Starting a meaningful conversation with your child’s teacher

As the school year begins, how can families become more involved in their child’s school life? Family engagement is one of the best predictors of academic success. But how can parents start the conversation, and how can they get the information they need to support learning at home?Edutopia put together a list of 19 questions you may want to ask your child’s teacher as they head back to school. (A word of caution: the author advised against asking them all at once!):

  1.     What academic standards do you use, and what do I need to know about them?
  2.     How will you respond if or when my child struggles in class?
  3.     What are the most important and complex (content-related) ideas my child needs to understand by the end of the year?
  4.     Do you focus on strengths or weaknesses?
  5.     How are creativity and innovative thinking used on a daily basis in your classroom?
  6.     How is critical thinking used on a daily basis in your classroom?
  7.     How are assessments designed to promote learning rather than simple measurement?
  8.     What can I do to support literacy in my home?
  9.     What kinds of questions do you suggest that I ask my children on a daily basis about your class?
  10.     How exactly is learning personalized in your classroom? In the school?
  11.     How do you measure academic progress?
  12.     What are the most common instructional or literacy strategies you will use this year?
  13.     What learning models do you use (e.g., project-based learning, mobile learning, game-based learning, etc.), and what do you see as the primary benefits of that approach?
  14.     What are the best school or district resources that we should consider using as a family to support our child in the classroom?
  15.     Is there technology you’d recommend that can help support my child in self-directed learning?
  16.     What are the most common barriers you see to academic progress in your classroom?
  17.     How is education changing?
  18.     How do you see the role of the teacher in the learning process?
  19.     What am I not asking but should be?

Were the answers helpful? Teachers, how can parents get more involved in their child’s classroom? We want to know! Email us at staff@reachinghighernh.org.

Source: Parents: 19 Meaningful Questions You Should Ask Your Child’s Teacher | Edutopia