Know Your Child's Teacher and Academic Success Follows
By Stephen Carr

Here are a few tips to getting to know your child's teacher. Many parents make the mistake of not contacting the teacher until there is a big problem. The sooner and more frequently you have contact, the better for you, your child, and the teacher.

1) Get to know the teacher before the first day of school. Teacher's can be very busy during the year. Contacting them before the chaos of the school year begins means more favorable attention from the teacher. If you wait, it could lead to a struggle finding time in the teacher's schedule to really get down to talking. Yes, there is usually back to school night. If you do not get this first chance, you need to gradually make yourself known. Stop by after school for short talks. Email an introduction. The parents who the teacher knows early and often will get better attention. Let the teacher know right away that you are involved with your child's education and will make every effort to give support.

Contact the teacher on a regular basis. Weekly is preferred. Most teachers use email and a quick weekly email will suffice. Always ask for bad grades, missing assignments, and future project due dates. I always recommend that parents actually get a weekly progress report. It is very short. The teacher basically tells you that the student is doing good, bad, what needs improving, etc. This can also be an email.

Visit the teacher in person at least once every two weeks. Do this right after school. Teachers have time to catch their breath and will be more willing to do a short chat. And yes, make it short. You can go before school, but you must realize teachers use this time to prepare themselves for the day. They really need this time for themselves.

It is work on your part. And consistency. The only person who is really looking out for your child is you. Very easy for students to fall through the cracks. It is just how the system is. Do not let your child be one of them.

For middle and high school, meeting all teachers in person may seem impossible. The trick is to visit the core subject teachers-math, science, language arts, and social studies. Visiting one every 2 weeks is fairly is not impossible. Emails at this level are a must. It may be the only way to keep in touch. But the same rules apply. You need to be up on your student's progress and short comings. Back to school nights are a necessity.

The last thing is to actually make good on your promise to be supportive. You must ensure that your child is ready, willing, and able to be a good student. Being prepared and up on class assignments is a must. One of the many benefits of being involved is that your child will behave and work better simply by knowing you talk to their teacher.