Educational experts around the world advocate for parents and teachers working together. Studies show that it has a direct impact on the child’s developing cognitive abilities and overall academic performance. So, if you’ve been delaying parent-teacher meetings lately, here’s why you should consider being a regular attendee right away!

 

Family Involvement Can Positively Impact Student Performance

 

If parents and teachers start working together, a child’s academic performance and general interest within the classroom starts to improve drastically. When both sides focus on the child’s academic performance and general well-being, it gets increasingly difficult for the student to lose focus. The motivation, advice, and attention from both parties encourage the child to be active during classes, projects, extracurricular activities, and more. It is also hard for them to make excuses since children have a tendency to assess the extent to which their parents and teachers communicate with each other related to their academic performance.

 

Students, Parents, Teachers: Everyone Benefits

When teachers and parents collaborate, it’s a win-win situation for everybody! The parents get a better idea of helping and supporting the child. More often than not, parents feel like they’re disconnected from an important part of their child’s life: school. They want to be more involved, and parent-teacher collaboration enables them to do just that. 

 

Similarly, teachers get spared some of the burden since when parents are actively sharing the work. Tasks like home assignments, revisions, and practicing skills are no longer just the teacher’s headache. This way, they can focus more on teaching in the class. 

 

Finally, the student benefits from the increased attention. In fact, studies have shown that such kids improve remarkably in terms of attendance, behavior, and academic results. So, the idea of parents and teachers working together works in everyone’s favor. 

 

Examples Of Parents And Teachers Working Together

In case you’re wondering how the two parties can cooperate, here are a few examples to give you an idea. 

 

Communication Strategies

Communication is essential, and it is never enough. In order to promote the idea of parents and teachers working together, many schools have established creative communication strategies. For example, St. Augustine High School in Florida sends newsletters to parents six times a year. Certain schools, including St. Augustine, also use regular emailing, text messages, and phone calls to stay in touch with parents. This communication strategy aims to keep parents aware and assured about what’s happening in their child’s academic and social life.

 

Voicemails And Parent Invites

Marsha Ratzel at Leawood Middle School in Kansas believes in sending out voice mails to update parents regularly. It’s more or less a summary of how the student has been doing, what they’ve accomplished so far, and what they have planned for them next. The parents can also respond to these voicemails if they have any queries or concerns. The idea is ingenious because it’s very simple yet very practical. 

 

Similarly, some schools like to add a thank you note or an invite at the end of the newsletter or voice mail. Doing this implies that parents are more than welcome to visit the school and meet the staff in person. 

 

Technology Can Assist Parents And Teachers Working Together

Technology has a lot to do with the whole idea of parents and teachers working together. Emails are a great way to communicate with parents, and they’re a prime example of how technology can help promote collaboration. Some examples include:

 

E-letters

Regular emails help parents stay up-to-date with their child’s performance in class. An email back can give the teacher an idea of what’s happening at home, how the child behaves when out of class, and much more of essential details about social behavior and personality development. 

 

School or institute websites

Websites that are updated regularly can help with parent-teacher communication as well. Parents can read notifications and important announcements there. They’ll also be able to get instant responses through live chat on the website if it’s made available. Moreover, all assignments, syllabi, and other vital data are readily available under one roof so that parents can access it easily. 

 

Social media platforms for updates and reminders

Social media is another excellent way to help parents and teachers work together. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are as fast as any other form of communication. Teachers can upload important news, recent happenings, and fun behind-the-scenes posts on social media to keep the parents up-to-date.  

 

Online parent-teacher meetings

Even when parents are too busy to visit the school for a meeting, they can still communicate with teachers through voice or video calls. This way, you can always have your parent-teachers meeting even if you can’t go out. 

 

Tools Can Help Too!

Parents and teachers working together is already a very powerful strategy. However, pair it up with a few effective tools, and you’ve got a master plan ready! One such tool is KeyboardingOnline. You can use this software to improve a child’s typing skills as well as your own. Whether you are a parent or a teacher, it will make your job a lot easier. Thus, don’t shy away from making an effort. Remember, if parents and teachers work together, no one loses!