As a parent, your job is to advocate for your child – to make sure your child gets the best possible education. As a teacher, their job is to make sure that all of the children in their class get the best possible education. These two varying viewpoints can cause problems sometimes so how do you get the help your child needs?

1. Make an appointment if it is important.
2. Go in with questions instead of accusations. It may be that there is more to the story than even your child knows.
3. Speak calmly – as soon as you start raising your voice it is less likely you will get the outcome you are hoping for.
4. Be ready to talk to the teacher a few times about it – it may take more than one conversation to fix the problem.
5. If the teacher is unable to do what you are asking, find out why and try to find a solution that works to solve your problem that takes the teacher’s concerns into consideration.
6. Get help from other teachers and parents.
7. Be careful to preserve the best possible relationship between your child and the teacher as they spend a lot of time together each day.
8. Make sure you are asking something the teacher is able to do and has the authority to do – they are not able to make sure there are no tests on Tuesday or to allow your very responsible 8 year old to walk your 5 year old home.
9. Explain in a few different ways the reasons for your concerns – this will help the teacher make the best choices.
10. If you have done all of this and there is still a problem, let the teacher know you will make an appointment with the principal to get help.