Home » Supplement » Education
Becoming a special partner in your child’s education
Print Edition
YOUR children spend at least one-third of their 24-hour day with a person like me — a teacher. So what do teachers do in those eight-plus hours with your child? To say we simply teach would be a misnomer. We also parent — a job we take quite seriously.
In over 30 years of teaching, I have been entrusted with thousands of lives. I have partnered with thousands of parents, and over and over again, I have been asked the same proverbial question: “What can we do at home to support my child’s learning?”
The answer is simple: “Partner with me. We’re in this together.” So, how can parents partner with teachers? Let me make this like a HuffPost Education blog. I’ll title it “Top Seven Things Teachers Want From Parents” (a quick guide to becoming a partner in your child’s education).
1. Trust us — Teachers are well-trained professionals who teach because they love children and have a passion for educating. Talk to us. Collaborate with us. We’re both on the same side: your child’s.
2. Allow for mistakes — It’s okay for your child to fail. Children make mistakes. Resist the urge to protect them from the consequences, which are great, authentic opportunities for learning and maturing.
3. Encourage responsibility — It’s your child’s education, not yours. Be a guide on the side. Provide the structure and have your child take responsibility for the rest.
4. Stay involved — You’re the parent. You always will be. Know what your child is doing, in school and out of school. Know their teachers. Know their friends. Stay involved, yet don’t control. It shows that you care.
5. Learning=Achieving — Put learning first; grades will follow. Good students typically have good learning habits. It’s about the learning, not the grades.
6. Organize, organize, organize — Providing an organized, quiet, supported routine for homework is key to your child’s learning success. Carve out a specific time and place for homework completion. Set a time limit with no distractions. This includes eliminating the urge for social media to enter into this sacrosanct time. Ask your child what their homework is. Look it over. It shows you care.
7. Partner with us — It’s all about your child. We’re in this together. It’s not a one-way relationship; it’s a three-way relationship, and we want you to be in partnership with us for the holistic education of your child. A generous, transparent and trusting collaboration between home and school is the best way to support your child’s achievement.
(Holly Raatz is a Grade 8 teacher at Concordia International School Shanghai.)
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
