It may seem a bit daunting and even produce a sense of anxiety, but the first parent teacher meeting is a very important part of your child’s school year.
At the start of each new school year, parents are invited to a parent teacher meeting. This is an opportunity for parents to meet the person their child is going to be spending a large portion of their time with, not to mention all the formative educational and social input this person will provide.
Aside from imparting pertinent information regarding the curriculum and classroom structure, the idea is for you and the teacher to form a team – a partnership that works together for the benefit of your child.
To make it easier, and to ensure you make the most of this first meeting, we’ve outlined some important information that you need to know.
What will we talk about?
Let your child’s teacher take the lead. They are ‘seasoned’ at parent teacher meetings and will be sure to cover all the relevant points and topics necessary to make this a productive year.
Your child’s teacher will probably talk about your child’s classwork, homework, and behavior.
Teachers also like to learn about students from their parents. No one knows your child better than you do. You can help the teacher by talking about what your child likes to do, any events that may affect your child (such as a new baby, divorce or death), as well as any special medical or learning needs that your child may have.
What should I do before the meeting?
To make your first parent teacher meeting as productive as possible, there are a few key things you could think about before hand.
Meeting preparation checklist:
- Ask your child how he or she feels about school.
- Ask your child if there is anything that he or she wants you to talk about with his teacher.
- Prepare a list of questions such as:
- Is my child settling in to their new class and getting on with classmates?
- What homework workload can we expect?
- What is the average amount of time we should be spending on homework each day in this new grade?
- Does my child participate in class?
- Does my child seem happy at school?
- Are there any special events or academic due dates coming up?
- What can I do at home to help more?
What should I do at the meeting?
This is a process of taking turns in which you let the teacher speak before you react. The meeting should be a give-and-take exchange that helps you to learn the teacher’s overall expectations before you offer suggestions, ask questions or make comments.
Here are a few key things to do during your first meeting:
Be on time (or early) for the meeting
Get off to the right start, come to the meeting on time. You should also plan on ending the meeting at the scheduled time so that other parents can start their meetings on time.
Relax and be yourself
Remember that you and the teacher both the want the same thing, the very best for your child.
Stay calm
Respectful communication will be the most effective way to work together with your child’s teacher.
Ask the most important questions first
You may run out of time but you can always schedule another meeting with the teacher to cover any points you didn’t cover this time around.
Ask for explanations of anything you don’t understand
Listen carefully to what the teacher says. If you don’t understand something that the teacher talks about, such as an educational term or an explanation of a school policy, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. It is important for you to understand what your child’s teacher is telling you.
Ask your child’s teacher for ways that you can help your child at home
Listen for specific suggestions of ways that you can help your child at home with homework, reading, organization, routines, behavioral issues, etc. Make sure you understand the teacher’s suggestions, and ask for clarification if you don’t.
Establish the best way to stay in touch with your child’s teacher
Find out what method would work best to stay in contact with them, so that any concerns can be dealt with swiftly.
Thank the teacher
Thank them for their time and support of your child.
What should I do after the meeting?
So the meeting is over and you are wondering why you were so anxious in the first place? Now you need to follow up on any issues or important topics that were highlighted in the meeting.
Here are a few things to do after your meeting:
- Talk about the meeting with your child: Let your child know that you are their teacher are a team working towards the very best for them.
- Get started at home: Start working on the things their teacher mentioned would be beneficial to do at home, any reading, organization or routines they mentioned would have a positive impact on your child’s schooling.
- Stay in touch with your child’s teacher: This will help you strengthen the parent-teacher partnership, and will be an important part of the child’s success in school. When a child sees that parents and teachers are working together, the child will understand that his/her education is a top priority at school and at home.
- Sign up for WorksheetCloud. It’ll change the way your child revises and studies this year. Sign up here, I promise you won’t be dissapointed.
Keep reading the WorksheetCloud blog for more school advice this year. A new year is the perfect time to make a fresh start with your child’s education.
Thank you for the very informative article. You’ve prepared me for my first meeting this coming Friday…. I was so anxious but your sterling information has put my fears to rest. Great job!!!
I must take this time and appreciate all the tips you gave on how to prepare for the first teacher,parent meeting but the fact is that parents are to to most of the job that the teachers should do istead the teachers are just allocating pages of work that should be done on textbooks e,g ececise from page 1 to page10 how is that possible if the are other subjects which homework too and assignments
Hi Simphiwe, I’m glad you enjoyed the blog and found our tips to be useful!
The COVID pandemic has lead to changes in the school year, terms and even the teaching schedules at schools – some children are going to school every day, some are going every other day or they have been divided into timeslots. This will definitely affect how the content is delivered to our children and has created a situation where teachers still have to get through large volumes of work despite contact time being shortened.
We understand your concern regarding the volume of homework your child is getting and definitely think your concern is valid. Perhaps this is something you can talk to your child’s teacher about at the parent-teacher meeting? If you need any other assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us!
Kyle 🙂
Enlightening, thank you for sharing
Thanks for the first teacher’s meeting
Hi Maria, thanks for your comment! I’m really happy to hear that you found our article helpful!
Please let us know if there are any other blog topics or useful surveys you would like us to cover in the future or if you have any questions regarding our content.
Kyle 🙂
Thank you very much for your tip as i will be attending a meeting with a teacher this weekend, i have already sign in to worksheet cloud🤝
Hi Dudu, you’re most welcome! I’m really happy to hear that you found our article helpful!
I trust that you and your child will enjoy your use of WorksheetCloud and that it will be of great help for the year ahead.
Please let us know if there are any other blog topics or useful surveys you would like us to cover in the future or if you have any questions regarding our content.
Kyle 🙂
Hello – thank you for a great meet the teacher article.
can you link me to grade 10 specific materials please
Many thanks,
Lizann Painter
Hi Lizann
Thanks for your message!
We currently only cover Core Mathematics in WorksheetCloud for high school Grades 9 to 12. However, our content team will add English, Afrikaans and Science and we hope to have these subjects available in the near future. All new subjects and content we add are automatically included in your WorksheetCloud subscription at no extra cost.
You can see a full list of subjects and topics we currently cover on this page: https://www.worksheetcloud.com/worksheet-subjects-topics/
If you feel ready to sign up to WorksheetCloud, you can get started here: https://www.worksheetcloud.com/sign-up/
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at any time and I’ll be very happy to assist!
Kayleen 🙂
Superb information
How do you control a chatterbox who gets reprimanded all the time. What tips do you have to get him to pay attention in class.
Hi, thank you for the information. I’ve read that one of your forte”s are learning challenges. Please could you advise me on what need to do as a mom of a grade six learner, who is very intelligent but has a challenge especially in Mathematics, but I am constantly requested to have him enrolled in a special school, I know as a mother that he’s quite capable of being in a mainstream educational facility. Please help!!
Hi Colleen
Thanks for your message.
Firstly, we’d like to applaud you for trying your best to assist your son. It can be so difficult to watch your child struggle when you know they have so much potential.
Maths difficulties, even just not having grasped the previous years work adequately enough, can impact your child’s performance at school. Being able to manipulate and interpret the abstract world of Maths can be quite a challenge, especially if there are some gaps in the foundation knowledge. This can lead to frustration, which may manifest behaviorally or in a lack of interest in other work areas – leading to further performance difficulties (task completion etc.).
A good place to start would be to help him practice the work he does in class. Repetition of the content, along with helpful guidance and explanation, can improve his understanding and strengthen his cognitive skills. The more he practices retrieving the information, processing the information and expressing his thoughts and understanding, the easier it will become.
A great source for practice worksheets and exams is WorksheetCloud.
WorksheetCloud is an online resource that gives you access to interactive and printable worksheets to help your child revise and practise for class tests and exams. All the worksheets are based on the South African CAPS curriculum which means that they are 100% relevant to the work your child is doing in class.
We also include detailed memorandums that include the answers and model explanations and working-out for each and every question.
You can see a full list of subjects and topics we currently cover on this page: https://www.worksheetcloud.com/worksheets/
WorksheetCloud would be a good fit to help assist with the revision and practice aspect of his learning, however we would also urge you to talk to your son’s teacher and the school’s academic management team about your concerns. Communicating with your child’s educator is a very important part of the schooling process and the sooner problem areas or concerns are addressed, the better for your child! His teacher should also be able to give you feedback on his ability in class and ways to address your concerns at home. They also be able to provide more information on their reasoning for suggesting a move to a more specialised school.
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at any time and we’ll be very happy to assist.
Kayleen
Hi Kayleen
Would you link me to Grade 8 study material please, my son is doing Grade 8.
Hi Unathi
Thank you for your message and interest in WorksheetCloud!
If you are ready to sign up to WorksheetCloud now, you can get started here: https://www.worksheetcloud.com/sign-up/
We offer two different membership plans to suit your needs.
Online Worksheets + Printable Worksheets Plan:
This plan gives you access to our brand new online worksheets that your child can complete interactively on their computer, tablet or smartphone. The online worksheets are marked automatically and give your child immediate feedback on their progress, including enrichment and full explanations for every question. This plan also gives you the option to print worksheets to complete with a pen and paper, as well as memorandums.
Printable Worksheets Only Plan:
This plan gives you access to printable worksheets that your child can print and complete on paper. You can also print the memorandum so that you can mark your child’s worksheet. The memorandum gives enrichment and full explanations for every question.
You can find all our subscription pricing information here: http://help.worksheetcloud.com/article/4-pricing
I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us at any time or visit our FAQ at http://help.worksheetcloud.com for quick answers to your questions.
Kayleen 🙂
Thank you so much
Hi Fadla, thanks for your comment! I’m really glad to hear that you found our article helpful!
Please let us know if there are any other blog topics or useful surveys you would like us to cover in the future or if you have any questions regarding our content.
Kyle 🙂