Getting a Pulse on School

Do you wonder how school is really going?  If you are like me, I’ve often thought it was going fine and then I found out  differently at fall conferences.  How do I get a feel for things before it’s too late?  Well, here are a couple ideas?

Request a conference a few weeks earlier than they are scheduled.  Instead of conferences at 9 weeks into school, do a conference or meeting at 5 weeks.  The teacher should have the classroom learning and in good order after 5 weeks of school.  It is early enough, that inventions could be made this semester.  If  conferences are in early November, the holidays are upon us and it’s hard to get things done before the first of the year.  There are still 2 months of ordinary school days before Thanksgiving.

Another approach would be, send someone in to observe the classroom.  I often do this for my clients.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  Seeing a child in the classroom tells so much.  In fact, I will be doing observations in schools quite a lot over the next month.  

Hopefully, these are pro-active steps that will help you get a pulse of how the year is going for your child.