Approaching the third month of the school year, the routine for getting up out of bed, preparing breakfast, packing a healthy lunch, and seeing your kids off to school is now down to a science. We can perform all these tasks on auto pilot. All the buzz on the Common Core curriculum is synching in and now part of our day to day vernacular. As an anxious parent, I know you know that in the next week or so we will be receiving our child's first Report Card of the schools year. In concert with the Report Card distribution is the Parent/Teacher conference. Here are some tips on how to make your meeting with the teacher an effective one:

Engage in a two-way conversation. It’s only going to work if both parties are talking and listening. As the conference is a time for a parent to learn about the grades, class work, attendance, class participation, and things you didn’t know about your child in school this is a good time for you to tell the teacher about your child’s hobbies, interests and needs.

Bring your questions. The time that you have with the teacher is limited. On average, a teacher has 25-30 students in their class so given the limited time that you have with the teacher, come prepared with questions. Look over homework, projects, exams and highlight the common problem areas that your child has and go over with the teacher what are some recommended specific actions. Also, if the child is already receiving good grades, inquire how you can continue to keep the grades up and ask what types of enrichment he/she should do to continuously challenge themselves.

Schedule a follow up. Take advantage of the formal Parent/Teacher events and remember to have a follow meeting. Take feedback and make a note to follow up with the teacher a couple of weeks from now to get a pulse on progress. This is the only way you can measure whether the solutions recommended is working and/or needs adjusting.

JEI Learning Center’s Philosophy “A Better Life Through Better Education” offers Math, ELA, Reading and Writing Enrichment and Tutoring help. The program is for grades Pre-K to 9^th and offers up to 5 students per instructor. Call us to make an appointment for a FREE Diagnostic Test, 718.347.3138