Home-school collaboration encourages parents to get involved in their child’s academic life. Building a strong relationship with your child’s school is essential if you’re going to work together! To help your child succeed, learn to collaborate with their teachers and any specialized school staff.
Exams and report cards must be signed. While report cards provide an overview of your child’s performance per term, exams give an impression of their day-to-day progress. That’s why it’s so important for parents to look over them. Plus, taking the time to check and sign these documents has the following effects:
- You show your child that you care about their academic progress
- You can identify where they’re struggling
- You get to acknowledges your child’s efforts
- You build your child’s self-confidence
- You inform the teacher that you’ve seen your child’s results
- Etc.
As the school year progresses, your child’s teacher may try to contact you for various reasons. Most of the time, the preferred means of communication will be the school agenda. Therefore, it’s essential that you check it every day and respond to any written comments. This sends the following messages to your child:
- You take their teacher’s advice seriously
- You’re in communication with their school
- You work as a team with their teacher
- Etc.
Members of the school team aren’t the only ones who can reach out. You can contact them, too! To support your child’s academic success and ensure that everyone is on the same page, keep the school team informed (by email, phone, in-person meeting, etc.) of certain issues, such as the following:
- Family developments (birth, bereavement, move, etc.)
- Your child’s worries
- Your need for support
- Etc.
Do you keep telling your child that school is important? Put your words into action to show how serious you are. One way is to participate in school activities like the following:
- Performances
- Fundraising events
- Parent-teacher meetings
- School outings (as a chaperone)
- Etc.
When you talk with your child about their school life and ask about their emotions and dreams, you support their academic success. Being involved in their education promotes home-school collaboration and has the following benefits:
- You gain a better understanding of your child’s experiences
- You help them develop a positive attitude towards learning
- You get to encourage their efforts
- You can put negative situations into perspective
- You help their teacher understand why they might be struggling at school
- Etc.
Establishing effective communication with your child also helps them feel understood and safe.
Writing : Catherine Couturier
Scientific review : Marjolaine Léveillé, enseignante au 2e cycle du primaire
Rewriting : The Alloprof Parents' team
Lemoine, Laurence, « Parents/profs : trouver la bonne alliance », Psychologies, no 377, sept. 2017, 40-44.