Do it Now – Meet Your Child’s Teacher BEFORE School Starts

With the start of school right around the corner, you parents out there are busy preparing for your child’s school year. Your list of things to do probably includes shopping for school supplies, figuring out after school activities, lining up new clothes for your child to wear and much more.  If you are the parent of a child diagnosed with AD/HD, then I urge you to add an item to your ‘to do’ list and that is:   ‘Meet with my child’s teacher.’

Don’t wait for Back to School Night – arrange for this meeting to occur before the first day of school. The meeting’s purpose is to share information about your child with the teacher and discuss ways to help the child experience success in the coming school year.

Prepare for the meeting by writing down key ‘points of vulnerability’ about your child as well as interests and strengths. Vulnerabilities are problems that your child is likely to exhibit such as getting easily distracted by noises or sounds, trouble with sitting still for very long, forgetfulness with regard to taking homework home or returning it. Bring a copy of this document to the meeting and give it to the teacher.

At the meeting, go over this document. For each specific problem you have noted, exchange ideas with the teacher about what can be done in the classroom and at home to manage the problem. For example, if your child is likely to forget to bring home assigned homework, discuss ways to remedy this such as having the child check with the teacher before leaving school to be sure all homework is in the child’s homework folder. Ask and see if the teacher can provide you ahead of time with a weekly list of homework assignments. That way, you know what homework needs to be done each day and can check to see that your child completes that homework.  Make sure to spend some time at the meeting acquainting the teacher with the wonderful personal qualities and interests of your child.

This meeting before school will go a long way towards getting your child ‘off on the right foot’ with her teacher. It may help prevent the teacher from developing a negative impression of your child if behavioral problems arise since the teacher will see your child through informed eyes. It also gives you the opportunity to establish a rapport with the teacher that will come in handy when you and your child’s teacher need to communicate.  You also gain the chance to see how open and willing the teacher is to consider and arrange accommodations and strategies to help your child be more successful at school.