talking with parents
29 Apr 2010 2 Comments
in classroom updates Tags: communication, conferences, parents, partnership
As a parent it means everything to me when I feel a connection to my daughter’s away-from-me part of her day. When she took her first steps into a classroom (that wasn’t mine!) part of my heart was desperate to go with her. Who did she sit with, who made her laugh? Was she speaking up for herself in the face of challenge, how many band aids did it take to make the world right again?
Here at Tigerlily we’re wrapping up our week of parent teacher conferences, which we do each fall and spring. Sometimes I get puzzled looks the first time someone hears that we do these for, say, two year old students. I can’t imagine our program without them. We’re committed to sharing with parents on a daily basis- via conversation, notes on our communication clipboard, and the latest format for me as a teacher, email- but there’s something so helpful about a quiet thirty to forty minutes of time together, sharing in detail about the day without the rush of pickup or drop off. We drink coffee out of big people cups, we ask questions, we listen. This is the golden stuff, this is when I hear that I’m mentioned every night in bedtime prayers, that she wants to name the new baby after her favorite school friend, that the stuffed animals have to have circle time and tell me again how do you sing the duck song?
It’s important to make the time and the space to talk. In addition to our daily communication, conferences offer a broad view of each child’s experience. Every year I refine my format a bit more. We cover: social/emotional development, language development, self-care skills, tolieting/diapering (for the youngers), work period observations (favorite materials, interests, special skills), circle time (again, favorite aspects/themes/songs/special moments), snack/lunch (preferences, appetities, connections with friends, challenges), outside time/physical development (challenges, use of outdoor space & play, special games, nature exporation).
After sharing some goals and areas of focus for our upcoming time togegther, we get to my favorite part: parent questions and feedback. Putting our heads together about challenges is so helpful! Parents know their children better than any one on earth will ever know them, compiling a picture of the whole child- home as the base, the aspects that we get to know at school- gives us such rich information. My ah-hah! moments come from my parents’ shares, what a gift it is to earn their trust and partnership.
