15 Helpful Questions for Spring Conferences

Spring conferences are incredibly valuable to you as a parent to discuss your child’s social, emotional, physical, and academic growth. You and the classroom teacher, as well as other specialists in your child’s school, have been collaborating as a team since school began in the fall. Compare notes and make a plan for summer learning opportunities.

A plan to extend the lessons, focus on problems areas, and keep the learning active over the summer months can all be addressed at spring conference time. Make every moment count by being prepared. Use these fifteen questions as a guide to assist you in discussing your child’s progress.

15 Helpful Questions for Spring Conferences

• Is my child progressing at the appropriate developmental age and stage?
• What is my child’s preferred learning style?
• What are my child’s strengths?
• What are my child’s weaknesses?
• What activities is my child drawn to during the school day?
• What are the favorite toys, games, or learning centers? What are the subjects my child favored?
• How well does my child interact with classmates?
• Is my child inclusive with other students?
• Does my child tend to lead or follow?
• Who does my child typically play with at school? Is it always the same child or group of children?
• How does my child typically solve problems? How does he handle success and failure?
• Are there behaviors my child exhibits at school that I can work on at home?
• What areas of study did my child enjoy the most this year? How can I encourage this passion?
• What camps, activities, and organizations do you recommend to enhance what my child has learned this year?
• What additional activities do you recommended to assist my child in areas needing practice (reading, math, etc.)?

Being prepared leads to a more productive parent-teacher conference. Taking time to consider what you’d like to discuss and how the conversation will best meet the needs of your child will make for a productive discussion. You’ll be prepared to assist your child in being successful. As the child’s primary teacher, advocate, and encourager, that’s exactly where you want to be… always.

_________________________________________

Quick Tips for Conference Time

• Arrive on time, at the scheduled time. Be considerate as other parents have an appointment with the teacher too. Stay within the scheduled time as well.
• Keep the conversation focused on the child in that particular class. Children mature individually, so comparisons are not helpful. Comparing one child to another, even siblings can be detrimental.
• Be prepared. Take a list of questions you’d like to ask. 
• Take good notes. Bring a notebook and pen to use rather than typing notes on a cell phone.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Psalm 32:8

© 2018 Becky Danielson. All rights reserved.

If you’ve been encouraged by this post, please take a moment to subscribe to the Faith First Parent e-newsletter, join in the conversation on the Facebook page or share the post with a friend.

Photo by Charisse Kenion on Unsplash