Communication

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Communication With Your Child With Your
School
Tips on how to communicate effectively
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How to CommunicateWith Your Child

• Be Attentive
• Care
• Share
• Encourage
• Love

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Be Attentive

• Be attentive listen patiently and
• carefully, providing encouragement.
• Your child needs to know that at this moment,
• what he/she
  is saying is the most important thing to
  you. Let your
  face and voice
• 
  show your interest.

4
Care

• Let your child know that you care about his/her
  feelings.
• Say things like, Its okay to be afraid, sad,
  excited, etc. Follow through and SHOW your
  child how you care.

5
Share

• Share situations from your own life when you were
  experiencing the same feelings as your child.
• Your child wants to know that you understand why
  they are feeling this way.

6
Encourage

• Encourage your child to solve his/her own
  problems.
• Be very assuring that you will be there to help
  if needed, but try to encourage independence.

7
Love

• At any age, your child needs to know that your
  love is unconditional, and that he/she can tell
  you anything.
• You may not like what your child tells
  you, and there may be consequences for
  poor judgment and behavior, but your love
  will never change.

8
Communication with the School/Teacher

• Strong communication between home and school
  makes it easier for your child to go back and
  forth between the two settings.
• If your child sees this ongoing communication,
  he/she realizes
• that you think school
• is important.
• SO. . . .

9

• READ newsletters and notes sent home. (Or have
  someone read them to you)
• LISTEN carefully to phone messages sent by
  teachers and administrators.
• Contact your childs teacher on a regular basis.
  (phone, e-mail, send a note)
• VISIT the school occasionally. If possible,
  arrange to eat a meal at school with your child.
• VOLUNTEER in the school or classroom. Any help is
  welcome, even if short term.

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What should you talk to the teacher about??

• Find out
• Inform
• Ask Questions
• Tell
• Contact

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Find Out

• Find out what you can work on at home with your
  child that will help his/her progress.
• Even if your child does not have a lot of
  homework, the teacher may have suggestions for
  enrichment activities.

12
Inform

• Inform the teacher about what is going on in your
  childs life that may affect behavior or learning
  at school.
• For example family illness or death, parent
  job loss, out of town trip, etc.

13
Ask Questions

• Ask questions about how your child is doing at
  school both academically and socially. Make the
  questions specific.

14
Tell

• Tell the teacher if you have any concerns about
  your childs adjustment to school.

15
Contact

• Contact the school, teacher or parent liaison if
  you need someone else to talk to about your
  questions or concerns.

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Ten Tips for a Successful Parent-Teacher
Conference
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• Ask your child if there is anything he
• would like you to discuss with the teacher.
• Before the conference, jot down everything that
  you want to talk about.
• Arrive promptly or a few minutes early.
• Begin with positive comments about the teacher or
  school.
• Avoid lengthy discussions about topics not
  related to the purpose of the conference.

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• Be open-minded about suggestions from the
  teacher.
• Keep your emotions under control.
• Take notes about what had been discussed to share
  with your child.
• Express appreciation for the conference.
• Do not stay beyond your allotted time.

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Communication works for those who work at it. -
John Powell The way we communicate with others
and with ourselves ultimately determines the
quality of our lives. Anthony Robbins Good
communication is always difficult to achieve, but
the rewards are worth it. You and your child
will both benefit from the effort.