I knew a parent who had never taken the time to speak to the administrators or teachers in the twelve years of his two children in the school. He never attended parents’ meetings at school.

After twenty years, his children grew as responsible adults, but I hear a complaint from that parent, “My children never listen to me, I see they don’t respect me or my words, and at home, I’m as an outsider.”

Naturally, the parent is now reaping what he had sown twenty years ago. He showed negligence and total disregard for his children’s learning progress and now reaping the adverse consequences of his attitude. He sees it as ‘rejection’ in the family.

I believe parents are chief partners in their children’s learning. Children learn more; work harder when they see their parent’s participation in their regular academic activities – both at home and in the classroom.

In a classroom situation, the accepting relation between a teacher and parent isn’t well defined. It would never grow as encouragingly trustful to help both the child and the teacher.

On any day in a classroom, we can see a continuous flow of communication between the children and the teacher. They both listen to one other all the time, based on which they form a favorable impression subsequently.

The same process of dialogue occurs at home between the parents and children in the evenings and weekends. During which parents have a proper scope of inferring how his child is coming about.

We can see in the whole circle of communication the weakest link is between the parent and the teacher. In an academic year, the parent meeting the teacher may barely happen once a quarter. Or it may occur through newsletters or a few phone calls or emails or phone messages.

But the real dynamic of whatever is operating in the classrooms – the knowledge of it is never shared and reaches effectively to a parent.

It would be academically helpful if parents realize the importance of parent-teacher conferences.  We observe one significant unconscious aspect of teaching and learning in every child and in every classroom situation. Every teacher looks animated and active and is prone to difficulties in their moods. And in relation to that, as a result, the children behave, learn and mature. This angle of visceral interplay playing within the four walls is ultimately not visible to parents’.

For children, learning in the classroom is a team effort. The three participants – the teachers and the children and the parents, work for the same purpose. To see that the teaching experience provided for the child. Set to teach to help them achieve.

Each member of the trio has unique knowledge and understanding of what another member may not have. Each equipped with a distinct way of attitude with which he or she behaves in his surroundings. It is the teacher in his class, the parent at home, and children everywhere else. And no one individual can call shots in any one situation. The significance of an excellent functional understanding of the three sources of proficiency, if taken by the parents earnestly, it would favor the emotional health of the child. 

THE QUESTIONS PARENT CAN ASK THE TEACHERS:

How is my child’s behavior in the class?

How does my child interact with you and his other classmates?

What is his behavior in the playground?

How often does he stand and ask to clarify a point?

What are my child’s strengths and weaknesses?

What areas need improvement?

What are the other areas of interest of my child?

Is he prompt, disciplined, and organized in all his workings?

Children always need safe and nourishing places to improve and enlighten themselves. It can only be possible when there are dialogue and exchange of information between the teachers, school administrators, and parents. 

This collective can help the child in providing comfort and security to find the right energy and foster his in-built abilities.