.



By following these tips, you will show your child that your family values a good education and hard work. By working with your child’s teacher, the partnership will help your child have a successful school year.

Sleep Schedules and a Successful School Year

Making Routine Adjustments for the New School Year

The new school year is quickly approaching and many families are getting ready to transition from summer vacation to the academic routines of school. Making this adjustment for your child begins with adjusting a few schedules in the home. To help your child settle into the new routines more smoothly, consider adjusting their sleep schedules.

Instead of going to bed earlier in the evening, wake up earlier each day. If your child has been sleeping late each morning during the summer, to prepare for the early wake up time for school, gradually adjust wake up time by 30 minutes each day; until the desired time has been met. By getting up earlier, your child will eventually go to bed earlier without any arguments because his body will require the extra resting time.

For example: If your child needs to wake up at 7:00 AM to have time to get ready for school but he’s been sleeping until 8:30 during the summer, tomorrow wake him up at 8:00; the next day at 7:30, and the next day at 7:00. Continue the 7:00 wake-up call even on the weekends. Your child may have been staying up late during the summer, but with the early wake-up call, his body will make the adjustments to going to bed earlier.

To keep your child rested and healthy for school, plan a routine of 10 hours of sleep every night. His growing body and brain needs plenty of rest everyday to be ready to learn and perform in school.

Conversations with Children

You can help to increase your child’s speaking and listening vocabulary by engaging in daily conversations. Research has shown that the more words a child hears by the age of two, the better his/her vocabulary will be. Here are a few things that you can do at home to help increase your child’s understanding of words in our language.


1. Encourage your child to talk with you. You can engage your child in a conversation at the end of the day by asking questions like: How was your day? What fun things did you do today? Tell me about the books you read today or about the school project you are working on.

2. Let your child guide the conversation. Have your child initiate the topic for discussion. Encourage him to talk about his favorite toy or game. If your child knows that you are interested in listening to him, he will be more willing to share ideas or experiences with you.

3. Use correct grammar when engaging your child in conversation. Don’t try to correct your child, but rather, respond with the correct usage of grammar by turning a statement into a question. If your child says, “I ain’t got the right book to do my homework.” You can respond by saying, “You don’t have the right book for homework?” You can model for your child the correct grammar without making him feel uncomfortable talking with you.

4. Teach your child a new word everyday. You can select vocabulary words that can be used frequently during the day. The more practice given to the use of a word, the better chance that word will become a part of your child’s regular vocabulary. Some word choices might be: great or elegant instead of good; completed or finished instead of done. Try using elaborate descriptive words and your child will begin to mimic you, too. You can keep a “word log” and record the word of the day. Have your child keep tally marks for the word usage. At the end of the week, review the words learned and have your child select his/her favorite new word.

5. Play listening games where your child will have to use “his words” to describe what he hears. Tell your child to close his eyes and listen to the sounds around him. Can he identify what is making the sound by describing the source? What is making that sound? Tell me what it looks like and sounds like from your mind’s eye? Your child will need to picture the item in his mind and then describe it with his vocabulary words. This could be a quiet game to try when sitting down in the evening before going to bed.



Take advantage of the time you have with your child to engage in rich conversations that will develop skills for speaking and listening. By enriching your child with vocabulary development, you are helping your child gain the language skills necessary for reading and writing.

Summer Reading for Students with Special Needs

Some key points that will benefit children with learning disabilities:


1. Read aloud everyday and set a good example for your child that reading is important to you (the parent).


2. Take advantage of summer reading programs in your local library and help your child to locate books of interest on his/her reading level. Show your child that reading is fun and build a love for books.


3. Help your child create a scrapbook or journal over the summer that includes pictures, writings, and drawings to reflect the activities that the family shared in. This book can be used to reminisce all of the ways the family spent time together and can be used to generate a conversation that will build language skills with your child.


4. Include "reading around the neighborhood" a part of the daily routine when out and about in the car. Help your child read signs, banners, postings on the road, in the grocery store or wherever print is available. Soon your child will begin to initiate the search for reading opportunities.

Summer reading time is a great opportunity for parent/child bonding. Take advantages of opportunities to engage your child in reading and the joy of reading.

Summer Writing Activities

Parents, have you thought about ways to engage your child in creative writing activities during the summer vacation? Here are a few strategies that will make writing entertaining and worthwhile for your child that can be used on rainy days, vacation trips, camping trips, visits to Grandma’s, or any day your child feels the need to be creative. I have gathered a supply list and writing ideas that can spark your child’s creativity with paper and pen. Who knows, you just might have a budding author in your presence.


Supply List

1. Paper: plain white paper, construction paper, scrap paper from packaging, lined yellow tablet, cardboard sheets, index cards, note pads, cards, notebooks, envelopes

2. Writing tools: pencils, pens, crayons, colored pencils, markers, finger paints, water colors, tempera paint, chalk

3. Shoe box with lid: use a shoe box to collect the items needed for writing. This box will keep the writing items together for storage and for travel. Your child can decorate this box and use it for keeping all of the writing materials for many hours of entertainment.

Writing Ideas

1. Making signs: help your child make signs for identifying the rooms in your home, for example: “Tommy’s Room”, “Dad’s Room”, “Kitchen”, “Closet”, etc.

2. Make labels: help your child make labels for personal items and things around the house. Label cards or sticky notes could include: Toy Box, Door, Television, Chair, Refrigerator, Cabinet, etc.

3. Dictate Stories: encourage your child to tell you stories and you write them down. Have your child read the story back to you in his own words.

4. Inventive Spelling: encourage your child to write stories on his own but not to worry about the correct spelling of words. Tell your child to ‘write the letters for the sounds of the word’ and not to worry about the spelling. Inventive spelling will give your child practice in using encoding skills learned in school.

5. Different kinds of writings: write letters to family members and friends. Write “thank you” notes for gifts. Write grocery lists for shopping. Write a “to do” list for chores.

6. Artistic writing: draw a picture and write a sentence to describe the drawing. Use colored pencils and make “rainbow” words. Use finger paints or water colors to illustrate a painting and then write a story about the drawing.

7. Journal or Writing Log: older children can keep a journal or writing log to record daily activities. A notebook or booklet made from construction paper and stapled sheets will make a journal that can become a keepsake for your child’s summer adventures.



The most important thing to remember is that these writing activities should be fun for your child. Give your child the opportunity to select the writing tools and paper choices. Encourage your child to use these items in a variety of ways to enhance creativity and to spark a love for writing.