Going to school, it’s an exciting time. There’s so much to do, so much to learn. So much for a child to cope with in a new country. This video is about one of the important ways, parents can help their child succeed in school.

“Okay, so, boys and girls I have a letter here that I’d like you to take home to your parents please. It invites your parents to come to our next parent teacher interview, okay? And it’s really important and I’d like to see each and everyone of them, all right? Now, parent teacher interviews…”

Once or twice a year, you will be asked to come to your child’s school to talk with the teacher. The letter will suggest a time, but it can be changed if it isn’t convenient for you. Watch for the invitation to what is called the parent teacher interview.

“Mom, dad, well the teachers – I don’t know but there’s a letter he gave me.” “What is it we are going to?” “Parent teacher interview. What’s that? What’s wrong?” “It might be a teacher wants to meet with us.” “Okay, what date?” “Okay, December 2nd. Let me write that down.” “Hello, welcome to Clark School. It’s nice that you could come tonight. We’ll just check the list. Oh yes, you’re with our interpreter and you are down in room four.” “Thank you.” “Nice to meet you, I am Melissa.” “Thank you.”

Meeting the teacher to talk about how your child is progressing may be a new experience for you but it is very important for your child’s success. Most parents are glad to come and hear how their child is getting along “And you’re in room 10.” “Okay.” “Down this way.” “Thank you.” “Jennifer, will reread words and her sentences….”

The interview only takes a few minutes and you can bring a friend to help with English if you wish.” “Your next step should be, does it sound right?” Some schools can even provide an interpreter.

“Welcome to the parent teacher interview. I just wanted to say that I’m very glad that you can make it here this evening. Now, Richard is a very strong student. You must be encouraging him quite a bit at home. That’s okay.” “Thank you very much.” “Just to give you an idea of what he’s been doing.  Here’s an example of some of his earlier work. And if you take a look at what he’s been writing just recently you can see that he’s progressed quite a reasonable amount. Now, as you can see his sentences are a fair bit longer. His spelling and grammar are much improved too.” “In China, Richard loved to write stories. Yeah.” “ It’s funny that you mention that because actually when he first came here I asked him to write something in his first language.”” He put some English words there.” ”Yeah. That’s interesting.” “No, but that’s good. He put in what he knew and then everything else he didn’t, he worked on, you know.”

The teacher will tell you about your child’s progress and tell you how you can help at home. “That’s great” “That’s good.” “And, we’re very happy to hear that but we have a concern about the homework.” “Oh, okay” “So, oh, compared with being back in China we didn’t see Richard bring home a lot of homework.” “Right, that is understandable. What we normally like to do here is, we’ll start something off in class. That gives the students a chance to basically if they have any questions they wish to ask, you know they can ask myself.”

Teachers also want to know about your child’s first language skills and the things he likes to do at home. The teacher will also answer your questions about schoolwork, homework and relationships with other students. “We are worried about that if Richard is making new friends here.” “You know, I understand that’s a great concern to a lot of parents, especially you know when, especially since Richard’s new to the school but I guarantee you have nothing to worry about. Richard’s a great, sociable child. He’s very involved in the school community. Now do you have any other questions or concerns about Richard at school?” “Uh, are there any, uh program for Richard after school?” “Definitely there are lots of after school programs, do you know that you can take advantage of. There’s the soccer program. I know that you said Richard likes soccer.” “Mm, yeah.”

Meeting the teacher like this is a good opportunity to learn how well your child is doing. As a parent, it’s always wonderful to hear of your child’s progress but you should also listen carefully for suggestions on how your child can improve and how you can help at home. “Okay, as you can see from Richard’s reading mark it would benefit Richard to read a little bit more at home. Do you read with him often?” “Yes, we read with Richard every evening but sometimes we read in Chinese.” “Yeah.” “Well, you know what? That’s all right. That’s actually a great thing, you know, if that is something Richard is more comfortable with, by all means let him read in Chinese, you know, and then we can gradually get him, you know, into exploring, you know, certain English language books, you know, but that’s great.”

The teacher may also review the report card and explain how well your child is learning to speak, write and read in English. “Can I ask a question?” “Please, by all means.” “No, I think I understand about this part. But I have a question here. So, I understand that you grade students according to different subjects but here, what does this part mean?” “Okay, What the learning skills are is actually – it’s an area where we comment on – not specifically on grading students on academics. More about some of the work habits or study habits that we’d like to see students develop. These are areas of more personal growth that we want to encourage. Well, thank you very much for coming both of you tonight. It’s been a pleasure having you here. You know, um, if you have any further questions, comments or concerns, you know, about Richard or anything else that you’d like to ask, please feel free to contact me. Many parents do.”

Meeting once or twice a year like this, you and the teacher can discuss any difficulties before they even begin. “Good evening, how you’re doing?” “I’m great. How are you doing?” “Not bad at all, come on in.” “Thank you.”

“Hi Richard, Grandma, we’re home.” “It was great to meet your teacher.” “What did the teacher say?” “The teacher said that you did very well in your school.” “The teacher also said you had made lots of friends at school.”

So, the parent teacher interview has many benefits. You get to know the teacher. You see how your child is doing. You learn how you can help your child do even better, but one of the greatest benefits is the support your child feels when you come to the school because meeting the teacher connects the most important people in his or her life. “We are very proud of you.”

So, find out about your child’s parent teacher interviews. Look for the letter that invites you to come. There’s no better way to help your child do well in school.