It’s almost time for another tradition to unfold as we move through the school calendar: the first formal parent–teacher conference, often held in mid-November. If you’re a parent, I hope you’ve already talked with your child’s teacher more than once this year—at the beginning of school and at Open House and perhaps on the phone about a question you’ve had along the way. Most schools now also have ways for parents to communicate with teachers via email or web pages.
But the parent–teacher conference is something the teacher prepares for in a special way. She reviews the initial progress your child is making in school this year and finds an individual time during which she can talk with you about how she sees your child, whom she now knows quite well academically and socially. The teacher is also now very eager to gather insights from you about your child’s way of seeing and navigating the world.
Something else that can be very helpful as teachers and parents prepare for this conference is a review of age-appropriate developmental expectations and milestones. Reviewing developmental guidelines helps remind teachers and parents of normal and common characteristics most children at a given age will be exhibiting in school. Thus, when the teacher says about your six-year-old in first grade, “She’s always whispering to her friends and reads quietly out loud to herself,” you can know this is perfectly normal six-year-old behavior that a first grade teacher should be reporting with a knowing smile, rather than with concern.
Just before conference time, some schools give parents pamphlets, based on my book Yardsticks, that summarize developmental characteristics by age. You can find these pamphlets in the Responsive Classroom bookstore at their website.
Teachers: As you prepare for conferences, remember to check your “Birthday Cluster Exercise” folder to review where you see each child falling developmentally in the mix of your overall class. This is something interesting for parents to get a sense of as they hear about academic progress and also friendship patterns.
Parents and Teachers: Here’s to wonderful conversations and insights. Please take a moment to share by just clicking Comments below. Thanks, Chip
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Dear D
References to Outdoor education and benefits of recess can be found throughout Responsive Classroom newsletters which can be accessed at responsiveclassroom.org then go to archives. I have also written about this in my book TIME TO TEACH, TIME TO LEARN: CHANGING THE PACE OF SCHOOL, which is also available from the RC site. You probably already know the book LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS, if not, a must read. Chip
I am working on a thesis regarding children and the benefits of outdoor education – I recall a few articles regarding recess and the elimination of etc. Can you guide me to finding these again? thank you
Dear EM,
I agree that this is a challenge for you and the parent, especially when ELL services may also be sparse in such a school setting for such children and their parents. However, as I learned from researcher Iliana Reyes at the University of Arizona when writing the new edition of my book “Yardsticks”, children are often engaged in rich literacy activities at home in their native language or bilingually before coming to school. You can encourage parents to have their children continue these traditions in English or bilingually as they become bi-literate in school as a way of beginning to build the home-school literacy connection. (See pages 30-37 in the third edition of “Yardsticks” available at http://www.responsiveclassroom.org -Chip
I just finished with parent-teacher conferences. I teach first grade in a small rural area. My most difficult conferences were with my hispanic student’s parents. It is difficult to tell a parent who doesn’t speak English that the language barrier is effecting their child’s academic success.
JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER – to parents and teachers alike – that Monday, November 3 is another one of those “developmental days” on the school calendar not to be blindsided by … the first school day after we have turned the clocks back to Standard Time. While this circadian rhythm transition is usually easier for children than when we “spring ahead”, it still takes kids some time to adjust to and also comes right after the sugar rush of Halloween. Careful and patient attention to morning routines will pay off at home and at school this Monday morning and all week!
Don’t forget to Vote! Chip