14 Common Tips To Build A Teacher-Parent Relationship


If you run/manage a school or are a teacher then you need to read all these:



At the beginning of every school year, you will start to build up relationships with your new students. Also important is laying the foundation for your relationship with their parents.

An open communication channel between the classroom and home is of great benefit to the students, and parents are key members of the school’s education team.

It is essential for parents to create solid relationships with their children’s teachers. Mothers and fathers should have the capacity to see past the test scores and liaise with teachers to understand the unique qualities of their children, their strengths, talents, and learning patterns.

A few parents are threatened by the education system. They need the best for their kids and avoid making mistakes. But they do not comprehend the systems and feel marginalized. Most working parents feel they do not get as much information from their children’s schools as they would love to and also feel they do not have a connection with their children’s teachers.

According to a study, teachers feel that parents are overly anxious and have unrealistic expectations. These feelings and misconceptions can be a hindrance to a healthy relationship between teachers and parents.

Teacher-Parent relationships don't simply happen. They are worked out with time, it has to be a deliberate effort and built on consistent communication and trust.

Research has shown that a strong parent, child and teacher relationship helps boost student’s accomplishment and outcomes. Teachers can reach out to meet the student’s parents. Here are a few tips to establishing a relationship with your student’s parents.

1. Be friendly
Be warm when you meet the parents. Greet them with a smile when you meet them. Teachers encounter student’s parents on rare occasions so make every encounter a pleasant one. Be polite and friendly. Let them have good memories of your encounter with them.

2. Know their names
Everybody responds to attention. Making an effort to know their names will be a plus to a stronger relationship. Learn how they love to be addressed; by their first names or Mr or Mrs, and learn to pronounce the name properly.

3. State your intentions
Tell them straight up that you want to have a relationship with them for their child’s sake. Let them know that you want to partner with them to know how to help their child in their learning process. Tell them you appreciate their effort and you are looking forward to the partnership.

4. Call them
Place regular calls to their home to inform the parents about their child’s progress in learning. Giving positive feedback of children to their parents is a sure way to get their attention and have it.

5. Keep various forms of communication lines open
Be intentional with classroom updates. Let the parents know what is going on in class. These updates can be done weekly. Keep them informed about on the school curriculum, updating them progress reports, and general growth of their child.

6. Be sensitive
Do not make assumptions, there are different kinds of families. For example, do not address a mother as a wife when she may be a single parent. A parent could be married or single. Learn to ask open-ended questions and also respect the privacy of parents

7. Show concern for the child
Ask questions about the child and be free to discuss a concern. Do not, however, focus on concerned. First, talk about the good sides about the child. Every child has something good about him or her. Share those good things first before you bring up a concern.

8. Be a bearer of good news
Every time you meet or call the parents have good news to share or a praise for their child. A parent will love to hear from you or meet you if you always come bearing good news.

9. Be a listener
Be a teacher a parent can talk to about their child. After all, you do not know their child more than them. Always be ready to listen, and let them know you are really listening.

10. Let them know their opinion matters
Solicit their input in decision making that will affect their child. Give them information about the subject and request their opinion.

11. Get together
Relationships are strengthened when people come together to celebrate. Everybody bonds over food. Start a new year with a get-together. Eat, drink and make merry.

12. Keep them in the know
Explain things they do not understand, like things about the educational system they would like to learn about. Make them understand the things you do and why you do them.

13. Smile and make eye contact with the child
When talking to parents in the presence of the child, show how much you care about the child by smiling and making eye contact with the child as you speak to their parents about them. These gestures demonstrate genuine care and concern. Praising a child in the presence of the parents also helps to boosts the child’s self-esteem.

14. Show appreciation
Thank parents for their support, officially and unofficially. Appreciate them for their support and how it has impacted the students. You can do so through phone calls, in person, or through newsletters.

These simple tips can be helpful in building a strong teacher-parent relationship. When parents, teachers, and children team up, the results could be enormous.

This post appeared first on http://ducobrands.com/blog/14-common-tips-to-build-a-teacher-parent-relationship

This is good and helpful. It should make the front page.
But as touching the aspect of always giving a positive comment about the child, what if the child is not improving or even worse, must you deceive them just to make them happy �?