Getting Help
Do your children know how to get the help they need from teachers or are you their main source of answers to school related questions? How often have your children said “I’ll ask my teacher about it tomorrow” and you later find out the teacher was not available?
To be a helpful parent, your next action may be to contact the teacher to see how you or the instructor can help your child.
STOP!
This is a big mistake! It is the child’s job to get the assistance he needs from the teacher. These interactions can be exhausting and frustrating for a parent and except for special circumstances are unnecessary. (If your child has special needs, more adult intervention is needed.)
The first place to start is to have the child investigate when and where he can get help from each teacher. Most teachers are required to be available before or after school to help students and usually set specific “office hours”. This concept of knowing when help is available does not end in the traditional classroom, but will be routine in post secondary education, the workplace, and in life. It’s important for children to learn how to determine when help is available and adjust to other’s schedules instead of assuming people will always adjust to their needs. Equally important is for students to realize they are accountable for schoolwork and need to be responsible to get assistance when necessary.
