Strengthening The Parent Teacher Connection: Helping Our Students Become Better Learners


by Sean Michael Platt - Date: 2009-10-25 - Word Count: 558 Share This!

Developing a powerful parent teacher connection is an essential element in building the strongest scaffolding to success. It is the parent teacher connection that dictates the strength of the bond between the home and the classroom.

Fluid communication fosters strong relationships. Strong relationships can take student success to near certainty.

The stronger the relationship between parent and teacher, the stronger the relationship will be between teacher and student. Strong relationships are critical to a student's overall development and children are observant enough to understand when there is a connection between their primary coaches.

Parents are a child's first teacher

It is the parent who knows the most about their child and possess the keen, invaluable insight into the way in which they may learn best. By sharing this information with their child's teacher, mom and dad are not only strengthening the parent teacher connection, they are helping to stimulate a system that is beneficial to both the instructor and the learner.

Teachers play a fundamental role in the personal and scholastic development that moves a student from child to adult. Doesn't it make sense that parents and teachers do all they can to sharpen every tool in their box? Positive rapport, solid understanding, and unwavering encouragement from both teachers in the classroom and parents at home are all key to the development of a strong learner.

Taking advantage of tomorrow's tools today

The world is moving fast. New tools are helping families to maintain pace. They help the parent teacher connection flourish with the implementation of online management tools such as online calendars, online classrooms, and online signup sheets. With these tools, it is simple for satellite groups to form for the mutual benefit of the entire class. Regardless of the tools you put to use, there are some tried and true tactics that will help the parent teacher connection achieve its full potential.

Discuss issues as they evolve rather than waiting for them to build up.

Whether you are the parent or the teacher, if there is a problem that requires discussion, it is important to put it on the table at the first available (appropriate) opportunity. Parents should be notified of any issue concerning their child. Teachers can always do a far better job addressing a parent's concerns when afforded the time and latitude to understand the issue. Waiting can add awkwardness to the situation and weaken the bond of trust between parent and teacher.

Accentuate the positive.

For teachers, highlight the most positive attributes in every child. For parents, highlight the best before bringing the worst to light. Turning a negative situation upside down is a well developed art that many parents and teachers practice with fluidity on a daily basis anyway. Using this tactic to strengthen the parent teacher connection is paramount to achieving the best communication possible.

Take advantage of new technology.

Of course you will also want to join an onsite school council or PTA. There is no substitution for hearing the collective thoughts of others voiced out loud at a monthly meeting. However, there has never been more tools available to both parents and teachers to help strengthen the connection and provide the most benefit to the learner.

Practical strategies are critical for parents and teachers alike as they develop, evolve, and reinforce their relationship. When the parent teacher connection is secure, the student is always stronger.

Related Tags: pta, parent teacher, parent teacher connection, teacher connection flourish, teacher connection achieve, increasing parent involvement

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