Get involved
If there is one thing teachers would like to tell you, it’s to take more time to get involved in your child’s school progress and not to expect the school to do everything for you. Some students arrive in class regularly without their homework done and agendas that are never signed by the parents. Others seem to be lacking basic knowledge that should have been taught by their parents before they even started school. « The more I had to deal with students, who were failing reading, the more I realized that the reasons why they didn’t understand the reading material was because they had no basic understanding of general culture or very limited life experiences. I’ve had to explain o a 7-year-old student what a star was because she did not know they could be seen shining in the sky at night. She had never paid attention to it and no one had ever taught her. I also had to teach a child how to blow his nose because he was just wiping it with his sleeve. We observe that in general, children are losing their attention to detail, their natural curiosity, and they seem to be living fewer varied experiences within their family or with their friends. It can make teaching difficult. ».
Communication is key
For all they wish they could tell parents, the teachers we spoke to wish for nothing more than to be able to communicate with the parents, so they can work together towards a common goal. Unfortunately, the current relationship between parents and teachers is at its worse. « In our school, parents can contact teachers by email to discuss their child, get help or to ask questions. What should be an additional tool for positive communication has backfired into one more way for parents to accuse us of not doing our job right. Many parents are abusing the privilege and write for anything and everything or even to tell us how to do our job when they themselves do nothing to ensure their child is progressing properly. ».
Teachers know how important it is to work with the parents to ensure proper overall development of the children they are devoted to day after day. And just like they don’t expect parents to be perfect; they know that not all teachers were created equal and that there is work to be done on both sides. But they all agree on one point: the important thing is not us, the adults. It’s the children who rely on us to teach them how to become tomorrow’s adults.
